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{{Short description|Abjad-based writing system}}
{{One source|date=June 2021}}
{{Infobox Writing system
{{Infobox Writing system
|name=Manichaean script
|name=Manichaean script
|sample=File:Manichaean_cosmogonic_text,_Sogdian_language_in_Manichaean_script,_Khocho,_9th-10th_century_AD,_leather_-_Ethnological_Museum,_Berlin_-_DSC01758.JPG
|caption=Manichaean cosmogoni text Sogdia language in Manichaean
|type=[[Abjad]]
|type=[[Abjad]]
|time=3rd century – c. 10th century AD
|time=3rd century – c. 10th century CE
|languages=Manichaean Middle Iranian
|languages=[[Middle Iranian]] and [[Tocharian languages]]
|fam1= [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
|fam1= [[Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
|fam2=[[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet]]
|fam2=[[Proto-Sinaitic alphabet]]
Line 15: Line 19:
|note=none
|note=none
}}
}}
'''Manichaean script''' is an [[abjad]]-based writing system rooted in the Semitic family of alphabets and associated with the spread of [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] religion from southwest to central Asia and beyond, beginning in the 3rd century CE. It bears a sibling relationship to early forms of the [[Pahlavi script]], both systems having developed from the [[Imperial Aramaic alphabet]], in which the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid]] court rendered its particular, official dialect of the [[Aramaic language#Imperial Aramaic|Aramaic language]]. Unlike Pahlavi, Manichaean script reveals influences from [[Sogdian script]], which in turn descends from the Syriac branch of Aramaic. Manichaean script is so named because Manichaean texts attribute its design to [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] himself. [[Middle Persian]] is written with this alphabet.
The '''Manichaean script''' is an [[abjad]]-based writing system rooted in the Semitic family of alphabets and associated with the spread of [[Manichaeism]] from southwest to central Asia and beyond, beginning in the third century CE. It bears a sibling relationship to early forms of the [[Pahlavi scripts]], both systems having developed from the [[Imperial Aramaic alphabet]], in which the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid court]] rendered its particular, official dialect of [[Aramaic]]. Unlike Pahlavi, the Manichaean script reveals influences from the [[Sogdian alphabet]], which in turn descends from the Syriac branch of Aramaic. The Manichaean script is so named because Manichaean texts attribute its design to [[Mani (prophet)|Mani]] himself. [[Middle Persian]] is written with this alphabet.


The [[Iranian studies|Iranologist]] Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst notes that the Manichaean script was mainly used to write numerous [[Iranian_languages#Middle_Iranian_languages|Middle Iranian languages]] (Manichaean Middle Persian, [[Parthian language|Parthian]], [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]], [[Early New Persian]], [[Bactrian language|Bactrian]]) and [[Old Uyghur]] (a Turkic language).{{sfn|Durkin-Meisterernst|2005}} The Manichaean script is closely related to the [[Palmyrene alphabet]] of [[Palmyrene Aramaic]] and the [[Syriac_alphabet#Classical_ʾEsṭrangēlā|Estrangelo script]] of [[Syriac language|Syriac]].{{sfn|Durkin-Meisterernst|2005}}
Older Manichaean texts appear in a script and language that is still identifiable as [[Syriac language|Syriac]]-[[Aramaic language|Aramaic]] and these compositions are then classified as Syriac/Aramaic texts. Later texts using Manichaean script are attested in the literature of three Middle Iranian language [[ethnolect]]s:
*[[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] -- the dialect of [[Sogdia]]na in the east, which had a large Manichean population.
*[[Parthian language|Parthian]] -- the dialect of [[Parthia]] in the northeast, which is indistinguishable from Medean of the northwest.
* [[Middle Persian]] -- the dialect of [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]] ([[Persis]], or Persia proper) in southwest [[Greater Iran|Iran]].


