View source for Social:Old Uyghur alphabet

{{Short description|Historic Aramaic-based alphabet}}
{{Infobox writing system
 |name=Old Uyghur alphabet
 |type=[[Social:Alphabet|Alphabet]]
|typedesc=or abjad
 |languages=[[Social:Old Uyghur language|Old Uyghur]], [[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur]]
 |time=<!--Late Antiquity-->ca.700s–1800s
 |fam1=[[Social:Egyptian hieroglyphs|Egyptian hieroglyphs]]
 |fam2=[[Social:Proto-Sinaitic script|Proto-Sinaitic]]
 |fam3=[[Phoenician alphabet|Phoenician]]
 |fam4=[[Social:Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic]]
 |fam5=Syriac
 |fam6=[[Social:Sogdian alphabet|Sogdian]]
 |children=[[Social:Mongolian script|Traditional Mongolian alphabet]]
 |direction comment=<br/>Vertical (left-to-right);<br/> Horizontal (right-to-left), used in modern printing, especially in multi-lingual publications
 |iso15924= Ougr
 |unicode=[https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10F70.pdf U+10F70–U+10FAF]
 |note=none
 |sample=Uighur native name.svg
 |imagesize=45px
 |direction =}}
The '''Old Uyghur alphabet''' was a Turkic script used for writing the [[Social:Old Uyghur|Old Uyghur]], a variety of [[Social:Old Turkic|Old Turkic]] spoken in Turpan and Gansu that is the ancestor of the modern [[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur language]].<ref>Osman, Omarjan. (2013). L2/13-071 [https://unicode.org/L2/L2013/13071-uyghur.pdf ''Proposal to Encode the Uyghur Script''].</ref> The term "Old Uyghur" used for this alphabet is misleading because [[History:Qocho|Qocho]], the Uyghur (Yugur) kingdom created in 843, originally used the [[Social:Old Turkic alphabet|Old Turkic alphabet]].  The Uyghur adopted this "Old Uyghur" script from local inhabitants when they migrated into Turfan after 840.<ref>{{citation|last = Sinor |first = D. |year = 1998|title = History of Civilisations of Central Asia|editor1-last = Asimov|editor1-first = M.S.|editor2-last = Bosworth|editor2-first = C.E.|volume = 4 part II |chapter=Chapter 13 – Language situation and scripts |pages = 333 |publisher = UNESCO Publishing|isbn = 81-208-1596-3|chapter-url=https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000120455 }}</ref>  It was an adaptation of the [[Social:Aramaic alphabet|Aramaic alphabet]] used for texts with [[Religion:Buddhism|Buddhist]], [[Unsolved:Manichaeism|Manichaean]] and [[Religion:Church of the East|Christian]] content for 700–800 years in Turpan. The last known manuscripts are dated to the 18th century. This was the prototype for the [[Social:Mongolian script|Mongolian]] and [[Social:Manchu alphabet|Manchu alphabet]]s. The Old Uyghur alphabet was brought to Mongolia by [[Social:Tata-tonga|Tata-tonga]].

The Old Uyghur script was used between the 8th and 17th centuries primarily in the Tarim Basin of [[Place:Central Asia|Central Asia]], located in present-day [[Place:Xinjiang|Xinjiang]] Uygur Autonomous Region, China.  The script flourished through the 15th century in Central Asia and parts of [[Religion:Iran|Iran]], but it was eventually replaced by the Arabic script in the 16th century. Its usage was continued in Gansu through the 17th century.<ref name=Pandey>{{cite web|author=Pandey, Anshuman|date=2020-12-18|id=L2/20-191|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2020/20191-old-uyghur.pdf|title=Final proposal to encode Old Uyghur in Unicode|access-date=2021-02-11}}</ref>

==Characteristics==
The Old Uyghur alphabet is a cursive-joining alphabet with features of an abjad. Letters join together at a baseline, and have both isolated and contextual forms, when they occur in initial, medial or final positions. The script is traditionally written vertically, from top to bottom and left to right. After the 14th century, some examples in a horizontal direction can be found. Words are separated by spaces.<ref name=Pandey/> Like the Sogdian alphabet (technically, an abjad), the Old Uyghur tended to use ''matres lectionis'' for the long vowels as well as for the short ones. The practice of leaving short vowels unrepresented was almost completely abandoned.<ref name=clauson>Clauson, Gerard. 2002. Studies in Turkic and Mongolic linguistics. P.110-111.</ref> Thus, while ultimately deriving from a Semitic abjad, the Old Uyghur alphabet can be said to have been largely "alphabetized".<ref>Houston, Stephen D. 2004. ''The first writing: script invention as history and process'' (p.59).</ref>

