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Which writing script is used in modern Persian?
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Jan 2, 2024 · The Persian script is an elegant and beautiful writing system used for the Persian language and several other languages spoken in the Middle East and Central Asia. Learning to read and write in Persian script opens up a world of literature, poetry, and cultural understanding.
Other writing scripts have also been used for modern Persian. In medieval Persia among Persian-Jewish communities, the Judeo-Persian language, which combines Persian with Hebrew and Aramaic terms, was written using the Hebrew script.
- Overview
- Writing systems
Iranian languages have been written in many different scripts during their long history, although various forms of Aramaic script have been predominant. Modern Persian is written in Arabic script, which is of Aramaic origin. For writing the Persian sounds p, č, ž, and g, four letters have been added by means of diacritical marks. By the addition of further letters, the Perso-Arabic script has been adapted to write not only the other main modern Iranian languages, Pashto, Kurdish, and Balochi, but also those minor ones that are occasionally recorded. An advantage of the use of that consonantal script is that by not defining vowel qualities it is possible to include local dialect variations to a considerable extent.
During and after the Soviet era, two modern Iranian languages—Tajik and Ossetic—were written in a modified Cyrillic script. Scholars tended to use modified Latin alphabets to record the minor languages that have no literary tradition (such as some of the languages spoken in the Pamirs). Ossetic has also been written in the Georgian script.
Old Persian was written with a cuneiform syllabary, the origin of which is still hotly disputed. Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, and Old Khwārezmian were recorded in various forms of Aramaic script. Two forms of this script as they developed for writing Sogdian were adopted by the Uighurs. In its cursive form this script spread even farther, to the Mongols and Manchus. Three other scripts are important for the remaining Middle Iranian languages: Greek script for Bactrian, Arabic script for Late Khwārezmian, and varieties of Central Asian Brāhmī script of Indian origin for Khotanese and Tumshuq.
The Aramaic script was not systematically adapted to the writing of Middle Iranian; and, despite the introduction of a variety of diacritical marks to differentiate letters, considerable ambiguity remained. Moreover, several letters tended to coalesce in form. In that respect, the Pahlavi script, used for writing the Middle Persian of the Zoroastrian books, developed furthest. In it, the original 22 letters of the Aramaic alphabet have been reduced to 14, which are further confused by the use of numerous ligatures (linked letters). It was the realization that this script was inadequate to record precisely the traditional pronunciation of the sacred text of the Avesta that led Zoroastrian priests to devise the elaborate Avestan script, which, with its 48 distinct letters formed by differentiation of the 14 used for Pahlavi, was well suited to the task.
Iranian languages have been written in many different scripts during their long history, although various forms of Aramaic script have been predominant. Modern Persian is written in Arabic script, which is of Aramaic origin. For writing the Persian sounds p, č, ž, and g, four letters have been added by means of diacritical marks. By the addition of further letters, the Perso-Arabic script has been adapted to write not only the other main modern Iranian languages, Pashto, Kurdish, and Balochi, but also those minor ones that are occasionally recorded. An advantage of the use of that consonantal script is that by not defining vowel qualities it is possible to include local dialect variations to a considerable extent.
During and after the Soviet era, two modern Iranian languages—Tajik and Ossetic—were written in a modified Cyrillic script. Scholars tended to use modified Latin alphabets to record the minor languages that have no literary tradition (such as some of the languages spoken in the Pamirs). Ossetic has also been written in the Georgian script.
Old Persian was written with a cuneiform syllabary, the origin of which is still hotly disputed. Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, and Old Khwārezmian were recorded in various forms of Aramaic script. Two forms of this script as they developed for writing Sogdian were adopted by the Uighurs. In its cursive form this script spread even farther, to the Mongols and Manchus. Three other scripts are important for the remaining Middle Iranian languages: Greek script for Bactrian, Arabic script for Late Khwārezmian, and varieties of Central Asian Brāhmī script of Indian origin for Khotanese and Tumshuq.
The Aramaic script was not systematically adapted to the writing of Middle Iranian; and, despite the introduction of a variety of diacritical marks to differentiate letters, considerable ambiguity remained. Moreover, several letters tended to coalesce in form. In that respect, the Pahlavi script, used for writing the Middle Persian of the Zoroastrian books, developed furthest. In it, the original 22 letters of the Aramaic alphabet have been reduced to 14, which are further confused by the use of numerous ligatures (linked letters). It was the realization that this script was inadequate to record precisely the traditional pronunciation of the sacred text of the Avesta that led Zoroastrian priests to devise the elaborate Avestan script, which, with its 48 distinct letters formed by differentiation of the 14 used for Pahlavi, was well suited to the task.
Dec 15, 2006 · Writing systems for Iranian languages include cuneiform (Old Persian); scripts descended from “imperial” Aramaic (q.v.; earliest monuments of Middle Persian, Parthian, Sogdian, and Chorasmian); two Syriac scripts, Estrangelo or “Manichean” (Middle Persian, Parthian, Bactrian, Sogdian, Modern Persian) and “Nestorian” (Christian ...
Pahlavi also spelled: Pehlevi. Related Topics: Aramaic alphabet. Pahlavi alphabet, writing system of the Persian people that dates from as early as the 2nd century bce, some scholars believe, and was in use until the advent of Islam (7th century ce ). The Zoroastrian sacred book, the Avesta, is written in a variant of Pahlavi called Avestan.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Nov 20, 2023 · 4. Persian written in Cyrillic (Tajiki) In modern-day Tajikistan, a type of Persian is spoken called Tajiki. Tajiki has some slight dialectical differences from the Persian of Iran, though both varieties are mutually intelligible. The speakers of this language in Tajikistan use a different alphabet than the Persian-speakers of Iran or Afghanistan.
Encyclopedias almanacs transcripts and maps. Persian Script. views 2,405,623 updated. PERSIAN SCRIPT. modified arabic alphabet used for writing persian. As a result of Arab expansion, the Middle Persian, or Pahlavi, script (developed from Aramaic) was replaced by the Arabic script during the ninth century.