==Nomenclature==
The Manichaean system does not have a high incidence of [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] language [[logograms]] and [[ideograms]] inherited from chancellery [[Imperial Aramaic]] that are an essential characteristic of the Pahlavi system. Besides that, Manichaean spelling was less conservative or historical and corresponded closer to contemporary pronunciation: e.g. a word such as ''āzād'' "noble, free" was written ''ʼčʼt'' in Pahlavi, but ''ʼʼzʼd'' in Manichaean Middle Persian of the same period.
The term "Manichean" was introduced as designation for the script by the German scholar [[Friedrich W. K. Müller]], because of the use of the script in Manichean texts.{{sfn|Durkin-Meisterernst|2005}} Müller was the first scholar in modern times (in 1903/4) to read the script.{{sfn|Durkin-Meisterernst|2005}}


==Overview==
Manichaean script was not the only script used to render Manichaean manuscripts. When writing in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]], which was frequently the case, Manichaean scribes frequently used [[Sogdian script]] ("Uighur script"). Likewise, outside Manichaeism, the dialect of Parsa (Persia proper) was also recorded in other systems, including [[Pahlavi script]] (in which case it is known as [[Zoroastrian Middle Persian|Pahlavi]]) and [[Avestan script]] (in which case it is known as [[Pazend language|Pazend]]).
Older Manichaean texts appear in a script and language that is still identifiable as Syriac/Aramaic and these compositions are then classified as Syriac/Aramaic texts. Later texts using Manichaean script are attested in the literature of three Middle Iranian language [[ethnolect]]s:
*[[Sogdian language|Sogdian]] — the dialect of [[Sogdia]] in the east, which had a large Manichean population.
*[[Parthian language|Parthian]] — the dialect of [[Parthia]] in the northeast, which is indistinguishable from Medean of the northwest.
* [[Middle Persian]] — the dialect of [[Pars (Sasanian province)|Pars]] ([[Persis]], or Persia proper) in southwest [[Greater Iran|Iran]].


The Manichaean system does not have a high incidence of [[Semitic languages|Semitic]] language [[logogram]]s and [[ideogram]]s inherited from chancellery [[Imperial Aramaic]] that are an essential characteristic of the Pahlavi system. Besides that, Manichaean spelling was less conservative or historical and corresponded closer to contemporary pronunciation: e.g. a word such as ''āzād'' "noble, free" was written ''ʼčʼt'' in Pahlavi, but ''ʼʼzʼd'' in Manichaean Middle Persian of the same period.
As Manichaeism was persecuted around Mesopotamia and the regions of the [[Sasanian Empire]], its origins, it became well-established in Central Asia and along the Silk Road. It became an official state religion among the Uyghurs for five centuries (from the 8th through the 12th century), and thus many surviving manuscripts are found in the [[Turpan]] region in the Iranian languages aforementioned, the [[Uighur language]], and the [[Tocharian language]].


Manichaean script was not the only script used to render Manichaean manuscripts. When writing in [[Sogdian language|Sogdian]], which was frequently the case, Manichaean scribes frequently used the [[Sogdian alphabet]] ("Uighur script"). Likewise, outside Manichaeism, the dialect of Parsa (Persia proper) was also recorded in other systems, including Pahlavi scripts (in which case it is known as "Pahlevi" or [[Zoroastrian Middle Persian]]) and [[Avestan alphabet]] (in which case it is known as [[Pazend]]).
In the 19th century, German expeditions discovered a number of Manichaean manuscripts at Bulayiq on the [[Silk Road]], near [[Turpan]] in north-west China. Many of these manuscripts are today preserved in Berlin.


As Manichaeism was persecuted around [[Mesopotamia]] and the regions of the [[Sasanian Empire]], its origins, it became well-established in Central Asia and along the [[Silk Road]]. It became an official state religion among the Uyghurs for five centuries (from the eighth through the twelfth century), and thus many surviving manuscripts are found in the [[Turpan]] region in the Iranian languages aforementioned, [[Old Uyghur]], and the [[Tocharian languages]].
[[File:Maqnichaean characters.png|thumb|Table of letters from Manichaean script, with their Latin transliterations.]]

