Sogdian alphabet: Difference between revisions
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The '''Sogdian alphabet''' was originally used for the [[Sogdian language]], a language in the Iranian family used by the people of [[Sogdiana]].<ref name=gharib>{{Citation|last=Gharib|first=B.|publication-date =1995|title =Sogdian Dictionary: Sogdian-Persian-English|publication-place=Tehran, Iran|publisher=Farhangan Publications|pages =xiii-xxxvi|id=ISBN 9645558069}}</ref> The alphabet is derived from [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]], the descendant script of the [[Aramaic alphabet]]. The Sogdian alphabet is one of three scripts used to write the Sogdian language, the others being the [[Manichaean alphabet]] and the [[Syriac alphabet]].<ref name=gharib/> It was used throughout [[Central Asia]], from the edge of [[Iran]] in the west, to [[China]] in the east, from approximately 100-1200 C.E.<ref name=gharib/> |
The '''Sogdian alphabet''' was originally used for the [[Sogdian language]], a language in the Iranian family used by the people of [[Sogdiana]].<ref name=gharib>{{Citation|last=Gharib|first=B.|publication-date =1995|title =Sogdian Dictionary: Sogdian-Persian-English|publication-place=Tehran, Iran|publisher=Farhangan Publications|pages =xiii-xxxvi|id=ISBN 9645558069}}</ref> The alphabet is derived from [[Syriac alphabet|Syriac]], the descendant script of the [[Aramaic alphabet]]. The Sogdian alphabet is one of three scripts used to write the Sogdian language, the others being the [[Manichaean alphabet]] and the [[Syriac alphabet]].<ref name=gharib/> It was used throughout [[Central Asia]], from the edge of [[Iran]] in the west, to [[China]] in the east, from approximately 100-1200 C.E.<ref name=gharib/> |
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==Structure== |
==Structure== |
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Like the writing systems from which it is descended, the Sogdian writing system is an [[Abjad]]. The script consists of 17 consonants, many of which have alternate forms for initial, middle, and final position.<ref name=coulmas>{{Citation|last=Coulmas|first=Florian|publication-date=1996|title =The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems|publication-place=Cambridge, MA|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|pages=471-474,512|id=ISBN 0631194460}}</ref> Like in [[Aramaic]], vowels were commonly written with the consonants ''y'' and ''w''.<ref name=coulmas/> The alphabet also includes several diacritics, which were used inconsistently. It is written from right to left, but by the time it had evolved into its child system, the [[Old Uyghur alphabet]], it had been rotated 90 degrees, written vertically in columns from left to right.<ref name=coulmas/> Voiced and voiceless fricatives are consistently not distinguished in the script.<ref name=gharib/> |
Like the writing systems from which it is descended, the Sogdian writing system is an [[Abjad]]. The script consists of 17 consonants, many of which have alternate forms for initial, middle, and final position.<ref name=coulmas>{{Citation|last=Coulmas|first=Florian|publication-date=1996|title =The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems|publication-place=Cambridge, MA|publisher=Blackwell Publishers|pages=471-474,512|id=ISBN 0631194460}}</ref> Like in [[Aramaic]], vowels were commonly written with the consonants ''y'' and ''w''.<ref name=coulmas/> The alphabet also includes several diacritics, which were used inconsistently. It is written from right to left, but by the time it had evolved into its child system, the [[Old Uyghur alphabet]], it had been rotated 90 degrees, written vertically in columns from left to right.<ref name=coulmas/> Voiced and voiceless fricatives are consistently not distinguished in the script.<ref name=gharib/> |
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[[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] [[logogram|logograms]] also appear in the script, remnants of adapting the Aramaic writing system to the Sogdian language.<ref name=daniels>{{Citation|last= Daniels|first=Peter T.|last2=Bright|first2=William|publication-date =1996|title =The World’s Writing Systems|publication-place=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages =515-536|id=ISBN 0195079930}}</ref> These logograms are used mainly for functional words such as pronouns, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.<ref name=gharib/> |
[[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] [[logogram|logograms]] also appear in the script, remnants of adapting the Aramaic writing system to the Sogdian language.<ref name=daniels>{{Citation|last= Daniels|first=Peter T.|last2=Bright|first2=William|publication-date =1996|title =The World’s Writing Systems|publication-place=New York|publisher=Oxford University Press|pages =515-536|id=ISBN 0195079930}}</ref> These logograms are used mainly for functional words such as pronouns, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.<ref name=gharib/> |
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==Varieties== |
