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Old Turkic

The script (also known as variously Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon- script, Turkic ) is the used by the Göktürks and other early Turkic Type Alphabet during the 8th to 10th centuries to record the Old Turkic language.[1] Languages Old Turkic The script is named after the in where early Time 6th to 10th centuries 8th-century inscriptions were discovered in an 1889 expedition by period [2] Nikolai Yadrintsev. These were published by Parent Proto-Sinaitic(?) Vasily Radlov and deciphered by the Danish philologist Vilhelm systems Thomsen in 1893.[3] Phoenician

This system was later used within the . Aramaic Additionally, a Yenisei variant is known from 9th-century Yenisei Syriac Kirghiz inscriptions, and it has likely cousins in the Valley of and the Old of the 10th century. Sogdian or Words were usually written from right to left. (disputed) Contents Old Turkic script Origins Child Old Hungarian Corpus systems Table of characters Direction Right-to-left Vowels ISO 15924 Orkh, 175 Consonants Old Turkic Variants alias Unicode Unicode U+10C00–U+10C4F range See also (https://www.unicode. org/charts/PDF/U10C Notes 00.) References External links

Origins

According to some sources, Orkhon script is derived from variants of the ,[4][5][6] in particular via the Pahlavi and Sogdian of Persia,[7][8] or possibly via Kharosthi used to write (cf. the inscription at Issyk ).

Vilhelm Thomsen (1893) connected the script to the reports of Chinese account (Records of the Grand Historian, vol. 110) from a 2nd-century BCE renegade and dignitary named Zhonghang Yue (Chinese: 中行说; : Zhōngháng Yuè). Yue "taught the (rulers of the ) to write official letters to the Chinese court on a wooden tablet (simplified Chinese: 牍; traditional Chinese: 牘; pinyin: dú) 31 cm long, and to use a seal and large-sized folder". The same sources tell that when the Xiongnu noted down something or transmitted a message, they made cuts on a piece of wood (gemu). They also mention a "Hu script". At the Noin-Ula burial site and other Hun burial sites in Mongolia and regions north of , the artifacts displayed over twenty carved characters. Most of these characters are either identical with or very similar to the letters of the Turkic Orkhon script.[9] Turkic inscriptions dating from earlier than the Orkhon inscriptions used about 150 symbols, which may suggest that first imitated Chinese script and then gradually was refined into an alphabet.

Contemporary Chinese sources conflict as to whether the Turks had a written language by the 6th century. The , dating to the 7th century, mentions that the Turks had a written language similar to that of the Sogdians. Two other sources, the and the History of the Northern Dynasties claim that the Turks did A copy of Bilge Kağan' stele in [10] not have a written language. According to István Vásáry, Old , . Turkic script was invented under the rule of the first and that it was modelled after the Sogdian fashion.[11] Several variants of the script came into being as early as the first half of the 6th century.[12]

Corpus

The Old Turkic corpus consists of about two hundred[13] inscriptions, plus a number of manuscripts.

The inscriptions, dating from the 7th to 10th century, were discovered in present-day Mongolia (the area of the Second Turkic Khaganate and the Uyghur Khaganate that succeeded it), in the upper Yenisey basin of central-south , and in smaller numbers, in the Altay mountains and . The texts are mostly epitaphs (official or private), but there are also graffiti and a handful of short inscriptions found on archaeological artifacts, including a number of bronze mirrors.[13]

The website of the Language Committee of Ministry of Culture and Information of the Republic of (http://irq.kaznpu.kz/?lan g=e&mod=1&tid=1&oid=15&=1) lists 54 inscriptions from the Transcription of part of Bilge Kağan's Orkhon area, 106 from the Yenisei area, 15 from the Talas area, and inscription (lines 36-40) 78 from the Altai area. The most famous of the inscriptions are the two monuments (obelisks) which were erected in the Orkhon Valley between 732 and 735 in honor of the Göktürk prince Kül Tigin and his brother the emperor Bilge Kağan. The inscription, a monument situated somewhat farther east, is slightly earlier, dating to ca. 722. These inscriptions relate in epic language the legendary origins of the Turks, the golden age of their history, their subjugation by the Chinese (Tang-Gokturk wars), and their liberation by Bilge.[14]

The Old Turkic manuscripts, of which there are none earlier than the 9th century, were found in present-day Xinjiang and represent , a different Turkic dialect from the one represented in the Old Turkic inscriptions in the Orkhon valley and elsewhere.[13] They include , a 9th-century manuscript book on . Table of characters

Old Turkic being a synharmonic language, a number of consonant signs are divided into two "synharmonic sets", one for front vowels and the other for back vowels. Such vowels can be taken as intrinsic to the consonant sign, giving the Old Turkic alphabet an aspect of an script. In these cases, it is customary to use superscript numerals ¹ and ² to mark consonant signs used with back and front vowels, respectively. This convention was introduced by Thomsen (1893), and followed by Gabain (1941), Malov (1951) and Tekin Location of the Orkhon Valley. (1968).

