Caucasian Albanian alphabet

Last updated
Caucasian Albanian
Alban-script.jpg
Matenadaran MS No. 7117, fol. 142r
DirectionLeft-to-right
ISO 15924 Aghb, 239
Unicode alias
Caucasian Albanian
U+10530–U+1056F
Final Accepted Script Proposal

The Caucasian Albanian alphabet was an alphabet used by the Caucasian Albanians, one of the ancient and indigenous Northeast Caucasian peoples whose territory comprised parts of present-day Azerbaijan and Daghestan. It was one of only two indigenous alphabets ever developed for speakers of indigenous Caucasian languages (i.e. Caucasian languages that are not a part of larger groupings like the Turkic and Indo-European language families) to represent any of their languages, the other being the Georgian alphabet. [1] The Armenian language, the third language of Caucasus with its own alphabet, is an independent branch of the Indo-European language family.

Alphabet A standard set of letters that represent phonemes of a spoken language

An alphabet is a standard set of letters that represent the phonemes of any spoken language it is used to write. This is in contrast to other types of writing systems, such as syllabaries and logographic systems.

Caucasian Albania former country

Caucasian Albania is a modern exonym for an ancient country in the eastern Caucasus, on the territory of present-day republic of Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan. Its endonym is unknown. The name Albania is derived from the Ancient Greek name Ἀλβανία and Latin Albanía. The prefix "Caucasian" is used purely to avoid confusion with modern Albania of the Balkans, of which it has no known geographical or historical connections to Caucasian Albania.

Northeast Caucasian languages language family

The Northeast Caucasian languages, or Nakh-Daghestanian languages, are a language family spoken in the Russian republics of Dagestan, Chechnya and Ingushetia and in northern Azerbaijan as well as in diaspora populations in Western Europe, Turkey and the Middle East. They are occasionally called North Caspian, as opposed to North Pontic for the Northwest Caucasian languages.

Contents

History

Mesrop Mashtots by Francesco Maggiotto (1750-1805). Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian medieval evangelizer and enlightener, invented the Caucasian Albanian alphabet in the 5th century, shortly after creating the Armenian script. Mesrop Mashtots by Francesco Majotto.jpg
Mesrop Mashtots by Francesco Maggiotto (1750-1805). Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian medieval evangelizer and enlightener, invented the Caucasian Albanian alphabet in the 5th century, shortly after creating the Armenian script.

According to Movses Kaghankatvatsi, the Caucasian Albanian alphabet was created by Mesrop Mashtots, [3] [4] [5] the Armenian monk, theologian and translator who is also credited with creating the Armenian alphabet. [6] [7]

Movses Kaghankatvatsi, or Movses Daskhurantsi is the reputed author of a tenth-century Classical Armenian historiographical work on Caucasian Albania and eastern provinces of Armenia, known as The History of the Country of Albania.

Mesrop Mashtots Medieval Armenian theologian and linguist

Mesrop Mashtotslisten (help·info), also known as Mesrob the Vartabed, was an early medieval Armenian linguist, composer, theologian, statesman and hymnologist. He is best known for inventing the Armenian alphabet c. 405 AD, which was a fundamental step in strengthening Armenian national identity. He was also the creator of the Caucasian Albanian and Georgian alphabets, according to a number of scholars and contemporaneous Armenian sources.

Monk religious occupation

A monk is a person who practices religious asceticism by monastic living, either alone or with any number of other monks. A monk may be a person who decides to dedicate his life to serving all other living beings, or to be an ascetic who voluntarily chooses to leave mainstream society and live his or her life in prayer and contemplation. The concept is ancient and can be seen in many religions and in philosophy.

Koriun, a pupil of Mesrop Mashtots, in his book The Life of Mashtots, wrote about the circumstances of its creation:

Then there came and visited them an elderly man, an Albanian named Benjamin. And he, Mesrop Mashtots, inquired and examined the barbaric diction of the Albanian language, and then through his usual God-given keenness of mind invented an alphabet, which he, through the grace of Christ, successfully organized and put in order. [8]

The alphabet was in use from its creation in the early 5th century through the 12th century, and was used not only formally by the Church of Caucasian Albania, but also for secular purposes. [9]

Church of Caucasian Albania

The Church of Albania or the Albanian Apostolic Church was an ancient, briefly independent, autocephalous church. It later fell under the religious jurisdiction of the Armenian Apostolic Church that existed from the 5th century to 1830 and was centered in Caucasian Albania, a region spanning present-day northern Azerbaijan and southern Dagestan. It was one of the earliest national Christian churches.

