Wiktionary:Middle Persian transliteration
These are the rules concerning transliteration in Middle Persian and Parthian entries.
Pahlavi scripts
[edit]Pahlavi scripts are used for writing Middle Persian and Parthian, two closely related Middle Iranian languages. These scripts are directly or indirectly derived from the Aramaic alphabet. The scripts are Inscriptional Pahlavi, Inscriptional Parthian, Psalter Pahlavi, Book Pahlavi, and Avestan. The first three are relatively similar and, like Aramaic, are abjad and follow similar rules. Book Pahlavi, which has been the most widely used script, is more complicated. Avestan is a phonetic alphabet. Beside the Pahlavi scripts, Manichaean (also an abjad) has also been used for some forms of Middle Iranian languages.
Of these, only Inscriptional Parthian, Book Pahlavi, and Manichaean alphabets have been used for writing down Parthian.
In some of these scripts, a single letter may correspond to two or more Aramaic letters; they are indicated with the equal sign (=) in this page. The letter-by-letter transliteration is usually performed in such a way to distinguish these letters, this practice is followed in Wiktionary.
The numerals are not listed here yet.
Middle Persian and Parthian attestations in Inscriptional Pahlavi and Inscriptional Parthian, respectively, besides archaisms which are seen in most words, usually represent an earlier form of these languages. Attestations in Avestan and Manichaean alphabets usually represent a late form of these languages.
Comparative list of the letters
[edit]The table below provides a comparative list of the letters of four Pahlavi scripts together with their corresponding letters in Aramaic.
| Aramaic (Armi) |
Inscriptional Parthian (Prti) |
Inscriptional Pahlavi (Phli) |
Psalter Pahlavi (Phlp) |
Book Pahlavi (Phlv) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 𐡀 (ʾ, aleph) | 𐭀 (ʾ) | 𐭠 (ʾ) | 𐮀 | () |
| 𐡁 (b, bet) | 𐭁 (b) | 𐭡 (b) | 𐮁 | () |
| 𐡂 (g, gimel) | 𐭂 (g) | 𐭢 (g) | 𐮂 | () |
| 𐡃 (d, dalet) | 𐭃 (d) | 𐭣 (d) | 𐮃 | = g |
| 𐡄 (h, he) | 𐭄 (h) | 𐭤 (h) | 𐮄 | () ( () + ()) |
| 𐡅 (w, waw) | 𐭅 (w) | 𐭥 (w) | 𐮅 | () |
| 𐡆 (z, zayin) | 𐭆 (z) | 𐭦 (z) | 𐮆 | () |
| 𐡇 (ḥ, heth) | 𐭇 (ḥ) | 𐭧 (ḥ) | 𐮇 | = ʾ |
| 𐡈 (ṭ, teth) | 𐭈 (ṭ) | 𐭨 (ṭ) | — | — |
| 𐡉 (y, yodh) | 𐭉 (y) | 𐭩 (y) | 𐮈 | = g |
| 𐡊 (k, kaph) | 𐭊 (k) | 𐭪 (k) | 𐮉 | () |
| (, old kaph) | ||||
| 𐡋 (l, lamedh) | 𐭋 (l) | 𐭫 (l) | 𐮊 | () |
| (, l-lamedh) | ||||
| (, old lamedh) | ||||
| 𐡌 (m, mem) | 𐭌 (m) | 𐭬 (m) | 𐮋 | () |
| 𐡍 (n, nun) | 𐭍 (n) | 𐭭 (n) | 𐮌 | = w |
| 𐡎 (s, samekh) | 𐭎 (s) | 𐭮 (s) | 𐮍 | () |
| 𐡏 (ʿ, ayin) | 𐭏 (ʿ) | = w | = w | = w |
| 𐡐 (p, pe) | 𐭐 (p) | 𐭯 (p) | 𐮎 | () |
| 𐡑 (c, tsade) | 𐭑 (c) | 𐭰 (c) | 𐮏 | () |
| 𐡒 (q, qoph) | 𐭒 (q) | = m | = m | = m |
| 𐡓 (r, resh) | 𐭓 (r) | = w | = w | = w |
| 𐡔 (š, shin) | 𐭔 (š) | 𐭱 (š) | 𐮐 | () |
| 𐡕 (t, taw) | 𐭕 (t) | 𐭲 (t) | 𐮑 | () |
Inscriptional Pahlavi
[edit]| Letter | In Iranian words | In arameograms | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Transliteration | Transcription | Transliteration | |||
| Wikt. | Other | Wikt. | Other | ||
| 𐭠 (ʾ) | ʾ | ', ’ | (null), ā, a | A | |
| 𐭡 (b) | b | b | B | ||
| 𐭢 (g) | g | g | G | ||
| 𐭣 (d) | d | d, y | D | ||
| 𐭤 (h) | — | E | H | ||
| 𐭥 (w) | w | w, ō, ū, (o), u | W | ||
| — | O | ʿ | |||
| r | r | R | |||
| 𐭦 (z) | z | z | Z | ||
| 𐭧 (ḥ) | h | ḥ | h, x | H | Ḥ |
| 𐭨 (ṭ) | — | Ṭ | |||
| 𐭩 (y) | y | y, j, ē, ī, (e), i | Y | ||
| ' | y | (null) | ' | ||
| 𐭪 (k) | k | g, k | K | ||
| 𐭫 (l) | l | r, l | L | ||
| 𐭬 (m) | m | m | M | ||
| — | Q | ||||
| 𐭭 (n) | n | n | N | ||
| 𐭮 (s) | s | s, h | S | ||
| 𐭯 (p) | p | p, f | P | ||
| 𐭰 (c) | c | ṣ | č, z, j | C | Ṣ |
| 𐭱 (š) | š | š, j | Š | ||
| 𐭲 (t) | t | d, t | T | ||
Book Pahlavi
[edit]The transliteration system used in Wiktionary is based on the system given in the "Introduction" of David Neil MacKenzie's A Concise Pahlavi Dictionary. Some corrupt forms are missing in this table, see MacKenzie for more.
| Letter | In Iranian words | In arameograms | As corrupted form | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wikt. | Other | Transcription | Wikt. | Other | Iran. | Aram. | |
| (aleph) | ʾ | ', ’ | (null), ā, a | A | |||
| h | ḥ | h, x | H | Ḥ | |||
| (bet) | b | b | B | ḡ, ḏ, ȳ | |||
| (gimel) | g | g | G | ḇ, ẕ, ḵ | Ḇ, Ẕ, Ḵ | ||
| d | d, y | D | |||||
| y | y, j, ē, ī, e, i | Y | |||||
| (he) | (mem) + (waw); see (mem) and (waw). | E | H | ||||
| (waw) | w | w, ō, ū, o, u | W | ||||
| n | n | N | |||||
| — | O | ʿ | |||||
| r | r | R | |||||
| ' | (null) | ' | |||||
| (zayin) | z | z | Z | Ḡ, Ḏ, Ȳ | |||
| (kaph) | k | g, k | K | ||||
| (kaph2) | k | γ | γ | K | |||
| (lamedh) | l | r, l | L | ||||
| (lamedh2) | l | ƚ | l | L | Ƚ | ||
| (mem) | m | m | M | ||||
| — | Q | ||||||
| (samekh) | s | s, h | S | ||||
| (pe) | p | p, f | P | ||||
| (tsade) | c | ṣ | č, z, j | C | Ṣ | p̄ | P̱ |
| (shin) | š | š, j | Š | ||||
| (taw) | t | d, t | T | D̲R̲ | |||
See also
[edit]
Pahlavi scripts on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
