The source materials in this paragraph is mainly derived from Dornseiff (1925), Weinreb (1978), and Kallir (1961). Kallir devotes his whole book on the sexual significations connected with the alphabet.

According to Kallir (1961: 13-80), the alpha-A connection is replete with phallic male sexuality. The ancient Semitic aleph looks similar to the Roman letter "A" tilted sideways. (Diagram e.g. Haarmann (1992a: 273, ), Kallir (1961: 19). "Aleph means head, especially the head of the bull, taurus... all letters begin with the sign Aleph, and descend from it". Weinreb (1978: 65). The bull is often depicted as male sexual symbolism. "'Horn' is a vulgar expression for the (erect) membrum virile." (Kallir: 24-25). The connection is apparent in the Greek phalos, meaning horn of the helmet. (Kallir: 51). The sexual connection of writing and {plowing / furrowing} has been mentioned by Vilem Flusser. Kallir (31) also refers to the double meaning of 'husbandry' in English, as for example in this Shakespeare's sonnet:

For where is she so fair whose unear'd womb / Disdains the tillage of thy husbandry?

"The taming of the bull is the great achievement of the developing agricultural civilization and, like the invention of the alphabet, a milestone in the progress of man". (Kallir 39). The Egyptian hieroglyph of plough has a striking similarity to the Semitic aleph sign (Kallir 31). Hebrew words beginning with aleph are (Kallir 33): ab (father, creator, producer, generator), eb (fresh sprout of trees), ubed (destruction), adn (firm, strong), adon (lord), abr (be or become light), uroh (light)...

In Skeat's list of indo-european roots beginning with "A", the sense of all the words and their linguistic offspring is related to psychologically typical male-procreative actions. (Kallir 44).

Kallir (1961: 81-126). The word bayt means "house" in semitic languages. Thus, the letter has a female connection, and the similarity of the B with breasts is illustrative (Kallir 104-108). There are connotations of B and swelling in Greek and Indo-European words (Kallir 108-109): buo, bueneo, bhelgh.

Then, the greek nexus for cow, is bous, or lat. bos, connecting to baca, and vaca [86], both nexus contain a strong connection to boubo- bykto- and byzo-, all nexus denoting swelling, which is a marked occurence of fertility, like the ripe grape, connecting with Bacchus, (Dionysos, or the regional dialect variations: aionysos, oenoysios [87]) the bacchanalian rites, then to the ripe breast, english slang: boobs, or udder, and the swelling of the female vulva or bulba, (most markedly to be seen on chimpanzees in estrus), english slang: pussy, and the swelling of the penis in erection. The Greek Baubo myth [88] is just one single appearance of a seemingly world-wide mythical / archetypal pattern of a woman who displays her pussy, in order to cure infertility [89].

The boubo- nexus is also, not by coincidence, the sound symbol of rotting, before the final wasting away and decomposing, like the swelling of a corpse, and the nexus word for bubonic plague.

bryo- bryazo- and boubo- (further down) are the words for swelling, being full of sap, like the vegetation in spring. As Frei Otto has noted, the property of swelling, which appears in a very interesting bio-technical principle called pneu [90], is used everywhere in nature, and has been brought to the rest of us by Dr. Dunlop, and the Michelin man, but is otherwise quite tabooed, culturally. The swelling of the penis is probably best known. The bulbus reappears, innocuously, as the humble but ubiquitous electrical lightning bulb in our homes. The garlic, or greek bolbos, has a long history of being renowned as a sexual potency enhancer. (Nomen est omen). The same potency myth applies to that particularly highly swelleable animal, the leach [91].

The greek nexus for grape is botry-, and the word for the pre-wine culture mead and beer alcoholic drinks is: bryton, leading to the modern ine-briation. brytikos the word for a drunkard.

Conversely the nexus word brotos- is used for the running blood of a wounded human (by Homer ). This giving the immediate connection to the christian blood-wine equivalence (and all other like myths). Also strong connection to human sacrifices. The nexus broto- applies to being human, being mortal. This means that archaic greek preserves a connection to creation mythology of humans out of blood [92]. The other, more recent (or aryan, patriarchic) word for human, anthropos is connected to andro- meaning male, man, manly, upright, brave, bold, courageous.

brocho- is a nexus for swallowing (note the english connection between swallow and swell), drinking (blood, wine, water, etc.). brochetos is the rain and everything connection to the sprinkling of water. (In New Guinea, the natives say for rain: The gods are pissing on us). See also the Australian Aborigine blood/ rain rituals, Strehlow (1971). brochis/os- is connected to loops, nooses, and snares, to catch and to strangle, or to hang. The direct connection between strangling and swelling is obvious, since the blocked blood flow makes the head swell, and its connection to the sexual domain re-appears in the black tantric and sado-masochistic practices of strangling connected with orgasm. Strangling tends to increase the intensity of orgasm, which seems to be more pronounced, the closer to real death it comes. When men are strangled to death (or hanged at the gallows), they often (or always???) have an ejaculation. With women, there is obviously no observable direct connection, but it can be assumed to hold the same. brogcho- and brochthos- is the gulp, swallowing, and the throat. broma-, bromae-, brosis-, brotis- is connected to biting, eating, but also the eaten up, as in wasted, deteriorated, worn out decrepit, depraved, and corrupted.

Kallir (1961: 131-199). G and K are guttural sounds, in German: Kehle. Kallir (147). The connection of g-sounds and the earth gaia has already been shown. Kallir (154-160).

[86] Spanish vulgar for voluptuous woman.

[87] T. Palaima: Linear B and the Origins of Greek Religion, in: Kyriatsoulis (1996), from a hand out paper at the conference. (The proceedings are supposed to appear sometime in 1997):

[88] Kamper (1986: 115, 125-138)

[89] A film on fertility practices in Africa: Die frechen Frauen von Gambia. Ulla Fels, 1974 .

[90] Bach (1977: 18)

[91] Nefzaoui (1995: 138): "The Perfumed Garden of the Sheikh Nefzaoui". Old arabian love manual. The recipe was: Take a good handful of leeches, mince them up finely, put them in oil, and deposit them in a bottle in the sun or a warm dung heap for about one month, until the contents have become a quite seamy, creamy, sauce. Then, rub it onto your member on several consecutive days. When the night of test comes, this will give pleasure to you as well as her.

[92] These mythologies are found world-wide. See Campbell (1978), Strehlow (1971), Aranda initiation rites and fertility rites.