Editing Sampi (section)

==Alphabetic sampi==

As an alphabetic letter denoting a sibilant sound, sampi (shaped <span style="background-color: white;">[[File:Greek Sampi Ionian.svg|x16px|Ͳ]]</span>) was mostly used between the middle of the 6th and the middle of the 5th centuries BC,<ref name="jeffery"/> although some attestations have been dated as early as the 7th century BC. It has been attested in the cities of [[Miletus]],<ref name="wachter"/> [[Ephesos]], [[Halikarnassos]], [[Erythrae]], [[Teos]] (all situated in the region of [[Ionia]] in [[Asia Minor]]), in the island of [[Samos]], in the Ionian colony of [[Marseille|Massilia]],<ref name="willi"/> and in [[Kyzikos]] (situated farther north in Asia Minor, in the region of [[Mysia]]). In addition, in the city of [[Nesebar|Pontic Mesembria]], on the Black Sea coast of [[Thrace]], it was used on coins, which were marked with the abbreviation of the city's name, spelled "{{lang|grc|ΜΕͲΑ}}".<ref name="jeffery"/>

Sampi occurs in positions where other dialects, including written [[Ionic Greek|Ionic]], normally have double sigma ({{lang|grc|σσ}}), i.e. a long {{IPA|/ss/}} sound. Some other dialects, particularly [[Attic Greek]], have {{lang|grc|ττ}} (long {{IPA|/tt/}}) in the same words (e.g. {{lang|grc|θάλασσα}} vs. {{lang|grc|θάλαττα}} 'sea', or {{lang|grc|τέσσαρες}} vs. {{lang|grc|τέτταρες}} 'four'). The sounds in question are all reflexes of the proto-Greek consonant clusters {{IPA|*[kj], *[kʰj], *[tj], *[tʰj],}} or {{IPA|*[tw]}}. It is therefore believed that the local letter sampi was used to denote some kind of intermediate sound during the phonetic change from the earlier [[plosive]] clusters towards the later {{IPA|/s/}} sound, possibly an [[affricate]] {{IPA|/ts/}}, forming a triplet with the Greek letters for {{IPA|/ks/}} and {{IPA|/ps/}}.<ref name="woodard"/><ref>C. Brixhe, "History of the Alpbabet", in Christidēs, Arapopoulou, & Chritē, eds., 2007, ''A History of Ancient Greek''</ref>

Among the earliest known uses of sampi in this function is an [[abecedarium]] from [[Samos]] dated to the mid-7th century BC. This early attestation already bears witness to its alphabetic position behind [[omega]] (i.e. not the position of [[san (letter)|san]]), and it shows that its invention cannot have been much later than that of omega itself.<ref name="wachter"/><ref name="willi"/>

The first known use of alphabetic sampi in writing native Greek words is an inscription found on a silver plate in [[Ephesus]], which has the words "{{lang|grc|τέͳαρες}}" ("four") and "{{lang|grc|τεͳαράϙοντα}}" ("forty") spelled with sampi (cf. normal spelling Ionic "{{lang|grc|τέσσαρες/τεσσαράκοντα}}" vs. Attic {{lang|grc|τέτταρες/τετταράκοντα}}). It can be dated between the late 7th century and mid 6th century BC.<ref name="foat3"/><ref>{{cite web|title=Poinikastas, Ephesos number 1335|url=http://poinikastas.csad.ox.ac.uk/4DLink3/4DACTION/LSAGwebDisplayInscription?sequence=1335&searchType=browse&searchField=subregion&searchTerm=Ionic%20Dodekapolis&thisPageNum=1&displayGlyphTable=0&letterName=&returnList=0}}</ref> An inscription from [[Halicarnassus]]<ref>British Museum No. 886, {{cite web|title=PHI Greek Inscriptions – Halikarnassos 1|url=http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=257989&bookid=493&region=8&subregion=27}}</ref> has the names "Ἁλικαρναͳέ[ω]ν" ("of the Halicarnassians") and the personal names "Ὀαͳαͳιος" and "Π[α]νυάͳιος". All of these names appear to be of non-Greek, local origin, i.e. [[Carian language|Carian]].<ref name="foat2"/> On a late 6th century bronze plate from [[Miletus]] dedicated to the sanctuary of [[Athena]] at [[Assesos]], the spelling "{{lang|grc|τῇ Ἀθηνάηι τῇ Ἀͳησίηι}}" ("to Athena of Assessos") has been identified.<ref name="wachter"/><ref name="herrmann"/> This is currently the first known instance of alphabetic sampi in Miletus itself, commonly assumed to be the birthplace of the numeral system and thus of the later numeric use of sampi.