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| ⚫ | Three main varieties of the Sogdian alphabet developed over time: Early Sogdian, an archaic non-cursive type; the sutra script, a calligraphic script used in Sogdian [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] scriptures; and the so-called "Uyghur" cursive script (not to be confused with the [[Old Uyghur alphabet]]).<ref name=gharib/> Early Sogdian dates to the early fourth century C.E., and is characterized by distinct, separated graphemes.<ref name=daniels/> The sutra script appears around 500 C.E., while the cursive script develops approximately a century later. The cursive script is thus named because its letters are connected with a base line. Since many letters in the cursive script are extremely similar in form, to the point of being indistinguishable, it is the most difficult to read of the three varieties.<ref name=coulmas/> As the Sogdian alphabet became more cursive and more stylized, some letters became more difficult to distinguish, or were distinguished only in final position, e.g. ''n'' and ''z''.<ref name=daniels/> |
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==Source Materials== |
==Source Materials== |
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The Sogdian script is known from religious texts of [[Buddhism]], [[Manichaeism]], and [[Christianity]], as well as from secular sources such as letters, coins, and legal documents. The oldest known Sogdian documents are the Ancient Letters, found in 1920 by [[Aurel Stein|Sir Aurel Stein]] in a watchtower near [[Dunhuang]], China.<ref name=coulmas/> These letters date to approximately 312-313 C.E. and are written in Early Sogdian.<ref name=gharib/> |
The Sogdian script is known from religious texts of [[Buddhism]], [[Manichaeism]], and [[Christianity]], as well as from secular sources such as letters, coins, and legal documents. The oldest known Sogdian documents are the Ancient Letters, found in 1920 by [[Aurel Stein|Sir Aurel Stein]] in a watchtower near [[Dunhuang]], China.<ref name=coulmas/> These letters date to approximately 312-313 C.E. and are written in Early Sogdian.<ref name=gharib/> |
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The Sogdian Buddhist texts, written in the |
The Sogdian Buddhist texts, written in the sutra script, are younger, dating to approximately the sixth to eighth or ninth century. They were found during the first two decades of the twentieth century in one of the caves of the Thousand Buddhas in the Chinese province of [[Gansu]]. The bulk of these manuscripts reside in the [[British Museum]], the [[Bibliotheque Nationale de France]], and the [[Russian Academy of Sciences|St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences]].<ref name=gharib/> |
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Another important discovery was of the Mug Documents in 1933 by Soviet scholars. These documents were found in the remains of a fortress on Mount Mug in northern [[Tajikistan]]. The documents, numbering over 76, were written on many different types of materials, such as paper, silk, wood, and skin. According to the dates on the documents, they date to the eighth century C.E. The majority of them were written using the Sogdian cursive script.<ref name=gharib/> |
Another important discovery was of the Mug Documents in 1933 by Soviet scholars. These documents were found in the remains of a fortress on Mount Mug in northern [[Tajikistan]]. The documents, numbering over 76, were written on many different types of materials, such as paper, silk, wood, and skin. According to the dates on the documents, they date to the eighth century C.E. The majority of them were written using the Sogdian cursive script.<ref name=gharib/> |
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| ⚫ | The "Uyghur" cursive script eventually developed into the [[Old Uyghur alphabet]], which was used to write the [[Uyghur language]].<ref name=coulmas/> This child script was, however, rotated 90 degrees, written in a vertical direction from top to bottom, but with the first vertical line starting from the left side, not from the right as in Chinese, most probably because the [[right-to-left]] direction was used in horizontal writing. The [[Mongolian alphabet]] proper, being an adaptation of the Old Uyghur alphabet, still uses this kind of vertical writing, as does its remoter descendant [[Manchu alphabet|Manchu]].<ref name=mote>{{cite book|title=Imperial China, 900-1800|author=F.W. Mote|publisher=Harvard University Press|year=1999|page=42-43|id=ISBN 0674012127}}</ref> |
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The [[Old Turkic script]] (also called Turkic runes) was also an offshoot of the Sogdian alphabet, with additional signs added for Turkic sounds not used in Sogdian.<ref name=coulmas/> |
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==See also== |
==See also== |
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==References== |
==References== |
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<references/> |
<references/> |
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==External links== |
==External links== |
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Revision as of 06:15, 4 December 2008
| Sogdian | |
|---|---|
| Script type | |