Vowels

Orkhon Yenisei Trans- IPA Image Text variants literation ఀ ం ఁ a, ä /ɑ/, /æ/ ః ఄ ı, i /ɯ/, /i/ అ /e/ Table of characters as published by o, u /o/, /u/ ఆ Thomsen (1893) ఇ ఈ ö, ü /ø/, /y/

Consonants

Synharmonic sets

Orkhon Yenisei Trans- Orkhon Yenisei Trans- IPA IPA Image Text variant literation Image Text variant literation ఉ ఊ ¹ /b/ ఋ ఌ b² /b/ ఑ ఒ ¹ /d/ ఓ d² /d/ ఍ ఎ ǧ /ɣ/ ఏ ఐ g /ɡ/ ఞ ట ¹ /l/ ఠ l² /l/ ణ n¹ /n/ త థ n² /n/ ఺ ఻ ¹ /r/ ఼ r² /r/ ఽ s¹ /s/ ా s² /s/ ృ ౄ ¹ /t/ ౅ ె t² /t/ ఖ గ j¹ /j/ ఘ ఙ j² /j/ ఴ వ q /q/ చ ఛ k /k/ oq, uq, qo, /oq/, /uq/, /qo/, ök, ük, /øk/, /yk/, స హ qu, q /qu/, /q/ జ ఝ kö, kü, k /kø/, /ky/, /k/

Other consonantal signs Orkhon Yenisei Trans- IPA Image Text variants literation ల ళ č /tʃ/ ఢ m /m/ య p /p/ [15] ు ూ ీ ి š /ʃ/ ఔ క z /z/ భ బ మ ñ /ŋ/ ఱ ič, či, č /itʃ/, /tʃi/, /tʃ/ శ ష ıq, qı, q /ɯq/, /qɯ/, /q/ న ఩ -nč /ntʃ/ ప ఫ -nj /ɲ/ డ -lt /lt/, /ld/ ద ధ -nt /nt/, /nd/ ే ot, ut[16] /ot/, /ut/ ై baš[17] /baʃ/

A colon-like symbol (⁚) is sometimes used as a word separator.[18] In some cases a ring (⸰) is used instead.[18] A reading example (right to left): ః఼భ౅ ( ) transliterated t²ñr²i, this spells the name of the Turkic sky god, Täñri (/tæŋri/).

Variants

Variants of the script were found from Mongolia and Xinjiang in the east to the Balkans in the west. The preserved inscriptions were dated to between the 8th and 10th centuries.

These alphabets are divided into four groups by Kyzlasov (1994)[20]

Asiatic group (includes Orkhon proper) Eurasiatic group Examples of the Orhon-Yenisei alphabet are depicted on the reverse group of the Azerbaijani 5 manat banknote issued since 2006.[19] The Asiatic group is further divided into three related alphabets:

Orkhon alphabet, Göktürks, 8th to 10th centuries Yenisei alphabet, Talas alphabet, a derivative of the Yenisei alphabet, Kangly or 8th to 10th centuries. Talas inscriptions include Terek-Say rock inscriptions found in the 1897, Koysary text, Bakaiyr gorge inscriptions, Kalbak-Tash 6 and 12 inscriptions, Talas alphabet has 29 identified letters.[21]

The Eurasiatic group is further divided into five related alphabets:

Achiktash, used in 8th to 10th centuries. South-Yenisei, used by the Göktürks 8th to 10th centuries. Two especially similar alphabets: the Don alphabet, used by the , 8th to 10th centuries; and the Kuban alphabet, used by the , 8th to 13th centuries. Inscriptions in both alphabets are found in the Pontic– Caspian steppe and on the banks of the Kama river. Tisza, used by the 8th to 10th centuries.

