The Avestan alphabet ( <small>transliteration</small>: , Middle Persian: <small>transliteration:</small> , <small>transcription:</small> , ) is a writing system developed during Iran's Sasanian era (226–651 CE) to render the Avestan language.
As a side effect of its development, the script was also used for Pazend, a method of writing Middle Persian that was used primarily for Zend commentaries on the texts of the Avesta. In the texts of Zoroastrian tradition, the alphabet is referred to as "the religion's script" ( in Middle Persian and in New Persian).
History
The development of the Avestan alphabet was initiated by the need to represent <!-- "with extreme precision" so Kellens --> recited Avestan language texts correctly. The various text collections that today constitute the canon of Zoroastrian scripture are the result of a collation that occurred in the 4th century, probably during the reign of Shapur II (309–379). It is likely that the Avestan alphabet was an ad hoc innovation related to this—"Sassanid archetype"—collation.
The enterprise, "which is indicative of a Mazdean revival and of the establishment of a strict orthodoxy closely connected with the political power, was probably caused by the desire to compete more effectively with Buddhists, Christians, and Manicheans, whose faith was based on a revealed book". Some of the vowels, such as ə appear to derive from Greek cursives.
Avestan script, like Pahlavi script and Aramaic script also, is written from right to left. In Avestan script, letters are not connected, and ligatures are "rare and clearly of secondary origin".
!scope=col rowspan=2|IPA
!rowspan=2|Unicode
|-
!Hoff.
!Bar.
|-
|
|a
|a
|
|style="text-align: left;" | U+10B00: AVESTAN LETTER A
|-
|
|ā
|ā
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B01: AVESTAN LETTER AA
|-
|
|å
|—
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B02: AVESTAN LETTER AO
|-
|
|ā̊
|å
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B03: AVESTAN LETTER AAO
|-
|
|ą
|ą
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B04: AVESTAN LETTER AN
|-
|
|ą̇
|—
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B05: AVESTAN LETTER AAN
|-
|
|ə
|ə
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B06: AVESTAN LETTER AE
|-
|
|ə̄
|ə̄
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B07: AVESTAN LETTER AEE
|-
|
|e
|e
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B08: AVESTAN LETTER E
|-
|
|ē
|ē
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B09: AVESTAN LETTER EE
|-
|
|o
|o
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0A: AVESTAN LETTER O
|-
|
|ō
|ō
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0B: AVESTAN LETTER OO
|-
|
|i
|i
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0C: AVESTAN LETTER I
|-
|
|ī
|ī
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0D: AVESTAN LETTER II
|-
|
|u
|u
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0E: AVESTAN LETTER U
|-
|
|ū
|ū
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B0F: AVESTAN LETTER UU
|-
|
|k
|k
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B10: AVESTAN LETTER KE
|-
|
|x
|x
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B11: AVESTAN LETTER XE
|-
|
|x́
|ḣ
|,
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B12: AVESTAN LETTER XYE
|-
|
|xᵛ
|xᵛ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B13: AVESTAN LETTER XVE
|-
|
|g
|g
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B14: AVESTAN LETTER GE
|-
|
|ġ
|—
|,
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B15: AVESTAN LETTER GGE
|-
|
|γ
|γ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B16: AVESTAN LETTER GHE
|-
|
|c
|č
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B17: AVESTAN LETTER CE
|-
|
|j
|ǰ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B18: AVESTAN LETTER JE
|-
|
|t
|t
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B19: AVESTAN LETTER TE
|-
|
|ϑ
|ϑ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1A: AVESTAN LETTER THE
|-
|
|d
|d
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1B: AVESTAN LETTER DE
|-
|
|δ
|δ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1C: AVESTAN LETTER DHE
|-
|
|t̰
|t̰
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1D: AVESTAN LETTER TTE
|-
|
|p
|p
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1E: AVESTAN LETTER PE
|-
|
|f
|f
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B1F: AVESTAN LETTER FE
|-
|
|b
|b
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B20: AVESTAN LETTER BE
|-
|
|β
|w
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B21: AVESTAN LETTER BHE
|-
|
|ŋ
|ŋ
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B22: AVESTAN LETTER NGE
|-
|
|ŋ́
|ŋ́
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B23: AVESTAN LETTER NGYE
|-
|
|ŋᵛ
|—
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B24: AVESTAN LETTER NGVE
|-
|
|n
|n
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B25: AVESTAN LETTER NE
|-
|
|ń
|—
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B26: AVESTAN LETTER NYE
|-
|
|ṇ
|n, m
|<br>
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B27: AVESTAN LETTER NNE
|-
|
|m
|m
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B28: AVESTAN LETTER ME
|-
|
|m̨
|—
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B29: AVESTAN LETTER HME
|-
|
|ẏ
|rowspan=3|y
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B2A: AVESTAN LETTER YYE
|-
|
|y
|
|style="text-align: left;"|U+10B2B: AVESTAN LETTER YE
|-
|
|ii
| lists 16 ligatures, but most are formed by the interaction of swash tails.
Numerals
Numerals are in the Faulmann chart (see picture), near the bottom.
left|135x135px
Punctuation
Words and the end of the first part of a compound are separated by a dot (in a variety of vertical positions). Beyond that, punctuation is weak or non-existent in the manuscripts, and in the 1880s Karl Friedrich Geldner had to devise one for standardized transcription. In his system, which he developed based on what he could find, a triangle of three dots serves as a colon, a semicolon, an end of sentence or end of section; which is determined by the size of the dots and whether there is one dot above and two below, or two above and one below. Two above and one below signify—in ascending order of "dot" size—colon, semicolon, end of sentence or end of section.
{| class=wikitable
|+Avestan punctuation
|-
!Mark
!Function
!Unicode
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|rowspan=3|word separator
|U+2E31: WORD SEPARATOR MIDDLE DOT
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|U+00B7: MIDDLE DOT
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|U+002E: FULL STOP
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|abbreviation or repetition
|U+10B39: AVESTAN ABBREVIATION MARK
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|colon
|U+10B3A: TINY TWO DOTS OVER ONE DOT PUNCTUATION
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|semicolon
|U+10B3B: SMALL TWO DOTS OVER ONE DOT PUNCTUATION
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|end of sentence
|U+10B3C: LARGE TWO DOTS OVER ONE DOT PUNCTUATION
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|alternative mark for end of sentence<br>(found in Avestan texts but not used by Geldner)
|U+10B3D: LARGE ONE DOT OVER TWO DOTS PUNCTUATION
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|end of section<br>(may be doubled for extra finality)
|U+10B3E: LARGE TWO RINGS OVER ONE RING PUNCTUATION
|-
|style="text-align: center;"|
|alternative mark for end of section<br>(found in Avestan texts but not used by Geldner)
|U+10B3F: LARGE ONE RING OVER TWO RINGS PUNCTUATION
|}
Unicode
The Avestan alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in October 2009 with the release of version 5.2.
The characters are encoded at U+10B00—10B35 for letters (ii and uu are not represented as single characters, but as sequences of characters) and U+10B38—10B3F for punctuation.
References
External links
- On Wikipedia, the above Avestan alphabet samples are more likely than not displayed in most Web browsers using Google's Noto Sans Avestan font, which has four automated ligatures. A more complete, serif-style font, with full ligatures and more sophisticated kerning hints, is available below:
- Ernst Tremel's Open Font Licensed Ahura Mazda Unicode font, based on the type used in Geldner 1896, with the addition of ligatures in the PUA.
Bibliography
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