Rediscovery

A capital from a 5th-century church with an inscription using Caucasian Albanian lettering, found at Mingachevir in 1949 Caucasian albanian stone azerbaijan mingechaur2.jpg
A capital from a 5th-century church with an inscription using Caucasian Albanian lettering, found at Mingachevir in 1949

Although mentioned in early sources, no examples of it were known to exist until its rediscovery in 1937 by a Georgian scholar, Professor Ilia Abuladze, [10] in Matenadaran MS No. 7117, a manual from the 15th century. This manual presents different alphabets for comparison: Greek, Latin, Syriac, Georgian, Coptic, and Caucasian Albanian among them.

Ilia Abuladze was a distinguished Georgian historian, philologist and public figure, a Corresponding Member of the Georgian Academy of Sciences (GAS) (1950), Meritorious Science Worker of Georgia (1961), Doctor of Philological Sciences (1938), and professor (1947).

Matenadaran Art museum, archive, research institute in Yerevan, Armenia

The Matenadaran, officially the Mesrop Mashtots Institute of Ancient Manuscripts is a museum, repository of manuscripts, and a research institute in Yerevan, Armenia. It is the world's largest repository of Armenian manuscripts.

The Greek alphabet has been used to write the Greek language since the late ninth or early eighth century BC. It is derived from the earlier Phoenician alphabet, and was the first alphabetic script to have distinct letters for vowels as well as consonants. In Archaic and early Classical times, the Greek alphabet existed in many different local variants, but, by the end of the fourth century BC, the Eucleidean alphabet, with twenty-four letters, ordered from alpha to omega, had become standard and it is this version that is still used to write Greek today. These twenty-four letters are: Α α, Β β, Γ γ, Δ δ, Ε ε, Ζ ζ, Η η, Θ θ, Ι ι, Κ κ, Λ λ, Μ μ, Ν ν, Ξ ξ, Ο ο, Π π, Ρ ρ, Σ σ/ς, Τ τ, Υ υ, Φ φ, Χ χ, Ψ ψ, and Ω ω.

Between 1947 and 1952, archaeological excavations at Mingachevir under the guidance of S. Kaziev found a number of artifacts with Caucasian Albanian writing — a stone altar post with an inscription around its border that consisted of 70 letters, and another 6 artifacts with brief texts (containing from 5 to 50 letters), including candlesticks, a tile fragment, and a vessel fragment. [11]

The first literary work in the Caucasian Albanian alphabet was discovered on a palimpsest in Saint Catherine's Monastery on Mount Sinai in 2003 by Dr. Zaza Aleksidze; it is a fragmentary lectionary dating to the late 4th or early 5th century AD, containing verses from 2 Corinthians 11, with a Georgian Patericon written over it. [12] [13] Jost Gippert, professor of Comparative Linguistics at the University of Frankfurt am Main, and other have published this palimpsest that contains also liturgical readings taken from the Gospel of John. [14]

Legacy

The Udi language, spoken by some 8,000 people, mostly in Azerbaijan but also in Georgia and Armenia, [15] is considered to be the last direct continuator of the Caucasian Albanian language. [16] [17]

Characters

The script consists of 52 characters, all of which can also represent numerals from 1-700,000 when a combining mark is added above, below, or both above and below them, described as similar to Coptic. 49 of the characters are found in the Sinai palimpsests. [18] Several punctuation marks are also present, including a middle dot, a separating colon, an apostrophe, paragraph marks, and citation marks.

Unicode

The Caucasian Albanian alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in June, 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

The Unicode block for Caucasian Albanian is U+10530–1056F:

Caucasian Albanian [1] [2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+1053x𐔰𐔱𐔲𐔳𐔴𐔵𐔶𐔷𐔸𐔹𐔺𐔻𐔼𐔽𐔾𐔿
U+1054x𐕀𐕁𐕂𐕃𐕄𐕅𐕆𐕇𐕈𐕉𐕊𐕋𐕌𐕍𐕎𐕏
U+1055x𐕐𐕑𐕒𐕓𐕔𐕕𐕖𐕗𐕘𐕙𐕚𐕛𐕜𐕝𐕞𐕟
U+1056x𐕠𐕡𐕢𐕣𐕯
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 11.0
2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

Related Research Articles

Georgian scripts alphabetic writing system

The Georgian scripts are the three writing systems used to write the Georgian language: Asomtavruli, Nuskhuri and Mkhedruli. Although the systems differ in appearance, all three are unicase, their letters share the same names and alphabetical order, and are written horizontally from left to right. Of the three scripts, Mkhedruli, once the civilian royal script of the Kingdom of Georgia and mostly used for the royal charters, is now the standard script for modern Georgian and its related Kartvelian languages, whereas Asomtavruli and Nuskhuri are used only by the Georgian Orthodox Church, in ceremonial religious texts and iconography.

Languages of the Caucasus languages of a geographic region

The Caucasian languages are a large and extremely varied array of languages spoken by more than ten million people in and around the Caucasus Mountains, which lie between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea.