A number of alphabets are incompletely collected due to the limitations of the extant inscriptions. Evidence in the study of the Turkic scripts includes Turkic-Chinese bilingual inscriptions, contemporaneous Turkic inscriptions in the , literal translations into Slavic languages, and paper fragments with Turkic Oldest known Turkic alphabet listings, Ryukoku and Toyok cursive writing from religion, , Buddhist, and legal manuscripts. Toyok manuscript subjects of the 8th to 10th centuries found in Xinjiang. transliterates Turkic alphabet into the . Per Кызласов, Unicode Игорь Леонидович (1994). Рунические письменности евразийских степей (https://books. The for Old Turkic is U+10C00–U+10C4F. It was google.com/books?id=xVFkAAAAMA added to the Unicode standard in October 2009, with the release of AJ). Восточная литература РАН. version 5.2. It includes separate "Orkhon" and "Yenisei" variants of ISBN 978-5-02-017741-3. individual characters.

Since Windows 8 Unicode Old Turkic writing support was added in the font. Old Turkic[1][2] Official code chart (https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10C00.pdf) (PDF) 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F

U+10C0x ఀ ఁ ం ః ఄ అ ఆ ఇ ఈ ఉ ఊ ఋ ఌ ఍ ఎ ఏ

U+10C1x ఐ ఑ ఒ ఓ ఔ క ఖ గ ఘ ఙ చ ఛ జ ఝ ఞ ట

U+10C2x ఠ డ ఢ ణ త థ ద ధ న ఩ ప ఫ బ భ మ య

U+10C3x ర ఱ ల ళ ఴ వ శ ష స హ ఺ ఻ ఼ ఽ ా ి

U+10C4x ీ ు ూ ృ ౄ ౅ ె ే ై

Notes

1.^ As of Unicode version 13.0 2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

Neolithic signs in § Banpo and Jiangzhai Khazar language Tariat inscriptions Sükhbaatar inscriptions

Notes

1. Scharlipp, Wolfgang (2000). An Introduction to the Old Turkish Inscriptions. Verlag auf dem Ruffel, Engelschoff. ISBN 978-3-933847-00-3. 2. Sinor, Denis (2002). "Old Turkic". History of Civilizations of . 4. Paris: UNESCO. pp. 331–333. 3. Vilhelm Thomsen, [Turkic] Orkhon Inscriptions Deciphered (Helsinki : Society of Finnish Literature Press, 1893). Translated in French and later English (Ann Arbor MI: University Microfilms Intl., 1971). OCLC 7413840 4. Cooper, J.S. (2004). "Babylonian beginnings: The origin of the in comparative perspective". In Houston, Stephen (ed.). The First Writing: Script Invention as History and Process. Cambridge University Press. pp. 58–59. 5. Mabry, Tristan James (2015). Nationalism, Language, and Muslim Exceptionalism (https://book s.google.com/books?id=8xtrBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA1). University of Pennsylvania Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-8122-4691-9. 6. Kara, György (1996). "Aramaic scripts for ". In Daniels, Peter; Bright, William (eds.). The World's Writing Systems (https://archive.org/details/isbn_9780195079937). New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-507993-7. 7. Turks, A. Samoylovitch, First Encyclopaedia of Islam: 1913-1936, Vol. VI, (Brill, 1993), 911. 8. Campbell, George; Moseley, Christopher (2013). The Routledge Handbook of Scripts and Alphabets (https://books.google.com/books?id=6lQwRD2Cb8EC&pg=PT180). Routledge. p. 40. ISBN 978-1-135-22296-3. 9. N. Ishjatms, "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", volume 2, figure 6, p. 166, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, p. 165 10. Lung 龍, Rachel 惠珠 (2011). Interpreters in Early Imperial China (https://books.google.com/bo oks?id=qsNoHtgkGPkC). John Benjamins Publishing. pp. 54–55. ISBN 978-90-272-2444-6. 11. Mouton, 2002, Archivum Ottomanicum, p. 49 12. Sigfried J. de Laet, Joachim Herrmann, (1996), History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D., p. 478 13. Erdal, Marcel. 2004. A grammar of Old Turkic. Leiden, Brill. P.7 14. " BITIG" (https://web.archive.org/web/20180624010508/http://bitig.org/?lang=e&mod=1& tid=1&oid=15&m=1). bitig.org. Archived from the original (http://bitig.org/?lang=e&mod=1&tid= 1&oid=15&m=1) on 24 June 2018. Retrieved 27 June 2019. 15. According to Gabain (1941) 16. According to Gabain (1941), not listed in Thomsen (1893) 17. According to Tekin (1968); not listed in Thomsen (1893) or Gabain (1941); Malov (1951) lists the sign but gives no sound value. 18. "The Unicode Standard, Chapter 14.8: Old Turkic" (https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode1 3.0.0/ch14.pdf#G41975) (PDF). Unicode Consortium. March 2020. 19. Central Bank of (http://www.cbar.az). National currency: 5 manat (http://www.cbar.a z/pages/national-currency/banknotes/azn/). – Retrieved on 25 February 2010. 20. Kyzlasov I. L.; " Of Eurasian Steppes", Eastern Literature, Moscow, 1994, 327 pp. 321- 323 21. Kyzlasov I. L.; "Writings Of Eurasian Steppes", Eastern Literature, Moscow, 1994, pp. 98-100