In the 19th century, German expeditions discovered a number of Manichaean manuscripts at [[Bulayïq]] on the Silk Road near Turpan in what is now [[Xinjiang]]. Many of these manuscripts are today preserved in Berlin.


==Characters==
==Characters==
Like most abjads, Manichaean is written from right to left and lacks vowels. Particularly, it has certain consonants that join on both sides, some that join only on the right, and some that only join on the left, and some that do not join at all, unlike the most well-known abjad, Arabic, which has only consonants that join on both sides or on the right. Manichaean has a separate sign for the conjunction "ud" (and), two dots are placed above characters to indicate abbreviations, and there are several punctuation marks to indicate headlines, page divisions, sentence divisions, and others.
Like most abjads, Manichaean is written from right to left and lacks vowels. Particularly, it has certain consonants that join on both sides, some that join only on the right, and some that only join on the left, and some that do not join at all, unlike the most well-known abjad, Arabic, which has only consonants that join on both sides or on the right. Manichaean has a separate sign for the conjunction "ud" (and); two dots are placed above characters to indicate abbreviations, and there are several punctuation-marks to indicate headlines, page-divisions, sentence-divisions, and others.


There are obligatory conjuncts for certain combinations involving "n" and "y." The numbers are built from units of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 and can be visually identifiable. There are also some alternate forms of certain characters.
There are obligatory conjuncts for certain combinations involving "n" and "y". The numbers are built from units of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 and can be visually identifiable. There are also some alternate forms of certain characters.

{| class="wikitable letters-table"
|+ Letters
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫀|note=aleph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫁|note=beth}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫂|note=bheth}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫃|note=gimel}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫄|note=ghimel}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫅|note=daleth}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫆|note=he}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫇|note=waw}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫈|note=ud, ''and''}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫉|note=zayin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫊|note=zhayin}}
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫋|note=jayin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫌|note=jhayin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫍|note=heth}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫎|note=theth}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫏|note=yodh}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫐|note=kaph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫑|note=xaph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫒|note=khaph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫓|note=lamedh}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫔|note=dhamedh}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫕|note=thamedh}}
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫖|note=mem}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫗|note=nun}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫘|note=samekh}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫙|note=ayin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫚|note=aayin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫛|note=pe}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫜|note=fe}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫝|note=sadhe}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫞|note=qoph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫟|note=xoph}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫠|note=qhoph}}
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫡|note=resh}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫢|note=shin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫣|note=sshin}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫤|note=taw}}
|}
{| class="wikitable letters-table"
|+Punctuation
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫰|note=star}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫱|note=fleuron}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫴|note=dot}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫳|note=dot within dot}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫵|note=double dot}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫲|note=double dot within dot}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫶|note=line filler}}
|}

{| class="wikitable letters-table"
|+Numerals
|-
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫫|note=1}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫬|note=5}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫭|note=10}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫮|note=20}}
|{{letter|script=Mani|ch=𐫯|note=100}}
|}


==Unicode==
==Unicode==
Line 45: Line 119:
==References==
==References==
{{Reflist}}
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* {{cite encyclopedia | title = Manichean script | last = Durkin-Meisterernst | first = Desmond | url = https://iranicaonline.org/articles/manichean-script | encyclopedia = Encyclopaedia Iranica | date=October 14, 2005}}


