Mandaic
Script type
Alphabet
Directionright-to-left script Edit this on Wikidata
LanguagesClassical Mandaic
Neo-Mandaic
Related scripts
Parent systems
ISO 15924
ISO 15924Mand (140), ​Mandaic, Mandaean
Unicode
Unicode alias
Mandaic
U+0840–U+085F

The Mandaic alphabet is a writing system primarily used to write the Mandaic language. It is thought to have evolved between the second and seventh century CE from either a cursive form of Aramaic (as did Syriac) or from Inscriptional Parthian.[1][2] The exact roots of the script are difficult to determine.[3] It was developed by members of the Mandaean faith of Lower Mesopotamia to write the Mandaic language for liturgical purposes.[1] Classical Mandaic and its descendant Neo-Mandaic are still in limited use.[1] The script has changed very little over centuries of use.[3][1]

The Mandaic name for the script is Abagada or Abaga, after the first letters of the alphabet. Rather than the traditional Semitic letter names (aleph, beth, gimel), they are known as a, ba, ga and so on.[4]

It is written from right to left in horizontal lines. It is a cursive script, but not all letters connect within a word. Spaces separate individual words.

During the past few decades, Majid Fandi al-Mubaraki, a Mandaean living in Australia, has digitized many Mandaean texts using typeset Mandaic script.[5]

Letters

Mandaic alphabet chart

The Mandaic alphabet contains 22 letters (in the same order as the Aramaic alphabet) and the digraph adu. The alphabet is formally closed by repeating the first letter, a, so that it has a symbolic count of 24 letters:[6][7]

Mandaic alphabet[8]
#Name[3]LetterJoining behaviorTransliterationIPA[3]Unicode
code point
RightMedialLeftSyriacLatin[3]Hebrew[6]
1, 24aࡀ‎ـࡀ‎ܐaא/a/U+0840 HALQA
2baࡁ‎ـࡁ‎ـࡁـ‎ࡁـ‎ܒbב/b/U+0841 AB
3gaࡂ‎ـࡂ‎ـࡂـ‎ࡂـ‎ܓgג/ɡ/U+0842 AG
4daࡃ‎ـࡃ‎ـࡃـ‎ࡃـ‎ܕdד/d/U+0843 AD
5haࡄ‎ـࡄ‎ـࡄـ‎ࡄـ‎ܗhה/h/U+0844 AH
6waࡅ‎ـࡅ‎ـࡅـ‎ࡅـ‎ܘuו/u, w/U+0845 USHENNA
7zaࡆ‎ـࡆ‎ܙzז/z/U+0846 AZ
8ehࡇ‎ـࡇ‎ܚ-ẖח/χ/U+0847 IT
9ṭaࡈ‎ـࡈ‎ـࡈـ‎ࡈـ‎ܛṭט/tˠ/U+0848 ATT
10yaࡉ‎ـࡉ‎ܝiי/i, j/U+0849 AKSA
11kaࡊ‎ـࡊ‎ـࡊـ‎ࡊـ‎ܟkכ/k/U+084A AK
12laࡋ‎ـࡋ‎ـࡋـ‎ࡋـ‎ܠlל/l/U+084B AL
13maࡌ‎ـࡌ‎ـࡌـ‎ࡌـ‎ܡmמ/m/U+084C AM
14naࡍ‎ـࡍ‎ـࡍـ‎ࡍـ‎ܢnנ/n/U+084D AN
15saࡎ‎ـࡎ‎ـࡎـ‎ࡎـ‎ܣsס/s/U+084E AS
16eࡏ‎ـࡏ‎ـࡏـ‎ࡏـ‎ܥʿע/e/U+084F IN
17paࡐ‎ـࡐ‎ـࡐـ‎ࡐـ‎ܦpפ/p/U+0850 AP
18ṣaࡑ‎ـࡑ‎ـࡑـ‎ࡑـ‎ܨṣצ/sˠ/U+0851 ASZ
19qaࡒ‎ـࡒ‎ـࡒـ‎ࡒـ‎ܩqק/q/U+0852 AQ
20raࡓ‎ـࡓ‎ـࡓـ‎ࡓـ‎ܪrר/r/U+0853 AR
21šaࡔ‎ـࡔ‎ܫšש/ʃ/U+0854 ASH
22taࡕ‎ـࡕ‎ـࡕـ‎ࡕـ‎ܬtת/t/U+0855 AT
23ḏࡖ‎ـࡖ‎ܯḏ-דﬞ‎/ð/U+0856 DUSHENNA

Vowels

Unlike most other Semitic alphabets, vowels are usually written out in full. The first letter, a (corresponding to alaph), is used to represent a range of open vowels. The sixth letter, wa, is used for close back vowels (u and o), and the tenth letter, ya is used for close front vowels (i and e). These last two can also serve as the consonants w/v and y. The eighth letter corresponds to the Semitic heth, and is called eh; it is pronounced as a long i-vowel but is used only as a suffix for the third person singular.[7] The sixteenth letter, e (Aramaic ayn), usually represents e at the beginning of a word or, when followed by wa or ya, represents initial u or i respectively.

