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Book Pahlavi

Cursive Middle Iranian script

Summary

Cursive Middle Iranian script

Field	Value
name	Book Pahlavi
type	Abjad
typedesc	with heterograms
languages	Middle Persian language
time	– AD
fam1	Egyptian hieroglyphs
fam2	Proto-Sinaitic
fam3	Phoenician alphabet
fam4	Aramaic alphabet
fam5	Pahlavi scripts
children	*Avestan
iso15924 note	`Phlv, `
sample	ورقی از متن کارنامه اردشیر بابکان از دستنوشته پهلوی مهربان کیخسرو متعلق به سال 1323 میلادی (Pahlavi Codex MK).jpg
imagesize	300px
caption	Page from the codex MK, copied in 1322.
note	none
direction	Right-to-left

Book Pahlavi is the cursive variant of the Pahlavi script, which was derived from the Aramaic script during the Sassanid period to write the Middle Persian language. Book Pahlavi was used primarily for writing books and documents, especially Zoroastrian works in Pahlavi, but later also for inscriptions.

Book Pahlavi is an abjad, meaning there are no unique vowel symbols, although it does make use of matres lectionis. Much like rasm in the Arabic script, a single letterform can be used for multiple letters, as they merged over time. (To avoid confusion, these are still usually transliterated differently.) Further ambiguity is added by the fact that the boundaries between letters are not clear, and many letters look identical to combinations of other letters. Like other variants of Pahlavi, many Aramaic-language heterograms (Middle Persian huzwāreš; also called "Aramaeograms") are used in Book Pahlavi texts. In transliteration, these are written as capital letters to differentiate them from Middle Persian words.

The Avestan script was derived from Book Pahlavi as a phonetic alphabet with 52 characters (including 15 vowel characters) in order to compile the traditional sacred texts of the Avesta into a book. Sometimes, Middle Persian can be written in the Avestan script, where it is referred to as Pazend.

Letters

Letter name	Letter	in Middle Persian words	in heterograms	Image	Transliteration	transcription	Transliteration
Aleph	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - alef.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Aleph]]	[](hamza)	(zero), ā, a	A
Heth	h	h, x	Ḥ / H
Beth	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - bet.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Bet]]	b	b	B
Gimel	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - gimel.svg	49x49px	class=skin-invert-image	Gimel]]	g	g	G
Daleth	d	d, y	D
Yodh	y	y, j, ē, ī, e, i	Y
Hē	[[File:Book_Pahlavi_script_-_hē.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	He]]		H / E
Waw	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - wāw.svg	28x28px	class=skin-invert-image	Waw]]	w	w, ō, ū, o, u	W
Nun	n	n	N
Ayin		ʿ / O
Resh	r	r	R
(otiose sign)	[](vertical-bar)
Zayin	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - zayin.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Zayin]]	z	z	Z
Kaph	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - kap̄.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Kaph]]	k	g, k, γ	K
Old Kaph	[[File:Book_Pahlavi_script_-_old_kap̄.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Old Kaph]]
Lamedh	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - lāṁeḏ.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Lamedh]]	l	r, l	L
hooked Lamedh	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - old lāṁeḏ.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	old Lamedh]]
stroked Lamedh	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - lāṁeḏ with stroke.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	stroked Lamedh]]	ɫ	l
Mem	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - mēm.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Mem]]	m	m	M
Qoph		Q
Samekh	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - sāmeḵ.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Samekh]]	s	s, h	S
Pe	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - pē.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Pe]]	p	b, p, f	P
Sadhe	[[File:Book Pahlavi Che.png	20px	Tsade]]	c / ṣ	č, z, j	Ṣ / C
Shin	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - šin.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Shin]]	š	š, j	S
Taw	[[File:Book Pahlavi script - tāw.svg	20px	class=skin-invert-image	Taw]]	t	d, t	T

Ligatures

Unlike other Pahlavi scripts, Book Pahlavi features extensive ligatures. Many letters take on descending forms before the letters aleph-heth, gimel-daleth-yodh, pe, sadhe, and taw.

Gallery

File:Eranshahr.svg|The word Ērān-šahr, spelled **, in Book Pahlavi. File:Amargar of Adurbadagan.png|link=|Tracing of a mid-6th century Sasanian inscription, Darband fortress. It is a cursive (top-to-bottom, left-to-right) script close to that of Book Pahlavi. File:سفال نوشته پهلوی قلعه ایرج ورامین.jpg|Late Sasanian ostracon with Book Pahlavi writing. Found at Qaleh Iraj in Varamin. File:Ispahbod Xurshid's coin-1.jpg|Coin of Khurshīd, Ispahbad of Tabaristan (r. 740–760). File:Persian cross 1.png|7th or 8th century Saint Thomas stone cross at St Thomas mount, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. File:Tomb inscription of Khurdad in Constantinople (after Mikhail N. Bogoliubov, 'Пехлевийская надписьʼ, p. 93).jpg|New Persian tomb inscription of Khurdād in Constantinople, 8th to 10th century. File:کتیبه های فوقانی برج لاجیم.jpg|A tomb tower in Lajim, dated 1022/23, with its upper Middle Persian inscription in a script derived from Book Pahlavi.

Notes

References

{{Encyclopædia Iranica Online. C. G.. Cereti. link
"IRAN vi. IRANIAN LANGUAGES AND SCRIPTS (3) Writing Systems".
(1996). "History of civilizations of Central Asia, v. 3: The Crossroads of civilizations, A.D. 250 to 750". [[UNESCO]].
Roger D. Woodard: ''The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas''. Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1, S. 123.
"HUZWĀREŠ".
MacKenzie, David Neil. (2000-09-30). "A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary".
Pandey, Anshuman. "Revised proposal to encode Book Pahlavi in Unicode".
Pandey, Anshuman. "Preliminary proposal to encode Book Pahlavi in Unicode".
"DARBAND EPIGRAPHY i. MIDDLE PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS".
(2023-04-08). "NEWLY FOUND MIDDLE PERSIAN INSCRIPTIONS OF ĀMĀRGAR DARIUŠ IN DERBENT". History, Archeology and Ethnography of the Caucasus.
(2018). "Newly-found Evidence of Sassanid Simple-pit Burial at Qaleh Iraj, Pishvā, Iran". Iranian Journal of Archaeological Studies.
Shukurov, Rustam. (2023-12-13). "Byzantine Ideas of Persia, 650–1461". Taylor & Francis.
(2024-05-06). "Exploring Multilingualism and Multiscriptism in Written Artefacts". Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG.

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