==Further reading==
==Further reading==
* {{cite book|author=Kara, György|chapter=Aramaic Scripts for Altaic Languages|title=The World's Writing Systems|year=1996|editor1-first=Peter T.|editor1-last=Daniels|editor2-first=William|editor2-last=Bright|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195079930|pages=536–558}}
*{{cite encyclopedia|article=Manichean script|last=Durkin-Meisterernst|first=Desmond|date=October 14, 2005|encyclopedia=Encyclopedia Iranica|url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/manichean-script}}
* {{cite book|author=Skjærvø, Prods Oktor|chapter=Aramaic Scripts for Iranian Languages|title=The World's Writing Systems|year=1996|editor1-first=Peter T.|editor1-last=Daniels|editor2-first=William|editor2-last=Bright|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=0195079930|pages=515–535}}
*[http://www.bbaw.de/forschung/turfanforschung/dta/m/dta_m_index.htm Photos of the original texts written in manichaean script discovered at Turpan] (Under the link "Texte in manichäischer Schrift")
* {{cite web|url=https://turfan.bbaw.de/dta/m/dta_m_index.htm |title=Digitales Turfan-Archiv: Mitteliranische Texte in manichäischer Schrift}} [Photos of the original texts written in Manichaean script discovered at Turpan]
*{{cite web|url=http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/unicode/iranian/3tagung.htm |title=Initial Iranian conference proposing Unicode for Manichaean Script}}
* {{cite web|url=http://titus.fkidg1.uni-frankfurt.de/unicode/iranian/3tagung.htm |title=Initial Iranian conference proposing Unicode for Manichaean Script}}


{{Manichaeism footer}}
{{list of writing systems}}
{{list of writing systems}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Manichaean Script}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manichaean Script}}
[[Category:Defunct writing systems]]
[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]
[[Category:Abjad writing systems]]
[[Category:Abjad writing systems]]
[[Category:Manichaeism]]
[[Category:Manichaeism]]
[[Category:Scripts encoded in Unicode 7.0]]
[[Category:Persian scripts]]
[[Category:Right-to-left writing systems]]

Latest revision as of 08:03, 30 September 2024

Manichaean script
Manichaean cosmogoni text Sogdia language in Manichaean
Script type
Time period
3rd century – c. 10th century CE
DirectionRight-to-left script Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesMiddle Iranian and Tocharian languages
Related scripts
Parent systems
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Mani (139), ​Manichaean
Unicode
Unicode alias
Manichaean
U+10AC0–U+10AFF
Final Accepted Script Proposal

The Manichaean script is an abjad-based writing system rooted in the Semitic family of alphabets and associated with the spread of Manichaeism from southwest to central Asia and beyond, beginning in the third century CE. It bears a sibling relationship to early forms of the Pahlavi scripts, both systems having developed from the Imperial Aramaic alphabet, in which the Achaemenid court rendered its particular, official dialect of Aramaic. Unlike Pahlavi, the Manichaean script reveals influences from the Sogdian alphabet, which in turn descends from the Syriac branch of Aramaic. The Manichaean script is so named because Manichaean texts attribute its design to Mani himself. Middle Persian is written with this alphabet.

The Iranologist Desmond Durkin-Meisterernst notes that the Manichaean script was mainly used to write numerous Middle Iranian languages (Manichaean Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, Early New Persian, Bactrian) and Old Uyghur (a Turkic language).[1] The Manichaean script is closely related to the Palmyrene alphabet of Palmyrene Aramaic and the Estrangelo script of Syriac.[1]

Nomenclature

[edit]

The term "Manichean" was introduced as designation for the script by the German scholar Friedrich W. K. Müller, because of the use of the script in Manichean texts.[1] Müller was the first scholar in modern times (in 1903/4) to read the script.[1]

Overview

[edit]

Older Manichaean texts appear in a script and language that is still identifiable as Syriac/Aramaic and these compositions are then classified as Syriac/Aramaic texts. Later texts using Manichaean script are attested in the literature of three Middle Iranian language ethnolects:

  • Sogdian — the dialect of Sogdia in the east, which had a large Manichean population.
  • Parthian — the dialect of Parthia in the northeast, which is indistinguishable from Medean of the northwest.
  • Middle Persian — the dialect of Pars (Persis, or Persia proper) in southwest Iran.

The Manichaean system does not have a high incidence of Semitic language logograms and ideograms inherited from chancellery Imperial Aramaic that are an essential characteristic of the Pahlavi system. Besides that, Manichaean spelling was less conservative or historical and corresponded closer to contemporary pronunciation: e.g. a word such as āzād "noble, free" was written ʼčʼt in Pahlavi, but ʼʼzʼd in Manichaean Middle Persian of the same period.