Arran (Caucasus)

Arran, also known as Aran, Ardhan, Al-Ran, Aghvank and Alvank, or Caucasian Albania, was a geographical name used in ancient and medieval times to signify the territory which lies within the triangle of land, lowland in the east and mountainous in the west, formed by the junction of Kura and Aras rivers, including the highland and lowland Karabakh, Mil plain and parts of the Mughan plain, and in the pre-Islamic times, corresponded roughly to the territory of modern-day Republic of Azerbaijan. The term is the Middle Persian equivalent to the Greco-Roman Albania. It was known as Aghvania, Alvan-k in Armenian, and Al-ran in Arabic.

The Udi language, spoken by the Udi people, is a member of the Lezgic branch of the Northeast Caucasian language family. It is believed an earlier form of it was the main language of Caucasian Albania, which stretched from south Dagestan to current day Azerbaijan. The Old Udi language is also called the Caucasian Albanian language and possibly corresponds to the "Gargarian" language identified by medieval Armenian historians. Modern Udi is known simply as Udi.

Koryun Armenian historian

Koryun was the earliest Armenian-language historian. Writing in the fifth century, his "Life of Mashtots" contains many details about the evangelization of Armenia and the invention of the Armenian alphabet. Some Armenian and European scholars, such as G. Alishan, O. Torosyan, G. Fintigliyan, A. Sarukhan, G. Ter-Mkrtchyan (Miaban), S. Weber and others, have speculated that Koryun could have been an ethnic Georgian (Iberian) or Georgian-Armenian. Having received his early education under Mesrob Mashtots, Koryun went to Byzantium for higher studies, returning to Armenia with other students in 432. He was a close friend of Eznik Koghbatsi and Ghevond. Later, he was appointed Bishop of Georgia. He has been listed among the junior translators. His style is original, but somewhat obscure due to grammatical irregularities. To him have been attributed the translations of the three apocryphal books of the Maccabees. Koryun was the origin of the claim that the Georgian alphabet was created by Mesrob Mashtots.

The Udis are a native people of the Caucasus. Currently, they live in Azerbaijan, Russia, Georgia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, Ukraine and many other countries. The total number is about 10,000 people. They speak the Udi language. Some also speak Azerbaijani, Russian, Georgian and Armenian languages depending on where they reside. Their religion is Christianity.

Azerbaijan International is a magazine that discusses issues related to Azerbaijanis around the world. It was established in 1993 shortly after the dissolution of the Soviet Union when Azerbaijan gained its independence. Since then, it has been published quarterly in English with occasional articles in the Azerbaijani language in Latin and Arabic scripts. The magazine has offices in Los Angeles and Baku.

Church of Kish

The Church of Kish, also known by different sources as Church of Saint Elishe or Holy Mother of God Church, is an inactive 12th or 13th century Caucasian Albanian church located in the village of Kiş approximately 5 km north of Shaki, Azerbaijan. It has functioned at different times as a Caucasian Albanian Apostolic church a Chalcedonian church within the Georgian Orthodox Church and later as Armenian Apostolic Church.

The Ethnic groups in Armenia is about the ethnic groups features of the population of Armenia.

Nij, Azerbaijan Municipality in Qabala, Azerbaijan

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Nəsirvaz Municipality in Nakhchivan, Azerbaijan

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The Armenian alphabet is an alphabetic writing system used to write Armenian. It was developed around 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, an Armenian linguist and ecclesiastical leader. The system originally had 36 letters; eventually, three more were adopted.

Khinalug people

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Caucasian Albanian language language

Caucasian Albanian is an extinct member of the Northeast Caucasian languages. It was spoken in Caucasian Albania, which stretched from current day south Dagestan to Azerbaijan. Linguists believe it is an early linguistic predecessor to the endangered North Caucasian Udi language. The distinct Caucasian Albanian alphabet used 52 letters.

