If correct, this innovation would parallel the creation of the Latin letter G from C by the addition of a stroke. Typology Excepting the Greco-Iberian alphabet, the Iberian scripts are typologically unusual, in that they were partially alphabetic and partially syllabic: Continuants (fricative sounds like /s/ and sonorants like /l/, /m/, and vowels) were written with distinct letters, as in Phoenician (or in Greek in the case of the vowels), but the non-continuants (the stops /b/, /d/, /t/, /g/, and /k/) were written with syllabic glyphs that represented both consonant and vowel together, as with Japanese kana. That is, in written Iberian, ga displayed no resemblance to ge, and bi had no connection to bo. This possibly unique writing system is called a "semi-syllabary". The southeastern script was written right to left, as was the Phoenician alphabet, whereas the northeastern script reversed this to left to right, as in the Greek alphabet. Origins The Iberian scripts are classified as Paleohispanic scripts for convenience and based on broad similarities, but their relationships to each other and to neighboring contemporaneous scripts, such as Greco-Iberian, are not firmly established. It is generally accepted that they were derived at least partly from the Greek alphabet and/or Phoenician alphabet, with which they share many similar-looking glyphs. Some researchers conclude that the origin of the northern and southern Iberian scripts ultimately lies solely with the Phoenician alphabet; others believe the Greek alphabet also played a role; others still have suggested influences from Old Italic. It appears that either the glyphs themselves were changed, or that they assumed new values. For example, the southern glyph for /e/ derives from Phoenician ‘ayin or Greek Ο, whereas northern /e/ resembles Phoenician he or Greek Ε, though the letter arguably had the value of /be/ in southern Iberian. However, it is clear that they had a common origin, and the most commonly accepted hypothesis is that the northeastern script derives from the southeastern script. See also Iberian language Paleohispanic scripts Pre-Roman peoples of the Iberian Peninsula Notes References Anderson, James M. (1988) Ancient Languages of the Hispanic Peninsula. Correa, José Antonio (2004): , ELEA 4, pp. 75–98. Correa, José Antonio (1992): , AIΩN 14, pp. 253–292. Ferrer i Jané, Joan (2005) Novetats sobre el sistema dual de diferenciació gràfica de les oclusives sordes i sonores, Palaeohispanica 5, pp. 957–982. Gómez-Moreno, Manuel (1922): , 9, pp. 34–66. Hoz, Javier de (1987):