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| Orkhon script | ||
|---|---|---|
| Type | Alphabet | |
| Spoken languages | Old Turkic | |
| Time period | 8th to 13th centuries | |
| Parent systems | Proto-Canaanite → Phoenician → Aramaic → Syriac → Sogdian (controversial) → Orkhon script | |
| Child systems | Old Hungarian script | |
| Unicode range | Not in Unicode | |
| ISO 15924 | Orkh | |
| ||
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
Inscription in Kyzyl using Orkhon script
The Old Turkic script (also Göktürk script, Orkhon script, Orkhon-Yenisey script; Turkish: Orhun Yazıtları, 鄂爾渾文字) is the alphabet used by the Göktürk from the 8th century to record the Old Turkic language. It was later used by the Uyghur Empire; a Yenisei variant is known from 9th-century Kyrgyz inscriptions, and it has likely cousins in the Talas Valley of Turkestan and the Old Hungarian script of the 10th century. The alphabet was usually written from right to left.
The script is named after the Orkhon Valley in Mongolia, where 8th century inscriptions were discovered in an 1889 expedition by Nikolay Yadrintsev. These Orkhon inscriptions were published by Vasily Radlov and deciphered by the Danish philologist Vilhelm Thomsen in 1893.
The script is very similar to that on monuments left by Tu-jue (突厥 pinyin tú jué) in China during the Tang Dynasty.[citation needed] Because of similarities to the angular shapes of the runic alphabet, the letters of the Orkhon script have been referred to as "Turkic runes" or described as "runiform". This similarity is superficial, however, since all alphabetic scripts used for incision in hard surfaces show this tendency (see Old Italic alphabets for other examples).
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Mainstream opinion derives the Orkhon script from variants of the Aramaic alphabet, in particular via the Pahlavi and Sogdian alphabets, as suggested by V.Thomsen, or possibly via Karosthi (c.f. Issyk inscription).
Alternative possibilities include derivation from tamgas, suggested by W. Thomsen in 1893, from the Chinese script. Turkish inscriptions dated earlier than the Orkhon inscriptions used about 150 symbols, which may suggest tamgas at first imitating the Chinese script and then gradually refined into an alphabet.
The Danish hypothesis connects the script to the reports of Chinese accountShiji, vol. 110., from a 2nd century BC Chinese Yan renegade and dignitary named Zhonghang Yue (中行说) who
The same sources tell that when the Xiongnu noted down something or transmitted a message, they made cuts on a piece of wood (ko-mu), and they also mention a "Hu script". At Noin-Ula and other Hun burial sites in Mongolia and region north of Lake Baikal, the artifacts displayed over twenty carved characters. Most of these characters are either identical or very similar to the letters of the Turkic Orkhon script.N. Ishjatms, "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", Volume 2, Fig 6, p. 166, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, p.165
Kazakh turkologist A. S. Amanzholov proposes that the script may derive directly from the Phoenician alphabet, or even "ascends to the most ancient common source of alphabetic writing [...] of the 3rd - 2nd millennia BC".Amanjolov A.S., "History of the Ancient Türkic Script", Almaty, "Mektep", 2003, p. 286, p. 308.
The inscription corpus consists of two monuments which were erected in the Orkhon Valley between 732 and 735 in honour of the two Kokturk prince Kul Tigin and his brother the emperor Bilge Khan, as well as inscriptions on slabs scattered in the wider area.
The Orkhon monuments are the oldest known examples of Turkic writings; they are inscribed on obelisks and have been dated to 720 (for the obelisk relating to Tonyukuk), to 732 (for that relating to Kültigin), and to 735 (for that relating to Bilge Kagan). They are carved in a script used also for inscriptions found in Mongolia, Siberia, and Eastern Turkistan and called by Thomsen "Turkish runes".Encyclopædia Britannica They relate in epic language the legendary origins of the Turks, the golden age of their history, their subjugation by the Chinese, and their liberation by Bilge. The polished style of the writings suggests considerable earlier development of the Turkish language.
Variants of the script were found from Mongolia and Uyghurstan/Eastern Turkestan in the east to Balkans in the west. The preserved inscriptions were dated to between 7th and 13th centuries AD.
These alphabets are divided into four groups by Kyzlasov (1994)Kyzlasov I.L.; “Writings Of Eurasian Steppes”, Eastern Literature", Moscow, 1994, 327 pp. 321-323
The Asiatic group is further divided into three related alphabets:
The Eurasiatic group is further divided into five related alphabets:
A number of alphabets are not completed, due to the limitations of the extant inscriptions. Great help in the studies of the Türkic scripts was received from Türkic-Chinese bi-lingual inscriptions, contemporaneous Türkic inscriptions in Greek alphabet, literal translation into Slavic language, and paper fragments with Türkic cursive writing on Türkic religion, Manichaeism, Buddhist and legal subjects of the 8-10th centuries AD found in Uyghurstan/Eastern Turkestan.Amanjolov A.S., "History of тhe Ancient Türkic Script", Almaty, "Mektep", 2003 ISBN 9965-16-204-2, p. 6-12
During the last two centuries the number of specialists knowledgeable in the Türkic scripts never exceeded low single digits. The last quarter of the 20th century brought about most of the paleographical and textual discoveries.
