Right, but he's asking about a connection between the words phone and Phoenician, not about a connection between the languages.

They don't seem to be related. Phoenician is from Greek Phoinix, and my OED has two possible derivations for Phoinix: from phoinos "red", possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gwhen- "strike, kill"

or from a Semitic word for the madder plant Rubia tinctorum

Last edited by goofy; 05/22/2009 4:26 PM.