Inscriptional Parthian

Last updated
Inscriptional Parthian
Shapur Kabe Zartosht.png
Script type
Time period
c.100 CE – c.400 CE [1]
Direction Right-to-left script   OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
Languages Parthian language
Related scripts
Parent systems
Aramaic alphabet
ISO 15924
ISO 15924 Prti(130),Inscriptional Parthian
Unicode
Unicode alias
Inscriptional Parthian
U+10B40U+10B5F

Inscriptional Parthian was a script used to write the Parthian language, the majority of the text found were from clay fragments. This script was used from the 2nd century CE to the 5th century CE or in the Parthian Empire to the early Sasanian Empire. During the Sasanian Empire it was mostly used for official texts. [2] [3] [ citation needed ]

Contents

Inscriptional Parthian is written right to left and the letters are not joined.[ citation needed ]

Parthian (above), along with Greek (below) and Middle Persian was being used in inscriptions of early Sasanian emperors. Shapur I's inscription at the Naqsh-e Rajab Naqsh-e Rajab - Shapur parade - detail of inscription.jpg
Parthian (above), along with Greek (below) and Middle Persian was being used in inscriptions of early Sasanian emperors. Shapur I's inscription at the Naqsh-e Rajab

Letters

Inscriptional Parthian uses 22 letters: [3]

Name [A] ImageText IPA [4]
Aleph Inscriptional Parthian Letter Aleph.svg 𐭀/a/, /aː/
Beth Inscriptional Parthian Letter Beth.svg 𐭁/b/, /v/
Gimel Inscriptional Parthian Letter Gimel.svg 𐭂/g/, /j/
Daleth Inscriptional Parthian Letter Daleth.svg 𐭃/d/, /j/
He Inscriptional Parthian Letter He.svg 𐭄/h/
Waw Inscriptional Parthian Letter Waw.svg 𐭅/v/, /r/
Zayin Inscriptional Parthian Letter Zayin.svg 𐭆/z/
Heth Inscriptional Parthian Letter Heth.svg 𐭇/h/, /x/
Teth Inscriptional Parthian Letter Teth.svg 𐭈/t/
Yodh Inscriptional Parthian Letter Yodh.svg 𐭉/j/, /ĕː/, /ĭː/
Kaph Inscriptional Parthian Letter Kaph.svg 𐭊/k/
Lamedh Inscriptional Parthian Letter Lamedh.svg 𐭋/l/
Mem Inscriptional Parthian Letter Mem.svg 𐭌/m/
Nun Inscriptional Parthian Letter Nun.svg 𐭍/n/
Samekh Inscriptional Parthian Letter Samekh.svg 𐭎/s/
Ayin Inscriptional Parthian Letter Ayin.svg 𐭏/ʔ/
Pe Inscriptional Parthian Letter Pe.svg 𐭐/p/, /b/
Sadhe Inscriptional Parthian Letter Sadhe.svg 𐭑/s/
Qoph Inscriptional Parthian Letter Qoph.svg 𐭒/q/
Resh Inscriptional Parthian Letter Resh.svg 𐭓/r/
Shin Inscriptional Parthian Letter Shin.svg 𐭔/ʃ/, /ʒ/
Taw Inscriptional Parthian Letter Taw.svg 𐭕/t/, /d/
  1. ^
    Letter names are based on the corresponding Imperial Aramaic characters [3]

Ligatures

Inscriptional Parthian uses seven standard ligatures [3]

LigatureSequence
ImageText
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Gimel Waw.svg 𐭂𐭅𐭂 (gimel) + 𐭅 (waw)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Heth Waw.svg 𐭇𐭅𐭇 (heth) + 𐭅 (waw)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Yodh Waw.svg 𐭉𐭅𐭉 (yodh) + 𐭅 (waw)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Nun Waw.svg 𐭍𐭅𐭍 (nun) + 𐭅 (waw)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Ayin Lamedh.svg 𐭏𐭋𐭏 (ayin) + 𐭋 (lamedh)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Resh Waw.svg 𐭓𐭅𐭓 (resh) + 𐭅 (waw)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Taw Waw.svg 𐭕𐭅𐭕 (taw) + 𐭅 (waw)

The letters sadhe (𐭑) and nun (𐭍) have swash tails which typically trail under the following letter. [3]

LigatureSequence
ImageText
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Nun Nun.svg 𐭍𐭍𐭍 (nun) + 𐭍 (nun)
Inscriptional Parthian Ligature Nun Daleth.svg 𐭍𐭃𐭍 (nun) + 𐭃 (daleth)

Numerals

Inscriptional Parthian had its own numerals

Value123410201001000
SignImage Inscriptional Parthian Number One.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number Two.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number Three.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number Four.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number Ten.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number Twenty.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number One Hundred.svg Inscriptional Parthian Number One Thousand.svg
Text𐭘𐭙𐭚𐭛𐭜𐭝𐭞𐭟

Numbers are written right-to-left. Numbers without corresponding numerals are additive. For example, 158 is written as 𐭞𐭝𐭝𐭜𐭛𐭛 (100 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 4 + 4). [3]

Unicode

Inscriptional Parthian script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.

The Unicode block for Inscriptional Parthian is U+10B40–U+10B5F:

Inscriptional Parthian [1] [2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+10B4x𐭀𐭁𐭂𐭃𐭄𐭅𐭆𐭇𐭈𐭉𐭊𐭋𐭌𐭍𐭎𐭏
U+10B5x𐭐𐭑𐭒𐭓𐭔𐭕𐭘𐭙𐭚𐭛𐭜𐭝𐭞𐭟
Notes
1. ^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

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References

  1. https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2hm6b38h
  2. "Proposal for encoding the Inscriptional Parthian, Inscriptional Pahlavi, and Psalter Pahlavi scripts in the SMP of the UCS". escholarship.org. Retrieved 2024-09-18.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Everson, Michael; Pournader, Roozbeh (2007-08-24). "L2/07-207R: Proposal for encoding the Inscriptional Parthian, Inscriptional Pahlavi, and Psalter Pahlavi scripts in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF).
  4. Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems . Oxford University Press, Inc. pp.  518. ISBN   978-0195079937.