A mark similar to an underscore (U+085A ◌࡚ MANDAIC VOCALIZATION MARK) can be used to distinguish vowel quality for three Mandaic vowels. It is used in teaching materials but may be omitted from ordinary text.[9] It is only used with vowels a, wa, and ya. Using the letter ba as an example:

  • ࡁࡀ‎ /bā/ becomes ࡁࡀ࡚‎ /ba/
  • ࡁࡅ‎ /bu/ becomes ࡁࡅ࡚‎ /bo/
  • ࡁࡉ‎ /bi/ becomes ࡁࡉ࡚‎ /be/

Gemination mark

A dot under a consonant (U+085B ◌࡛ MANDAIC GEMINATION MARK) can be used to note gemination, indicating what native writers call a "hard" pronunciation.[9] Sample words include ࡀࡊ࡛ࡀ‎ (ekka) 'there is', ࡔࡉࡍ࡛ࡀ‎ (šenna) 'tooth', ࡋࡉࡁ࡛ࡀ‎ (lebba) 'heart', and ࡓࡁ࡛ࡀ‎ (rabba) 'great'.[9]

Ligatures

The 23rd letter of the alphabet is the digraph adu (da + ya), the relative particle[1][6] (cf. Arabic tāʾ marbūṭah, Coptic letter "ti", and English ampersand).

In addition to normal joining behavior, some Mandaic letters can combine to form various ligatures:[3][9]

  • ࡊࡃ‎ /kd/, ࡗ‎ /kḏ/, ࡊࡉ‎ /ki/, ࡊࡋ‎ /kl/, ࡊࡓ‎ /kr/, ࡊࡕ‎ /kt/, and ࡊࡅ‎ /ku/
  • ࡍࡃ‎ /nd/, ࡍࡉ‎ /ni/, ࡍࡌ‎ /nm/, ࡍࡒ‎ /nq/, ࡍࡕ‎ /nt/, and ࡍࡅ‎ /nu/
  • ࡐࡋ‎ /pl/, ࡐࡓ‎ /pr/, and ࡐࡅ‎ /pu/
  • ࡑࡋ‎ /sˤl/, ࡑࡓ‎ /sˤr/, and ࡑࡅ‎ /sˤu/
  • ࡅࡕ‎ /ut/

Both adu (U+0856 ࡖ MANDAIC LETTER DUSHENNA) and the old ligature kḏ (U+0857 ࡗ MANDAIC LETTER KAD) are treated as single characters in Unicode.

Similar characters

Due to their similar shapes, certain Mandaic characters are sometimes confused with each other by both historical Mandaean scribes and modern scholars, particularly in handwritten manuscripts. These include the following.[10]

  • ࡃ‎ /d/, ࡓ‎ /r/, ࡏ‎ /e/, ࡒ‎ /q/
  • ࡅ‎ /u/, ࡉ‎ /i/
  • ࡌ‎ /m/, ࡕ‎ /t/
  • ࡊ‎ /k/, ࡍ‎ /n/, ࡐ‎ /p/
  • ࡐࡀ‎ /pa/, ࡀࡍࡀ‎ /ana/, ࡔ‎ /ʃ/
  • ࡑ‎ /sˤ/, ࡄࡍ‎ /hn/

Extensions

Affrication mark

Postclassical and modern Mandaic use many Persian words. Various Mandaic letters can be re-purposed by placing two horizontally-aligned dots underneath (U+0859 ◌࡙ MANDAIC AFFRICATION MARK). This idea is comparable to the four novel letters in the Persian alphabet, allowing the alphabet to be used to represent foreign sounds (whether affrication, lenition, or another sound):[9]

  • ࡂ‎ /g/ becomes ࡂ࡙‎ /ɣ/
  • ࡃ‎ /d/ becomes ࡃ࡙‎ /ð/
  • ࡄ‎ /h/ becomes ࡄ࡙‎ /ħ/
  • ࡈ‎ /tˤ/ becomes ࡈ࡙‎ /ðˤ/
  • ࡊ‎ /k/ becomes ࡊ࡙‎ /x/
  • ࡐ‎ /p/ becomes ࡐ࡙‎ /f/
  • ࡑ‎ /ṣ/ becomes ࡑ࡙‎ /ʒ/
  • ࡔ‎ /ʃ/ becomes ࡔ࡙‎ /tʃ/, /dʒ/
  • ࡕ‎ /t/ becomes ࡕ࡙‎ /θ/

Ayin

Mandaic ayin (ࡘ‎) is borrowed from Arabic ayin (ع‎).[1] Unlike in Arabic, Mandaic ayin does not join with other letters.[9]

Punctuation and other marks

Punctuation is sparsely used in Mandaic text.[9] A break in text can be indicated by two concentric circles (U+085E ࡞ MANDAIC PUNCTUATION).[1]

A horizontal low line (U+0640 ـ ARABIC TATWEEL) can be used to justify text.[1]

Religious use

Each letter of the Mandaic alphabet is said to represent a power of life and light.[7] Mandaeans view their alphabet as magical and sacred.[7][1]

Acrostic hymns can be found in Mandaic literature, for example in Book 12 of the Right Ginza.[11]

The Semitic alphabet contains 22 letters. In order to bring this number to 24, the number of hours in a day, adu was added and a was repeated as the last letter of the Mandaic alphabet.[4][7] Without this repetition, the alphabet would be considered incomplete for magical purposes.[4]

Unicode

The Mandaic alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2010 with the release of version 6.0.

The Unicode block for Mandaic is U+0840–U+085F:

Mandaic[1][2]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
 0123456789ABCDEF
U+084x ࡀ‎ ࡁ‎ ࡂ‎ ࡃ‎ ࡄ‎ ࡅ‎ ࡆ‎ ࡇ‎ ࡈ‎ ࡉ‎ ࡊ‎ ࡋ‎ ࡌ‎ ࡍ‎ ࡎ‎ ࡏ‎
U+085x ࡐ‎ ࡑ‎ ࡒ‎ ࡓ‎ ࡔ‎ ࡕ‎ ࡖ‎ ