Reading the Demotic SCRIPT form the Rosetta stone
The Demotic SCRIPT comprises of signs which are syllabic meaning they are pronounced as consonant vowel pair. The direction of writing is form right to left; here are no punctuation marks in today's sense; there are no capital letters; there is no division of words and use of blank space, it is written in an unbroken string; the script used is the syllabic from the type consonantvowel, with a minimal use of determined signs from pictographic writing. There are asymmetrical syllabic signs, symmetrical syllabic signs, inclined syllabic signs, specific syllabic sign, signs for isolated writing of consonants, and signs for isolated writing of vowels. The characteristic of the asymmetrical syllabic signs is it they can be written using 8 different dispositions:
Each position assigns a different vowel after the consonant. Therefore we get in the first and the second position JO and JOO, in the 3rd JU, and then JEE, JE, etc. The professors Tentov and Bosevski identified 13 asymmetrical signs in the analyzed text. They are the following:
The phonemic transcription, i.e. the pronunciation of the consonants is given in [brackets]. The following chart shows the consonant P in all positions and the vowels it receives.
ASYMMETRICAL SIGNS (PRONUNCIATION): In the 1st row we get: JO, JOO, JU, JEE(long), JE(short), J∂(schwa1), JA, JI. In the 2nd row we get: RO, ROO, RU, REE, RE, R∂, RA, RI In the 3rd row we get: GJO (as in Italian giocare-to play), GJOO, GJU, GJEE, GJE, GJ∂, GJA, GJI. In the 4th row we get: ŽO (the as in English television), ŽOO, ŽU, ŽEE, ŽE, Ž∂, ŽA, ŽI. In the 5th row we get: ZO, ZOO, ZU, ZEE, ZE, Z∂, ZA, ZI. In the 6th row we get: DZO, DZOO, DZU, DZEE, DZE, DZ∂, DZA, DZI. In the 7th row we get: PO, POO, PU, PEE, PE, P∂, PA, PI. In the 8th row we get: TO,TOO, TU, TEE, TE, T∂, TA, TI. In the 9th row we get: SO, SOO, SU, SEE, SE, S∂, SA, SI. In the 10th row we get: TSO, TSOO, TSU, TSEE, TSE, TS∂, TSA, TSI. In the 11th row we get: SHO, SHOO, SHU, SHEE, SHE, SH∂, SHA, SHI. In the 12th row we get: SHTO, SHTOO, SHTU, SHTEE, SHTE, SHT∂, SHTA, SHTI. In the 13th row we get: CHO, CHOO, CHU, CHEE, CHE, CH∂, CHA, CHI.
1
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schwa
CHART 1: ASYMMETRICAL SIGNS
There are also 6 symmetrical signs that appear in four positions. The phonemic transcription of the consonants is given in [brackets]. [B] also [F], [V], [M], [H], [G], [DZH] (as in Jungle). The next in line are the inclined signs which also appear in four positions, as well as the specific syllabic signs:
Symmetrical signs
Inclined signs
Specific syllabic signs _________________________________________________________________________________
SYMETRICAL SIGNS (PRONUNCIATION): 1.
BO, BOO, /, /, BE, B∂, /, /
2.
VO, VOO, /, /, VE, V∂, /, /
3.
FO, FOO, /, /, FE, F∂, /, /
4.
MO, MOO, /, /, ME, M∂, /, /
5.
HO, HOO, /, /, HE, H∂, /, /
6.
GO, GOO, /, /, GE, G∂, /, /
7.
DZHO, DZHOO, /, /, DZHE, DZH∂, /, /
8.
DO, /, /, /, DE, /, DA, DI
9.
L(R)O, / , L(R)U, /, L(R)E, /, L(R)A, /
10. LJO, LJOO, /, /, LJE, LJ∂, /, / - (LJ as in milieu [mēlyə]) 11. NO, / , NU, /, NE, /, NA, / 12. KO, / , KU, /, KE, /, KA, / 13. KJO, / , KJU, /, KJE, /, KJA, / (KJ as in peculiar [pi-kyül-yər])
CHART 2: SYMMETRICAL, INCLINED and SPECIFIC SIGNS
There are also pictographic signs such as the following: , which implies the word for GOD, either in nominative or dative case. The vowels are usually implicit with the position of the consonants. However, there are cases when they appear independently in the text, usually as joining words, or prepositions:
Now, if we take the following inscription which is the descriptive name of the pharaoh, the Macedonian Emperor of Egypt, and if we read it from RIGHT to LEFT then we will get:
TO-J[ə] BOGA-MO DI-VE-JE-I Let me explain: 1. The first sign to the right is the sign for T, which we can find in the 8th row of CHART 1, in the first position, which implies that the vowel that follows is O - TO! 2. The second sign is the sign for J, which we can find in the 1st row of CHART 1, in the sixth position, which implies that the vowel that follows is the schwa [ə] - J[ə]! So far we get TOJ, which is a word used as a personal pronoun for the 3rd person singular, denoting male – in English it would be HE! The same form is used in modern Macedonian –TOJ! 3. The next sign is a pictographic denoting GOD, or in Macedonian BOGA. 4. The next sign is the sign for the consonant M, which we can find in the 4th row of CHART 2, in the first position, which implies that the vowel that follows is O – MO! So far we get TOJ BOGAMO, meaning HE whom the GOD(S), the form in Macedonian would be TOJ komu BOGOVITE! 5. The next sign is a specific sign which can be found in the 8th row of CHART 2, pronounced as DI!
6. The next sign is the sign for V, which can be found in the 2nd row of CHART 2, in the fifth position pronounced as VE. 7. The next sign is the sign for J, which can be found in the 1st row of CHART 1, in the fourth position, pronounced as JEE. 8. And the last sign is the sign for I, as an independent vowel. Thus we get DI-VE-JEE-I or DIVEJEI, in English TO ADMIRE, in modern Macedonian DIVEAT. All together the informal name of the pharaoh would be – -
In ancient Macedonian: TOJ BOGAMO DIVEJEJ,
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or in English: HE whom THE GODS ADMIRE,
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or in Macedonian: TOJ komu BOGOVITE mu se DIVEAT,
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or in ancient Greek: who is beloved by the gods.
- Deoi Epiphanois, meaning The one