References

Diringer, David. The Alphabet: a Key to the History of Mankind, New York: Philosophical Library, 1948, pp. 313–315 Erdal, Marcel. 2004. A grammar of Old Turkic. Leiden & Boston: Brill. Faulmann, Carl. 1990 (1880). Das Buch der Schrift. Frankfurt am Main: Eichborn. ISBN 3- 8218-1720-8 (in German) Février, James G. Histoire de l'écriture, Paris: Payot, 1948, pp. 311–317 (in French) Ishjatms, N. "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", Volume 2, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, ISBN 92-3-102846-4 Jensen, Hans (1970). Sign Symbol and Script. London: George Allen and Unwin Ltd. ISBN 0- 04-400021-9. Kyzlasov, I.L. "Runic Scripts of Eurasian Steppes", Moscow, Eastern Literature, 1994, ISBN 5- 02-017741-5 Malov, S.E. 1951, Pamjatniki Drevnitjurkskoj Pisʹmennosti (Памятники Древнитюркской Письменности), Moskva & Leningrad. (in Russian) Muxamadiev, Azgar. (1995). Turanian Writing (Туранская Письменность). In Zakiev, M. Z. (Ed.), Problemy lingvoėtnoistorii tatarskogo naroda (Проблемы лингвоэтноистории татарского народа). Kazan: Akademija Nauk Tatarstana. (in Russian) Róna-Tas, A. 1991. An introduction to . Szeged. Tekin, Talat. A Grammar of Orkhon Turkic. Indiana University Uralic and Altaic Series, vol. 69 (Bloomington/The Hague: Mouton, 1968) Thomsen, Vilhelm. Inscriptions de l'Orkhon déchiffrées, Suomalais-ugrilainen seura, Helsinki Toimituksia, no. 5 Helsingfors: La société de literature Finnoise [1] (https://archive.org/stream/i nscriptionsdel00thomgoog#page/n4/mode/2up) (in French) Vasilʹiev, D.D. Korpus tjurkskix runičeskix pamjatnikov Bassina Eniseja [Corpus of the Turkic Runic Monuments of the Yenisei Basin], Leningrad: USSR Academy of Science, 1983 (in Russian) von Gabain, A. 1941. Alttürkische Grammatik mit Bibliographie, Lesestücken und Wörterverzeichnis, auch Neutürkisch. Mit vier Schrifttafeln und sieben Schriftproben. (Porta Linguarum Orientalium; 23) Leipzig: Otto Harrassowitz. (in German)

External links

Orkhon Inscriptions in Old Turkic Alphabet Unicode (https://gokturkanitlari.appspot.com) Türk bitig - Old Turkic inscriptions, Texts, Translations (https://web.archive.org/web/201803010 44348/http://www.bitig.org/?lang=e) Orkhon Alphabet page from Omniglot (http://www.omniglot.com/writing/orkhon.htm) Gokturkish Keyboard by Isa SARI (http://www.isa-sari.com/gokturkce/?id=en) glyph table (https://web.archive.org/web/20070927213243/http://www.kyrgyz.ru/?page=148) (kyrgyz.ru) Bilgitay Orhun Writer (http://www.bilgitay.net/orhun/index.php) (An online converter for alphabet based texts to Orhun Abece.) Everson, Michael (25 January 2008). "L2/08-071: Proposal for encoding the Old Turkic script in the SMP of the UCS" (https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2008/08071-n3357r2-old-turkic.pdf) (PDF). Хөх Түрүгийн Бичиг (https://web.archive.org/web/20160303174516/http://huhturug.comuv.co m/index.html) (in Mongolian) Göktürk Orhun Öz Türk Yazısını Öğrenme Kılavuzu (https://sites.google.com/site/kokturkuzbiz) (in Turkish)

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