Inscriptional Pahlavi
Inscriptional Pahlavi is the earliest attested form of Pahlavi scripts, and is evident in clay fragments that have been dated to the reign of Mithridates I (r. 171–138 BC). Other early evidence includes the Pahlavi inscriptions of Arsacid era coins and rock inscriptions of Sassanid kings and other notables such as Kartir.
Inscriptional Pahlavi | |
---|---|
![]() Inscribed stone block from the Paikuli inscription | |
Script type | |
Direction | right-to-left script ![]() |
Languages | Middle Iranian languages |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Aramaic alphabet
|
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Phli (131), Inscriptional Pahlavi |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Inscriptional Pahlavi |
U+10B60–U+10B7F |
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Letters
Inscriptional Pahlavi used 19 non-joining letters:[1][2]
Name[A] | Image | Text | IPA[3] |
---|---|---|---|
Aleph | ![]() |
𐭠 | /a/, /aː/ |
Beth | ![]() |
𐭡 | /b/, /w/ |
Gimel | ![]() |
𐭢 | /ɡ/, /j/ |
Daleth | ![]() |
𐭣 | /d/, /j/ |
He | ![]() |
𐭤 | /h/ |
Waw-Ayin-Resh | ![]() |
𐭥 | /u/, /o/, /v/, /ʕ/, /r/ |
Zayin | ![]() |
𐭦 | /z/ |
Heth | ![]() |
𐭧 | /h/, /x/ |
Teth | ![]() |
𐭨 | /tˤ/ |
Yodh | ![]() |
𐭩 | /j/, /eː/, /iː/, /d̠͡ʒ/ |
Kaph | ![]() |
𐭪 | /k/, /ɡ/ |
Lamedh | ![]() |
𐭫 | /l/, /r/ |
Mem-Qoph | ![]() |
𐭬 | /m/, /q/ |
Nun | ![]() |
𐭭 | /n/ |
Samekh | ![]() |
𐭮 | /s/, /h/ |
Pe | ![]() |
𐭯 | /p/, /b/, /f/ |
Sadhe | ![]() |
𐭰 | /t̠͡ʃ/, /d̠͡ʒ/, /z/ |
Shin | ![]() |
𐭱 | /ʃ/ |
Taw | ![]() |
𐭲 | /t/, /d/ |
Numbers
Inscriptional Pahlavi had its own numerals:
Value | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 100 | 1000 | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Sign | Image | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() | ![]() |
Text | 𐭸 | 𐭹 | 𐭺 | 𐭻 | 𐭼 | 𐭽 | 𐭾 | 𐭿 |
Numbers are written right-to-left. Numbers without corresponding numerals are additive. For example, 24 is written as 𐭽𐭻 (20 + 4).[1]
Unicode
Inscriptional Pahlavi script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.
The Unicode block for Inscriptional Pahlavi is U+10B60–U+10B7F:
Inscriptional Pahlavi[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
U+10B6x | 𐭠 | 𐭡 | 𐭢 | 𐭣 | 𐭤 | 𐭥 | 𐭦 | 𐭧 | 𐭨 | 𐭩 | 𐭪 | 𐭫 | 𐭬 | 𐭭 | 𐭮 | 𐭯 |
U+10B7x | 𐭰 | 𐭱 | 𐭲 | 𐭸 | 𐭹 | 𐭺 | 𐭻 | 𐭼 | 𐭽 | 𐭾 | 𐭿 | |||||
Notes |
Gallery
- Inscriptional Pahlavi text from Shapur III at Taq-e Bostan, 4th century
- Kartir's inscription at Naqsh-e Rajab
- Coin of Ardashir I (r. 224–42) with Inscriptional Pahlavi writings
References
- 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).
- Livinsky, BA; Guang‐Da, Zhang; Samghabadi, R Shabani; Masson, Vadim Mikhaĭlovich (March 1999), Dani, Ahmad Hasan (ed.), History of civilizations of Central Asia, Multiple history, vol. 3. The crossroads of civilizations: A.D. 250 to 750, Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, p. 89, ISBN 978-81-208-1540-7.
- Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 518. ISBN 978-0195079937.
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