Time period | Late Antiquity |
| Direction | Horizontal and vertical writing in East Asian scripts, top-to-bottom  |
| Languages | Sogdian |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | Mongolian Orkhon script Manichaean script Old Uyghur alphabet |
The Sogdian alphabet was originally used for the Sogdian language, a language in the Iranian family used by the people of Sogdiana.[1] The alphabet is derived from Syriac, the descendant script of the Aramaic alphabet. The Sogdian alphabet is one of three scripts used to write the Sogdian language, the others being the Manichaean alphabet and the Syriac alphabet.[1] It was used throughout Central Asia, from the edge of Iran in the west, to China in the east, from approximately 100-1200 C.E.[1]
Structure
Like the writing systems from which it is descended, the Sogdian writing system is an Abjad. The script consists of 17 consonants, many of which have alternate forms for initial, middle, and final position.[2] Like in Aramaic, vowels were commonly written with the consonants y and w.[2] The alphabet also includes several diacritics, which were used inconsistently. It is written from right to left, but by the time it had evolved into its child system, the Old Uyghur alphabet, it had been rotated 90 degrees, written vertically in columns from left to right.[2] Voiced and voiceless fricatives are consistently not distinguished in the script.[1]
Aramaic logograms also appear in the script, remnants of adapting the Aramaic writing system to the Sogdian language.[3] These logograms are used mainly for functional words such as pronouns, articles, prepositions, and conjunctions.[1]
Varieties
Three main varieties of the Sogdian alphabet developed over time: Early Sogdian, an archaic non-cursive type; the sutra script, a calligraphic script used in Sogdian Buddhist scriptures; and the so-called "Uyghur" cursive script (not to be confused with the Old Uyghur alphabet).[1] Early Sogdian dates to the early fourth century C.E., and is characterized by distinct, separated graphemes.[3] The sutra script appears around 500 C.E., while the cursive script develops approximately a century later. The cursive script is thus named because its letters are connected with a base line. Since many letters in the cursive script are extremely similar in form, to the point of being indistinguishable, it is the most difficult to read of the three varieties.[2] As the Sogdian alphabet became more cursive and more stylized, some letters became more difficult to distinguish, or were distinguished only in final position, e.g. n and z.[3]
Source Materials
The Sogdian script is known from religious texts of Buddhism, Manichaeism, and Christianity, as well as from secular sources such as letters, coins, and legal documents. The oldest known Sogdian documents are the Ancient Letters, found in 1920 by Sir Aurel Stein in a watchtower near Dunhuang, China.[2] These letters date to approximately 312-313 C.E. and are written in Early Sogdian.[1]
The Sogdian Buddhist texts, written in the sutra script, are younger, dating to approximately the sixth to eighth or ninth century. They were found during the first two decades of the twentieth century in one of the caves of the Thousand Buddhas in the Chinese province of Gansu. The bulk of these manuscripts reside in the British Museum, the Bibliotheque Nationale de France, and the St. Petersburg Academy of Sciences.[1]
Another important discovery was of the Mug Documents in 1933 by Soviet scholars. These documents were found in the remains of a fortress on Mount Mug in northern Tajikistan. The documents, numbering over 76, were written on many different types of materials, such as paper, silk, wood, and skin. According to the dates on the documents, they date to the eighth century C.E. The majority of them were written using the Sogdian cursive script.[1]
Child Writing Systems
The "Uyghur" cursive script eventually developed into the Old Uyghur alphabet, which was used to write the Uyghur language.[2] This child script was, however, rotated 90 degrees, written in a vertical direction from top to bottom, but with the first vertical line starting from the left side, not from the right as in Chinese, most probably because the right-to-left direction was used in horizontal writing. The Mongolian alphabet proper, being an adaptation of the Old Uyghur alphabet, still uses this kind of vertical writing, as does its remoter descendant Manchu.[4]
The Old Turkic script (also called Turkic runes) was also an offshoot of the Sogdian alphabet, with additional signs added for Turkic sounds not used in Sogdian.[2]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Gharib, B. (1995), Sogdian Dictionary: Sogdian-Persian-English, Tehran, Iran: Farhangan Publications, pp. xiii–xxxvi, ISBN 9645558069
- ^ a b c d e f g Coulmas, Florian (1996), The Blackwell Encyclopedia of Writing Systems, Cambridge, MA: Blackwell Publishers, pp. 471–474, 512, ISBN 0631194460
- ^ a b c Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William (1996), The World’s Writing Systems, New York: Oxford University Press, pp. 515–536, ISBN 0195079930
- ^ F.W. Mote (1999). Imperial China, 900-1800. Harvard University Press. p. 42-43. ISBN 0674012127.