Talk:Samekh

Text Removed
I removed the following text, due to its being innacurate or obscure, and for its sources not being cited:

"The Phoenician letter gave rise to the Greek Xi (Ξ)."

Samekh may have originated lower case sigma σ, by a horizontal flip of ס, not Xi (or, more correctly, Khi), which, in turn, is not written "Ξ" (ksi), but Χ (lower case χ). Now, Σ is probably for s(h)in ש, or arabic س.


 * I think you missunderstood something there. Ξ comes from Phoenician Samekh. The X of Latin is its PHONETIC equivalent. The Latin X comes from the old Western Greek alphabet, where it had the phonetic value [ks], but Eastern Greek (standard Greek) uses X for [kh]. The letter X is a Greek creation from Kappa and it is nowhere found in Semitic abjads. So everything is allright about Ξ originating from Samekh. Einstein92 (talk) 17:23, 19 July 2011 (UTC)

Samekh/Semkath
What's the story on these two names? Is the difference linguistic or temporal? 12:27, 16 June 2007 (UTC)


 * Perhaps I misunderstand you, but Semkat/Semkath is the name of the related Syriac letter, whereas Samekh is the Hebrew 'version'. They are each descendants, so to speak, of the Aramaic alphabet.  See the article for more clarification: Aramaic Alphabet.   Geofferic  T•C ✡  02:06, 4 April 2015 (UTC)

X and S
S is derived from Shin, not Samekh. X is derived from the Greek letter Chi, not Samekh.47.187.192.67 (talk) 03:10, 23 June 2021 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion
The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page or its Wikidata item has been nominated for deletion: Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 21:56, 26 January 2023 (UTC)
 * Moabite samek.svg

Delete Talmudic story on Samekh
To be frank, it doesn't really add anything to the discussion of samekh as a letter 5.29.20.124 (talk) 10:30, 14 May 2024 (UTC)