Southwest Paleohispanic script

The name of this script is controversial. The more neutral term is "southwestern," as it refers solely to the geographic location. Some ethnolinguistic names given to this script include: • Tartessian, as it is considered to be the script of the language spoken in Tartessos. However, this is deemed unlikely by some scholars, as only four of the hundred known inscriptions have been found within Tartessos area of influence. • South Lusitanian, because almost all of the southwest inscriptions have been discovered in the south of Portugal, an area that was included in the Roman province of Lusitania. However, this name may incorrectly suggest a relationship with the Lusitanian language. • Conii script, as Greek and Roman sources locate the Roman Conii or Cynetes in the area where most stelae were found. • Bastulo-Turdetanian. == Deciphering strategies ==

Unlike the northeastern Iberian script, the decipherment of the southwestern script is not yet complete (as is the case with the southeastern Iberian script). If this hypothesis is correct, the language represented by the Southwest script would be the first Celtic language to be written. Other main hypotheses propose that the language is Iberian (or possibly non-Indo-European) and that it has Celtic influence but originates from an Iberian language. ==Writing system==

Except for the Greco-Iberian alphabet, and to a lesser extent this script, Paleohispanic scripts shared a distinctive typology: they functioned as a syllabary for stop consonants and as an alphabet for the remaining consonants and vowels. This unique writing system is referred to as a semi-syllabary. There is no consensus on how the Paleohispanic semi-syllabaries originated; it is generally agreed that their origin is linked to the Phoenician alphabet, although some believe the Greek alphabet also had an influence. In the southwestern script, the letter used to represent a stop consonant was determined by the following vowel, similar to a full semi-syllabary, while the following vowel was also written, as in an alphabet. A similar convention is found in Etruscan for /k/, which was written as "ka," "ce," "ci," or "qu," depending on the following vowel. Some scholars treat Tartessian as a redundant semi-syllabary, while others consider it a redundant alphabet. The southwestern script is very similar to the southeastern Iberian script in terms of both the shape of the signs and their values. The main difference is that the southeastern Iberian script does not exhibit the vocalic redundancy of the syllabic signs. This characteristic, discovered by Ulrich Schmoll, allows for the classification of a significant portion of the southwestern signs into vowels, consonants, and syllabic signs. ==Inscriptions==

This script is almost exclusively found on nearly a hundred large stones (steles), of which 10 were lost as of 2014. The inscriptions likely had a funerary purpose, although the lack of well-documented archaeological contexts for the findings makes it difficult to be certain. This same factor prevents the establishment of a precise chronology, but the script is generally placed within the Iron Age, roughly between the 8th and 6th centuries BCE. It is commonly considered that the southwestern script is the most ancient of the Paleohispanic scripts. The direction of writing is usually from right to left, but it can also be boustrophedon or spiral. ==See also==