[[File:NAMA Héraclès & Nessos.jpg|thumb|right|The ''Nessus amphora'', with the name "{{lang|grc|ΝΕΤΟΣ}}" (possibly obliterating earlier "{{lang|grc|ΝΕͲΟΣ}}") on the right]]

It has been suggested that there may be an isolated example of the use of alphabetic sampi in Athens. In a famous painted [[black figure]] [[amphora]] from c.615 BC, known as the "[[Nessos painter|Nessos amphora]]", the inscribed name of the eponymous centaur [[Nessus (mythology)|Nessus]] is rendered in the irregular spelling {{lang|grc|"ΝΕΤΟΣ" (Νέτος)}}. The expected regular form of the name would have been either Attic "{{lang|grc|Νέττος}}" – with a double "τ" – or Ionic "{{lang|grc|Νέσσος}}". Traces of corrections that are still visible underneath the painted "Τ" have led to the conjecture that the painter originally wrote {{lang|grc|Νέͳος}}, with sampi for the σσ/ττ sound.<ref name="boegehold"/><ref name="threatte"/>

===Pamphylian sampi===
A letter similar to Ionian sampi, but of unknown historical relation with it, existed in [[Pamphylian Greek|the highly deviant local dialect]] of [[Pamphylia]] in southern Asia Minor. It was shaped like <span style="background-color: white;">[[File:Greek Sampi Pamphylian.svg|x16px|Ͳ]]</span>. According to Brixhe<ref name="brixhe1976"/> it probably stood for the sounds {{IPA|/s/}}, {{IPA|/ss/}}, or {{IPA|/ps/}}. It is found in a few inscriptions in the cities of [[Aspendos]] and [[Perge]] as well as on local coins. For instance, an inscription from Perge dated to around 400 BC reads: <span style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;">{{lang|grc|Ͷανά[[File:Greek Sampi Pamphylian.svg|x16px]]αι Πρειίαι Κλεμύτας Λϝαράμυ Ͷασιρϝο̄τας ἀνέθε̄κε}}</span> (=''"Vanássāi Preiíāi Klemútas Lwarámu Vasirwōtas anéthēke"'', "Klemutas the vasirwotas, son of Lwaramus, dedicated this to the Queen of Perge").<ref>{{cite web|title=PHI Greek Inscriptions – IK Perge 1|url=http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=313768&bookid=794&region=8&subregion=41}}. Other editions read "Klevutas" and "Lwaravu". "Ͷ" (transliterated "V") here stands for a second nonstandard letter, "[[Pamphylian digamma]]".</ref> The same title "Queen of Perge", the local title for the goddess [[Artemis]], is found on coin legends: <span style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;">{{lang|grc|Ͷανά[[File:Greek Sampi Pamphylian.svg|x16px]]ας Πρειιας}}</span>.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://epigraphy.packhum.org/inscriptions/oi?ikey=276046&bookid=635&region=8&subregion=41|title=PHI Greek Inscriptions – Brixhe, Dial.gr.Pamph.1}}</ref> As <span style="background-color: white !important; color: black !important;">{{lang|grc|Ͷανά[[File:Greek Sampi Pamphylian.svg|x16px|Ͳ]]α}}</span> is known to be the local feminine form of the archaic Greek noun {{lang|grc|ἄναξ/ϝάναξ}}, i.e. ''[[Anax (Greek)|(w)anax]]'' ("king"), it is believed that the <span style="background-color: white;">[[File:Greek Sampi Pamphylian.svg|x16px|ͳ]]</span> letter stood for some type of sibilant reflecting Proto-Greek {{IPA|*/ktj/}}.