2nd century BC - 2nd century AD, characters of Hun- Syanbi script (Mongolia and Inner Mongolia), N. Ishjatms, "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", Volume 2, Fig 5, p. 166, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, ISBN 92-3-102846-4 |
2nd century BC - 2nd century AD, characters of Hun- Syanbi script (Mongolia and Inner Mongolia), N. Ishjatms, "Nomads In Eastern Central Asia", in the "History of civilizations of Central Asia", Volume 2, Fig 5, p. 166, UNESCO Publishing, 1996, ISBN 92-3-102846-4 |
Oldest known Turkic alphabet listings, Rjukoku and Toyok manuscripts. Toyok manuscript transliterates Turkic alphabet into Uyghur alphabet. Per I.L.Kyzlasov, "Runic Scripts of Eurasian Steppes", Moscow, Eastern Literature, 1994, ISBN 5-02-017741-5. |
| Using | Symbols | Transliteration and transcription | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| vowels |  | A | /a/, /e/ | |||||
 | I | /ɯ/, /i/, /j/ | ||||||
 | O | /u/, /o/, /w/ | ||||||
 | U | /ø/, /y/, /w/ | ||||||
| consonants | harmonized | with: (¹) — back, (²) — front vowels |  |  | B¹ | /b/ | B² | /b/ |
 |  | D¹ | /d/ | D² | /d/ | |||
 |  | G¹ | /g/ | G² | /g/ | |||
 |  | L¹ | /l/ | L² | /l/ | |||
 |  | N¹ | /n/ | N² | /n/ | |||
 |  | R¹ | /r/ | R² | /r/ | |||
 |  | S¹ | /s/ | S² | /s/ | |||
 |  | T¹ | /t/ | T² | /t/ | |||
 |  | Y¹ | /j/ | Y² | /j/ | |||
| only (¹) — Q only (²) — K |  |  | Q | /q/ | K | /k/ | ||
| with all vowels |  | -Ç | /ʧ/ | |||||
 | -M | /m/ | ||||||
 | -P | /p/ | ||||||
 | -Ş | /ʃ/ | ||||||
 | -Z | /z/ | ||||||
 | -NG | /ŋ/ | ||||||
| clusters | + vowel |  | IÇ, ÇI, Ç | /iʧ/, /ʧi/, /ʧ/ | ||||
 | IQ, QI, Q | /ɯq/, /qɯ/, /q/ | ||||||
 |  | OQ, UQ, QO, QU, Q | /oq/, /uq/, /qo/, /qu/, /q/ | ÖK, ÜK, KÖ, KÜ, K | /øk/, /yk/, /kø/, /ky/, /k/ | |||
| + consonant |  | -NÇ | /nʧ/ | |||||
 | -NY | /nj/ | ||||||
 | -LT | /lt/, /ld/ | ||||||
 | -NT | /nt/, /nd/ | ||||||
| word-divide symbol |  | none | ||||||
| (-) — word endings only | ||||||||
A reading example:
— inscription (RTL)
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:
| Old Turkic script in Turkic topics | ||
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| Turkic peoples | Altays · Azerbaijanis · Balkars · Bashkirs · Bulgars · Chulyms · Chuvashs · Crimean Tatars · Cumans · Dolgans · Gagauz · Iraqi Turkmen · Karachays · Crimean Karaites · Karakalpaks · Karapapak · Kazakhs · Khakas · Khazars · Kimek · Kipchaks · Krymchaks · Kumyks · Kyrgyz · Meskhetian Turks · Nağaybäk · Nogais · Oghuz Turks · Qashqai · Salar · Tatars · Finnish Tatars · Keräşen Tatars · Lipka Tatars · Siberian Tatars · Volga Tatars · Telengit · Teleuts · Tofalar · Turkmens · Turks of Turkey · Turkish Cypriots · Tuvans · Uyghur · Uzbeks · Yakuts · Yörük · Yugur | |
| Political issues | History of the Turkic peoples · Pan-Turkism · Turanism · Turkic languages | |
| Turkic states | Azerbaijan · Kazakhstan · Kyrgyzstan · Northern Cyprus · Turkey · Turkmenistan · Uzbekistan | |
| Auton. republics | Altai Republic · Bashkortostan · Crimea · Chuvashia · Gagauzia · Karakalpakstan · Khakassia · Nakhchivan · Sakha Republic · Tatarstan · Tuva · Xinjiang | |
| Turkic homeland | Göktürks | |
| Turkic studies | Old Turkic script · Proto-Turkic language · Turkic alphabets · Turkology | |
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