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References

  1. ↑ Catford, J.C. (1977). "Mountain of Tongues:The Languages of the Caucasus". Annual Review of Anthropology. 6: 283–314 [296]. doi:10.1146/annurev.an.06.100177.001435.
  2. ↑ Peter R. Ackroyd. The Cambridge history of the Bible. — Cambridge University Press, 1963. — vol. 2. — p. 368:"The third Caucasian people, the Albanians, also received an alphabet from Mesrop, to supply scripture for their Christian church. This church did not survive beyond the conquests of Islam, and all but few traces of the script have been lost..."
  3. ↑ Gippert, Jost; Wolfgang Schulze (2007). "Some Remarks on the Caucasian Albanian Palimpsests". Iran and the Caucasus. 11 (2): 201–212 [210]. doi:10.1163/157338407X265441. "Rather, we have to assume that Old Udi corresponds to the language of the ancient Gargars (cf. Movsēs Kałankatuac‘i who tells us that Mesrop Maštoc‘ (362-440) created with the help [of the bishop Ananian and the translator Benjamin] an alphabet for the guttural, harsh, barbarous, and rough language of the Gargarac‘ik‘)."
  4. ↑ К. В. Тревер. Очерки по истории и культуре Кавказской Албании. М—Л., 1959:"Как известно, в V в. Месроп Маштоц, создавая албанский алфавит, в основу его положил гаргарское наречие албанского языка («создал письмена гаргарского языка, богатого горловыми звуками»). Это последнее обстоятельство позволяет высказать предположение, что именно гаргары являлись наиболее культурным и ведущим албанским племенем."
  5. ↑ Peter R. Ackroyd. The Cambridge history of the Bible. — Cambridge University Press, 1963. — vol. 2. — p. 368:"The third Caucasian people, the Albanians, also received an alphabet from Mesrop, to supply scripture for their Christian church. This church did not survive beyond the conquests of Islam, and all but few traces of the script have been lost, and there are no remains of the version known."
  6. ↑ Lenore A. Grenoble. Language policy in the Soviet Union. Springer, 2003. ISBN   1-4020-1298-5. P. 116. "The creation of the Georgian alphabet is generally attributed to Mesrop, who is also credited with the creation of the Armenian alphabet."
  7. ↑ Donald Rayfield "The Literature of Georgia: A History (Caucasus World). RoutledgeCurzon. ISBN   0-7007-1163-5. P. 19. "The Georgian alphabet seems unlikely to have a pre-Christian origin, for the major archaeological monument of the first century 4IX the bilingual Armazi gravestone commemorating Serafua, daughter of the Georgian viceroy of Mtskheta, is inscribed in Greek and Aramaic only. It has been believed, and not only in Armenia, that all the Caucasian alphabets — Armenian, Georgian and Caucaso-Albanian — were invented in the fourth century by the Armenian scholar Mesrop Mashtots.<...> The Georgian chronicles The Life of Kanli - assert that a Georgian script was invented two centuries before Christ, an assertion unsupported by archaeology. There is a possibility that the Georgians, like many minor nations of the area, wrote in a foreign language — Persian, Aramaic, or Greek — and translated back as they read."
  8. ↑ Koriun, The life of Mashtots, Ch. 16.
  9. ↑ Schulze, Wolfgang (2005). "Towards a History of Udi" (PDF). International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics: 1–27 [12]. Retrieved 4 July 2012. "In addition, a small number of inscriptions on candleholders, roofing tiles and on a pedestal found since 1947 in Central and Northern Azerbaijan illustrate that the Aluan alphabet had in fact been in practical use."
  10. ↑ Ilia Abuladze. "About the discovery of the alphabet of the Caucasian Aghbanians". In the Bulletin of the Institute of Language, History and Material Culture (ENIMK), Vol. 4, Ch. I, Tbilisi, 1938.
  11. ↑ Philip L. Kohl, Mara Kozelsky, Nachman Ben-Yehuda. Selective Remembrances: Archaeology in the Construction, Commemoration, and Consecration of National Pasts. University of Chicago Press, 2007. ISBN   0-226-45058-9, ISBN   978-0-226-45058-2
  12. ↑ Zaza Alexidze; Discovery and Decipherment of Caucasian Albanian Writing "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-21. Retrieved 2011-01-18.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
  13. ↑ Aleksidze, Zaza; Blair, Betty (2003). "Caucasian Albanian Alphabet: Ancient Script Discovered in the Ashes". Azerbaijan International.
  14. ↑ Gippert, Jost / Schulze, Wolfgang / Aleksidze, Zaza / Mahé, Jean-Pierre: The Caucasian Albanian Palimpsests of Mount Sinai, 2 vols., XXIV + 530 pp.; Turnhout: Brepols 2009
  15. ↑ Wolfgang Schulze, "The Udi Language", "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-08-26. Retrieved 2010-02-24.CS1 maint: Archived copy as title (link)
  16. ↑ The Arab geographers refer to the Arranian language as still spoken in the neighbourhood of Barda'a (Persian: Peroz-Abadh, Armenian Partav), but now only the two villages inhabited by the Udi are considered as the direct continuators of the Albanian linguistic tradition. V. Minorsky. Caucasica IV. Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London, Vol. 15, No. 3. (1953), pp. 504-529.
  17. ↑ "Caucasian Albanian Script. The Significance of Decipherment" (2003) by Dr. Zaza Alexidze.
  18. ↑ Everson, Michael; Gippert, Jost (2011-10-28). "N4131R: Proposal for encoding the Caucasian Albanian script in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). Working Group Document, ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2.
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