Lycian alphabet

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other uses, see Lycian (disambiguation).
Lycian
Script type
Alphabet
Time period
500-330 BC
DirectionLeft-to-right 
Unicode range
U+10280–U+1029F
 This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.
Pixodaros
in the Lycian script
<?>
This article contains uncommon Unicode characters. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of the intended characters.

The Lycian alphabet was used to write the

Asia Minor region of Lycia. It was an extension of the Greek alphabet, with half a dozen additional letters for sounds not found in Greek. It was largely similar to the Lydian and the Phrygian alphabets
.

The alphabet

The Lycian alphabet[1][2] contains letters for 29 sounds. Some sounds are represented by more than one symbol, which is considered one "letter". There are six vowel letters, one for each of the four oral vowels of Lycian, and separate letters for two of the four nasal vowels. Nine of the Lycian letters do not appear to derive from the Greek alphabet.

The Lycian alphabet
Lycian letter Transliteration IPA Notes
𐊀 a [a]
𐊂 b [β]
𐊄 g [ɣ]
𐊅 d [ð]
𐊆 i [i], [ĩ]
𐊇 w [w]
𐊈 z [t͡s]
𐊛 h [h]
𐊉 θ [θ]
𐊊 j or y [j]
𐊋 k [kʲ] [ɡʲ] after nasals
𐊍 l [l] and [l̩]~[əl]
𐊎 m [m]
𐊏 n [n]
𐊒 u [u], [ũ]
𐊓 p [p] [b] after nasals
𐊔 κ or c [k]? [kʲ]? [h(e)]
𐊕 r [r] and [r̩]~[ər]
𐊖 s [s]
𐊗 t [t] [d] after nasals. ñt is [d] as in 𐊑𐊗𐊁𐊎𐊒𐊜𐊍𐊆𐊅𐊀 / Ñtemuχlida for Greek Δημοκλείδης / Dēmokleídēs.[3]
𐊁 e [e]
𐊙 ã [ã] 𐊍𐊒𐊖𐊙𐊗𐊕𐊀 / Lusãtra for Greek Λύσανδρος / Lúsandros.[4]
𐊚 ẽ [ẽ]
𐊐 m̃ [m̩], [əm], [m.] originally perhaps syllabic [m], later coda [m]
𐊑 ñ [n̩], [ən], [n.] originally perhaps syllabic [n], later coda [n]
𐊘 τ [tʷ]? [t͡ʃ]?
𐊌 q [k] [ɡ] after nasals
𐊃 β [k]? [kʷ]? voiced after nasals
𐊜 χ [q] [ɢ] after nasals

Numbers

Lycian uses the following number symbols: I (vertical stroke) = 1, < ("less than" sign) (or, rarely, L or C or V or Y) = 5, O (circle) = 10; a horizontal stroke — is one half;[5] a symbol somewhat like our letter H may mean 100.[6]

The number 128½ would therefore be expressed as HOO<III—.

Unicode

Main article: Lycian (Unicode block)

The Lycian alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2008 with the release of version 5.1. It is encoded in Plane 1 (

Supplementary Multilingual Plane
).

The Unicode block for Lycian is U+10280–U+1029F:

Lycian[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+1028x 𐊀 𐊁 𐊂 𐊃 𐊄 𐊅 𐊆 𐊇 𐊈 𐊉 𐊊 𐊋 𐊌 𐊍 𐊎 𐊏
U+1029x 𐊐 𐊑 𐊒 𐊓 𐊔 𐊕 𐊖 𐊗 𐊘 𐊙 𐊚 𐊛 𐊜
Notes
  1. ^ As of Unicode version 15.1
  2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Adiego (2007) page 764.
  2. ^ Bryce (1986) pages 56-57.
  3. S2CID 162200292
    . First page displayable no charge.
  4. ^ Bryce (1986) page 58.
  5. ^ Laroche, Emmanuel (1979). "L'inscription lycienne". Fouilles de Xanthos. VI: 51–128: 100–101.
  6. ^ Melchert, H. Craig. "The Trilingual Inscription of the Létôon. Lycian Version" (PDF). Achemenet. Retrieved 2021-03-04.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycian alphabet.
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