Alphabet

I open this page with a Comparative Chart Table of Turanian (200-150 BC to 10 c AD) and Türkic (Kök-Türk, 8 c AD) alphabets, developed by Azgar Mukhamadiev. It compares alphabets separated by centuries, enormous distances, and connected with different historical personalities. The Türkic alphabet, published in 1730 and deciphered by V. Tomsen in 1893, is well known for more than a century. The deciphering of the inscriptions in the Turanian alphabet by A. Mukhamadiev cracked open a window into the history, life, and religions of the Central Asian and N. Pontic area of the period that includes the European Hunnish Empire.

The oldest inscription in the Türkic alphabet, the Issyk Inscription, written on a flat silver drinking cup, was found in 1970 in a royal tomb located within Balykchy (Issyk), a town in Kyrgyzstan near Lake Issyk, and was dated by 5-th c. BC. The first known inscription in the related Karosthi script was found in Pakistan and dates to 251 BC.

The inscriptions in Türkic alphabet were not limited to Türkic languages, as is evidenced by Slavic inscriptions of the pre-Glagolic time (before 9 c.). It is also notable that the emergence of the Nordic runic script coincides with the expansion of the Hunnic Empire into the N. Europe and Scandinavia.

The latest preserved inscription in the Türkic alphabet was found in Hungaryand dates to 1699.

During the millenniums of their history on the expanses of Eurasia, the Türkic-speaking people also used other systems of writing.

Links

 Azgar Mukhamadiev

PROBLEMS OF LINGO-ETHNO-HISTORY OF THE TATAR PEOPLE

KAZAN, 1995

TURANIAN WRITING

From the article “Turanian Writing”  Published in the book “Problems Of Lingo-ethno-history Of The Tatar People” (Kazan, 1995. page 38).

Table 1

Comparative chart of Turanian and Türkic alphabets

No	Lat.	Turanian letters	Türkic letters	No	Lat.	Turanian letters	Türkic letters
1	а, ä			23	nt	-
2	b1			24	nč	-
3	b2	-		25	о, и
4	č			26	oq,uq
5	d1			27	ö, ü
6	d2	-		28	ν		-
7	γ			29	p
8	g			30	r1
9	i			31	r2
10	y		-	32	s1
11	j1	-		33	s 2
12	j2			34	t1
13	q			35	t2
14	k			36	th		-
15	l1			37	x1		-
16	l2	-		38	x2		-
17	lt	-		39	h1		-
18	m			40	h2		-
19	n1			41	š
20	n 2			42	z.
21	ή			43	ž		-
22	nj,ny

Distribution of the the Euro Asiatic and the Asiatic groups of the Türkic alphabets (Per I.L. Kyzlasov)

REFERENCES

Issyk Inscription

http://www.lostlanguages.com/saka.htm

TürkicKök-Türk alphabets

Oldest known record of the Orkhon Alphabet 

http://www.tonyukuk.net/Orkun.ttf

http://www.tonyukuk.net/tongiris.htm

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/orkhon.htm

http://www.antalya-ws.com/futhark/FUTHA2E.HTM

HungarianTürkic Writing

http://fang.fa.gau.hu/~heves/runic.html

SlavicWriting

http://members.tripod.com/~Groznijat/pb_lang/suppl3.html

RunicScript

http://www.antalya-ws.com/futhark/FUTHP2E.HTM

http://www.turcoman.btinternet.co.uk/futhark-alphabet.htm

Türkic Perso-Arabic script

http://www.omniglot.com/writing/turkish.htm