ⵣ | yaz

ⵣ, aka yaz or aza, is the thirty-second (and penultimate) letter of the basic Neo-Tifinagh alphabet. It represents the sound /z/. One theory traces the origin of ⵣ to the ancient Phoenician letter 𐤆 (zayin).

ⵣ is also used as a symbol of Amazigh (ⴰⵎⴰⵣⵉⵖ) identity and, most famously, appears on Berber flag. (Which, incidentally, looks very much like my alternative flag of Fuerteventura A). Sometimes ⵣ is interpreted as symbolising “free man”.

Rotate it 90° and you’ll get ♓, the symbol of Pisces. Some historical forms of Chinese character 木 “tree” and Cyrillic letter Ж look very much like ⵣ. Coincidence? I think yaz.

And what about Guanches, you may ask. ⵣ is another of Canarian souvenir-shop staples, together with “Guanche sun” and spiral. The inscription on the famous Zanata Stone unearthed in 1992 and dated to between the 5^th century BC and the 7^th century AD, contains three Tifinagh characters including ⵣ. However, according to Renata Springer Bunk and Irma Mora Aguiar, the experts in Libyco-Berber scripts from Universidad de La Laguna, this inscription is almost certainly a fake. ⵣ is a fairly recent innovation, dating from the last two centuries, and is a feature of Tuareg alphabets. This letter is not found among the (much older) Canarian alphabets, such as listed in Libyco-Berber Inscriptions Database (El Hierro, Fuerteventura, Gran Canaria, Lanzarote). Moreover, a part of ⵣ character of Zanata Stone appears to be made with a metal tool, something that Canarian aborigines did not have. Why this bogus Guanche character has got to symbolise indigenous Canarian culture is anyone’s guess.

More photos related to Guanches, letters and sea glass @ Shutterstock.

꩜ | spiral

꩜

Just like the eight-pointed “Guanche sun” (or star), the spiral is something that you’re bound to see wherever you go in Canaries. It is also featured prominently in the art of Canarian artists such as Óscar Domínguez, Martín Chirino and Manolo Millares.

꩜

Of course, there is nothing specifically “Guanche” about it: the spiral is one of the most universal symbols. We are surrounded by natural and man-made spirals: callas, cinnamon buns, fern shoots, Romanesco buds, seashells, snails, staircases, sushi rolls, vinyl grooves, violin scrolls, waves and wreaths. The spiral is found in many symbols, including @, lauburu, G-clef and F-clef. In Cham, the character ꩜ is a punctuation mark for the beginning of a section.

꩜

Juan Eduardo Cirlot wrote in his Dictionary of Symbols:

Spiral: A schematic image of the evolution of the universe. It is also a classical form symbolizing the orbit of the moon, and a symbol for growth, related to the Golden Number, arising <...> out of the concept of the rotation of the earth. In the Egyptian system of hieroglyphs the spiral — corresponding to the Hebrew vau — denotes cosmic forms in motion, or the relationship between unity and multiplicity. <...> Be that as it may, the spiral is certainly one of the essential motifs of the symbolism of ornamental art all over the world, either in the simple form of a curve curling up from a given point, or in the shape of scrolls, or sigmas, etc.

꩜

More photos related to Guanches, spirals, beads and sea glass @ Shutterstock.