Lycian alphabet

For other uses, see Lycian (disambiguation).
Lycian
Type
Alphabet
Languages Lycian language
Time period
 500-330 BC
Parent systems
Sister systems
 Lydian, Phrygian
Direction Left-to-right
ISO 15924 Lyci, 202
Unicode alias
 Lycian
U+10280–U+1029F

The Lycian alphabet was used to write the Lycian language. 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 letterTransliterationSoundNotes
𐊀a [a]
𐊂b[β]
𐊄g[ɣ]
𐊅d[ð]
𐊆i [i], [ĩ]
𐊇w [w]
𐊈z[ts]
𐊛h[h]
𐊉θ[θ]
𐊊j or y [j]
𐊋k[kʲ] [ɡʲ] after nasals
𐊍l [l] and [l̩]~[əl]
𐊎m[m]
𐊏n[n]
𐊒u [u], [ũ]
𐊓p [p] [b] after nasals
𐊔κ [k]? [kʲ]? [h(e)]
𐊕r [r] and [r̩]~[ər]
𐊖s [s]
𐊗t [t] [d] after nasals. ñt is [d] as in Ñtemuχlida for Greek Dēmokleidēs.[3]
𐊁e[e]
𐊙ã[ã]Lusãtra for Greek Lusandros.[4]
𐊚ẽ[ẽ]
𐊐m̃ [m̩], [əm], [m.] originally perhaps syllabic [m], later coda [m]
𐊑ñ [n̩], [ən], [n.] originally perhaps syllabic [n], later coda [n]
𐊘τ [tʷ]? [tʃ]?
𐊌q [k] [ɡ] after nasals
𐊃β[k]? [kʷ]? voiced after nasals
𐊜χ[q] [ɢ] after nasals

Unicode

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 8.0
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

An inscription in Lycian in example

Notes

  1. ↑ Adiego (2007) page 764.
  2. ↑ Bryce (1986) pages 56-57.
  3. ↑ Bryce, T. R. (January 1986). "The Pronunciation of Delta in Greek and Lycian". Classical Philology 81 (1): 56–58. doi:10.1086/366958. JSTOR 269877. First page displayable no charge.
  4. ↑ Bryce (1986) page 58.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lycian alphabet.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Saturday, December 26, 2015. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.