Book Pahlavi
| Book Pahlavi | |
|---|---|
.jpg) A Book Pahlavi codex | |
| Script type | with heterograms |
Period | c. 3rd century – c. 11th century AD |
| Direction | Right-to-left |
| Languages | Middle Persian language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | |
Child systems | |
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Phlv, 133 |
Book Pahlavi is the cursive[1] variant of the Pahlavi script, which was derived from the Aramaic script during the Sassanid period to write the Middle Persian language. Book Pahlavi was used primarily for writing books and documents, but later also for inscriptions.
Book Pahlavi is an abjad, meaning there are no unique vowel symbols, although it does make use of matres lectionis.[1] Much like rasm in the Arabic script, a single letterform can be used for multiple letters, as they merged over time.[1] (To avoid confusion, these are still usually transliterated differently.) Further ambiguity is added by the fact that the boundaries between letters are not clear, and many letters look identical to combinations of other letters.[2] Like other variants of Pahlavi, many Aramaic-language heterograms (Middle Persian huzwāreš; also called "Aramaeograms") are used in Book Pahlavi texts.[3] In transliteration, these are written as capital letters to differentiate them from Middle Persian words.[4]
The Avestan script was derived from Book Pahlavi as a phonetic alphabet with 52 characters (including 15 vowel characters) in order to compile the traditional sacred texts of the Avesta into a book. Sometimes, Middle Persian can be written in the Avestan script, where it is referred to as Pazend.
Letters
[edit]| Letter name | Letter | in Middle Persian words | in heterograms | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Image | Transliteration | transcription | Transliteration | |
| Aleph | 
|
ʾ | (zero), ā, a | A |
| Heth | h | h, x | Ḥ / H | |
| Beth | 
|
b | b | B |
| Gimel | 
|
g | g | G |
| Daleth | d | d, y | D | |
| Yodh | y | y, j, ē, ī, e, i | Y | |
| Hē | 
|
[a] | H / E | |
| Waw | 
|
w | w, ō, ū, o, u | W |
| Nun | n | n | N | |
| Ayin | [a] | ʿ / O | ||
| Resh | r | r | R | |
| (otiose sign) | ' | [b] | ' | |
| Zayin | 
|
z | z | Z |
| Kaph | 
|
k | g, k, γ | K |
| Old Kaph | 
| |||
| Lamedh | 
|
l | r, l | L |
| hooked Lamedh | 
|
[a] | ||
| stroked Lamedh | 
|
ɫ | l | [c] |
| Mem | 
|
m | m | M |
| Qoph | [a] | Q | ||
| Samekh | 
|
s | s, h | S |
| Pe | 
|
p | b, p, f | P |
| Sadhe | 
|
c / ṣ | č, z, j | Ṣ / C |
| Shin | 
|
š | š, j | S |
| Taw | 
|
t | d, t | T |
- ^ a b c d only used in heterograms.
- ^ the otiose sign is a silent sign identical to Waw, Nun, Ayin, and Resh that can mark the end of the word.
- ^ only used in Middle Persian words.
Ligatures
[edit]Unlike other Pahlavi scripts, Book Pahlavi features extensive ligatures.[5] Many letters take on descending forms before the letters aleph-heth, gimel-daleth-yodh, pe, sadhe, and taw.[6]
See also
[edit]- Heterogram (linguistics)
- Rasm
- Inscriptional Parthian
- Inscriptional Pahlavi
- Psalter Pahlavi
- Pazend
- Avestan alphabet
- Manichaean script
- Middle Persian literature
References
[edit]- ^ a b c "IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (3) Writing Systems". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ Roger D. Woodard: The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas. Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1, S. 123.
- ^ "HUZWĀREŠ". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ a b MacKenzie, David Neil (2000-09-30). A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. ISBN 9780197135594.
- ^ Pandey, Anshuman. "Revised proposal to encode Book Pahlavi in Unicode" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-05-22.
- ^ Pandey, Anshuman. "Preliminary proposal to encode Book Pahlavi in Unicode" (PDF). Retrieved 2025-05-22.