Semitic alphabet Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Abstract and Book Reviews Abstract: This publication details how (copying) and when well before 3200 years ago) the Western Alphabet character sequence (abecedary) was modeled after a pre-Sanskrit character grid (abugida). By... more

Abstract and Book Reviews
Abstract:
This publication details how (copying) and when well before 3200 years ago) the Western Alphabet character sequence (abecedary) was modeled after a pre-Sanskrit character grid (abugida).

By forcing the Western-Late Roman Alphabet character sequence (the ABC or abecedary) into a tabular format by starting out to line up the vowels in one column followed by fitting the consonants sequentially into three adjacent columns, a somewhat orderly and surprising result was obtained.

By comparing the resultant character grid with an early simpler phase of the Sanskrit Devanāgarī character grid, it became possible to discover clear links between Western alphabets and an early form of the Sanskrit Devanāgarī abugida (alphasyllabary).

This dependent linkage between the Western Late-Roman and the Devanāgarī abugida is evidenced by their similar if not almost identical ordering of characters in grids of comparable phoneme classifications.

In this study, the origin of the dissimilarities - or, in fact, irregularities - has been traced back to two errors made by an ancient Near Eastern linguist after his study-visit to ancient India.

As the Western Late-Roman Alphabet in this study's tabular arrangement appeared to be irregular in certain places, especially when compared to the highly organized and well ordered Devanāgarī abugida grid, this study demonstrates how, why and approximately when (before 1200 BCE) those irregularities came about.

When the two sequential formats are superficially compared to each other - before the tracing of errors and before the tabular reconstruction - a percentage of similarity of only 20 % (4 out of 20 characters) was calculated.
However, after the error identifications (described in detail) and while taking into account the varying but close pronunciations of a number of comparable characters in side-by-side alphabet and abugida grids, and while focusing on the placement of nearly all Western Late-Roman characters in their appropriate vowel, labial, guttural and dental columns (illustrated in detail) an 85.00 % match between them was arrived at.

This study also demonstrates how the Ugarit abecedary from Syria (1400 -1200 BCE) is evidence that even before it was inscribed in cuneiform, that a 'West-of-India' style irregular alphabetic sequence was already in use, which, as demonstrated in this study, was based on a very early form of a Pre-Sanskrit Brāhmī abugida."

Book Reviews:

“This Alphabet paper is simply brilliant stuff, serendipity at its finest. The tabulation similarity of ABCD [the western abecedary] with Panini’s abugida [Sanskrit alphabet] is totally new and totally brilliant [and] on par with a description of Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin.”
~ Dr. Shiv Sastry MD

“A study by my friend, original thinker along the lines of Vartak, Einstein, Newton and Kepler. So expect flight of fancy, joy of speculation and wonderful research.
One of a few brilliant Jewels.
~ Nilesh Oak (Author of “When Did The Mahabharata War Happen? - The Mystery of Arundhati” and "The Historic Rama")

“Wim Borsboom takes the reader on a fascinating brief trip through the history of real magic; reading and writing.”
~ S. M. Sulllivan (Author of “The Indus Script Dictionary”)

“Wim Borsboom has hit upon a brilliant idea related to the origins of the western alphabet. He shows that in its basic form, it is similar to the scientifically organized Sanskrit alphabet. This research is of importance not only to the student of alphabets but also to the historian and the layperson interested in understanding cultural interactions in the ancient world.“
~ Subhash Kak, Regents Professor, Oklahoma State University. (Co-author with Georg Feuerstein and David Frawley of “In Search of the Cradle of Civilization”)

“The sequence he has discovered in the alphabet is really fascinating. I don't know how no-one noticed this sequential phonetics before.”
~ Shrikant G. Talageri (Author of “The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis”)