==Letters==
[[File:Uighur vert.gif|thumb]]
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! rowspan="2" |Name
! colspan="4" |Picture
! rowspan="2" |Sound ([[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]])
! rowspan="2" |Prototype in the Sogdian script 
! rowspan="2" |Derived letter in the [[Social:Mongolian script|Mongolian script]]
|-
!Isolated
!Initial
!Medial
!Final
|-
|Alef
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Aleph (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Aleph (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Aleph (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Aleph (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|e}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼰|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠡ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Aleph-Aleph (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Aleph-Aleph (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Aleph-Aleph (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Aleph-Aleph (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|a}}, {{IPAblink|e}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼰𐼰|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠠ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Beth
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Beth (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Beth (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Beth (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Beth (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|w}}, {{IPAblink|v}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼱|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠸ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Gimel
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Gimel (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Gimel (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Gimel (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Gimel (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|ɣ}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼲|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠬ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Waw
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|o}}, {{IPAblink|u}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼴|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠣ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Waw-Yod
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Waw-Yodh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Waw-Yodh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Waw-Yodh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur digraph Waw-Yodh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|ø}}, {{IPAblink|y}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼴𐼷|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|&zwj;ᠥ&#x180B;&zwj;|font-size=200%}}
|-
|
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Waw (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|o}}, {{IPAblink|u}}, {{IPAblink|ø}}, {{IPAblink|y}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼴|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|&zwj;ᠤ&zwj;|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Zain
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|z}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼵|font-size=400%}}
|—
|-
|Zain with a colon
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin with two dots below (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin with two dots below (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin with two dots below (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Zayin with two dots below (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|ʒ}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼵𐽇|font-size=400%}}
|—
|-
|Khet
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Gimel (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|x}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼶|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠬ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Khet with a colon
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth with two dots above (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth with two dots above (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth with two dots above (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Heth with two dots above (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|q}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼶𐽉|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠭ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Yod
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Yodh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Yodh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Yodh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Yodh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|j}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼷|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠵ, ᠶ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Kaf
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Kaph (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Kaph (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Kaph (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Kaph (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|k}}, {{IPAblink|ɡ}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼸|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠺ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Lamed
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lamedh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lamedh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lamedh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lamedh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|d}}, {{IPAblink|ð}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼹|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|&zwj;ᠲ&zwj;|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Mem
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Mem (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Mem (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Mem (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Mem (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|m}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼺|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠮ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Nun
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Nun (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Nun with dot above (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Nun with dot above (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Nun (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|n}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼻|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠨ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Samekh
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Samekh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Samekh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Samekh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Samekh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|s}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼼|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠰ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Pe
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Pe (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Pe (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Pe (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Pe (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|b}}, {{IPAblink|p}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼾|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠪ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Tsadi
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Sadhe (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Sadhe (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Sadhe (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Sadhe (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|t͡ʃ}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐼿|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠴ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Resh
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Resh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Resh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Resh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Resh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|r}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐽀|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠷ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Shin
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|s}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐽁|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠰ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Shin with a colon
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin with two dots below (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin with two dots below (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin with two dots below (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Shin with two dots below (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|ʃ}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐽁𐽇|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠱ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Taw
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Taw (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Taw (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Taw (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Taw (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|t}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐽂|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠲ|font-size=200%}}
|-
|Lesh (Resh with a hook)
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lesh (isolated form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lesh (initial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lesh (medial form).svg|50px]]
|[[File:Old Uyghur letter Lesh (final form).svg|50px]]
|{{IPAblink|l}}
|{{Script/Sogdian|𐽄|font-size=400%}}
|{{MongolUnicode|ᠯ|font-size=200%}}
|}

==Gallery==
<gallery>
File:Yuntai Uyghur west wall.jpg|Yuan dynasty Buddhist inscription written in Old Uyghur on the west wall of the Cloud Platform at Juyong Pass
File:Yuntai Uyghur east wall.jpg|Yuan dynasty Buddhist inscription written in Old Uyghur on the east wall of the Cloud Platform at Juyong Pass
File:回鹘文 定慧大师卖奴契.JPG|Slave contract
File:Mannerheim - Across Asia from West to East in 1906-08 (1909, 1940, 1969) vol 2.pdf|page=198|Contract on taxation
File:高昌館來文.pdf|page=4|Ming era text from volume with accompanying Chinese translation
File:An epitaph of a Nestorian Christian.jpg|Yuan era epitaph
File:Fetihname Fatih.jpg|Mehmed the Conqueror's ''Fetihname'' (Declaration of conquest) after the Battle of Otlukbeli
File:Jarlig Temur Qutlugh copy 1 GIM.jpg|[[Social:Jarlig|Jarlig]] of Temür Qutlugh
</gallery>

==Unicode==
{{Main|Old Uyghur (Unicode block)}}
The Old Uyghur alphabet was added to the [[Unicode]] Standard in September, 2021 with the release of version 14.0.

The Unicode block for Old Uyghur is U+10F70–U+10FAF:


==See also==
*[[Social:Western Yugur language|Western Yugur language]]

== References ==
=== Citations ===
{{Reflist}}

=== Sources ===
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite book |last = Gorelova |first = Liliya M. |title = Manchu Grammar |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=KHwPAAAAYAAJ |year = 2002 |publisher = Brill |isbn = 978-90-04-12307-6 }}
{{refend}}

== External links ==
*[https://turkdilleri.com/Araclar/eski-uygurca-cevirici Latin to Old Uyghur transliteration]
*[http://www.omniglot.com/writing/uyghur.htm Old Uyghur Alphabet on Omniglot]
*[http://www.protobulgarians.com/Russian%20translations/Zhivko%20Voynikov%20-%20Alano-drevnebolgarskoe%20pismo/ALANO-DR-BOLG-PISMO/AL-PRB-P-5.htm Old Uyghur alphabet and Orkhon Turkic alphabet]


[[Category:Obsolete writing systems]]

{{Sourceattribution|Old Uyghur alphabet}}