Ancient Hebrew Language and Alphabet

Appendix A – Alphabet Reconstruction
alphabet also has a "ghayin" with a "gh" sound. When the
Septuagint (Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible)
transliterated place names such as r[p to Pegor and hrm[
to Gemorah, they attributed a "g" sound to the ayin
indicating a sound similar to a "g" (since Greek does not
have a "gh", a "g" would be the closest). The "gh" also
served as a glottal stop, as in our English word bottle,
where the "tt" is only slightly pronounced and in the
Hebrew name l[b / ba'al where the ayin is used as a
glottal stop. The gimel (g / g) has been mistaken for the
ghayin ([ / gh) in Hebrew. Both words llg (g.l.l) and ll[
(gh.l.l) mean "around" showing that the two letters were
phonetically common.
Pey
Pictographic (form): There are several Canaanite
pictographs believed to be this letter, none of which
resemble a mouth (the meaning of the name of the letter).
The South Arabian and Egyptian pictograph is , and
does look like a mouth. Most of the Hebrew, Arabic,
Greek and their sister cultures use a pictograph similar to
the .
Mnemonic (meaning): Speak, Word, Blow -- the function
of the mouth; Scatter -- by blowing; Edge -- the lips as the
edge of the mouth; Sword, Beard -- Things with edges;
Here, Region -- a place with an edge
Syllabic (name): The Modern Hebrew, Arabic and Greek
names agree with hp / peh, meaning mouth, as the
original two letter name.
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