Manichaean script was not the only script used to render Manichaean manuscripts. When writing in Sogdian, which was frequently the case, Manichaean scribes frequently used the Sogdian alphabet ("Uighur script"). Likewise, outside Manichaeism, the dialect of Parsa (Persia proper) was also recorded in other systems, including Pahlavi scripts (in which case it is known as "Pahlevi" or Zoroastrian Middle Persian) and Avestan alphabet (in which case it is known as Pazend).

As Manichaeism was persecuted around Mesopotamia and the regions of the Sasanian Empire, its origins, it became well-established in Central Asia and along the Silk Road. It became an official state religion among the Uyghurs for five centuries (from the eighth through the twelfth century), and thus many surviving manuscripts are found in the Turpan region in the Iranian languages aforementioned, Old Uyghur, and the Tocharian languages.

In the 19th century, German expeditions discovered a number of Manichaean manuscripts at Bulayïq on the Silk Road near Turpan in what is now Xinjiang. Many of these manuscripts are today preserved in Berlin.

Characters

[edit]

Like most abjads, Manichaean is written from right to left and lacks vowels. Particularly, it has certain consonants that join on both sides, some that join only on the right, and some that only join on the left, and some that do not join at all, unlike the most well-known abjad, Arabic, which has only consonants that join on both sides or on the right. Manichaean has a separate sign for the conjunction "ud" (and); two dots are placed above characters to indicate abbreviations, and there are several punctuation-marks to indicate headlines, page-divisions, sentence-divisions, and others.

There are obligatory conjuncts for certain combinations involving "n" and "y". The numbers are built from units of 1, 5, 10, 20 and 100 and can be visually identifiable. There are also some alternate forms of certain characters.

Letters
𐫀
aleph
𐫁
beth
𐫂
bheth
𐫃
gimel
𐫄
ghimel
𐫅
daleth
𐫆
he
𐫇
waw
𐫈
ud, and
𐫉
zayin
𐫊
zhayin
𐫋
jayin
𐫌
jhayin
𐫍
heth
𐫎
theth
𐫏
yodh
𐫐
kaph
𐫑
xaph
𐫒
khaph
𐫓
lamedh
𐫔
dhamedh
𐫕
thamedh
𐫖
mem
𐫗
nun
𐫘
samekh
𐫙
ayin
𐫚
aayin
𐫛
pe
𐫜
fe
𐫝
sadhe
𐫞
qoph
𐫟
xoph
𐫠
qhoph
𐫡
resh
𐫢
shin
𐫣
sshin
𐫤
taw
Punctuation
𐫰
star
𐫱
fleuron
𐫴
dot
𐫳
dot within dot
𐫵
double dot
𐫲
double dot within dot
𐫶
line filler
Numerals
𐫫
1
𐫬
5
𐫭
10
𐫮
20
𐫯
100

Unicode

[edit]

The Manichaean alphabet (U+10AC0–U+10AFF) was added to the Unicode Standard in June 2014 with the release of version 7.0.

Manichaean[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+10ACx 𐫀 𐫁 𐫂 𐫃 𐫄 𐫅 𐫆 𐫇 𐫈 𐫉 𐫊 𐫋 𐫌 𐫍 𐫎 𐫏
U+10ADx 𐫐 𐫑 𐫒 𐫓 𐫔 𐫕 𐫖 𐫗 𐫘 𐫙 𐫚 𐫛 𐫜 𐫝 𐫞 𐫟
U+10AEx 𐫠 𐫡 𐫢 𐫣 𐫤 𐫥 𐫦 𐫫 𐫬 𐫭 𐫮 𐫯
U+10AFx 𐫰 𐫱 𐫲 𐫳 𐫴 𐫵 𐫶
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 16.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

References

[edit]

Sources

[edit]
  • Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond (October 14, 2005). "Manichean script". Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Further reading

[edit]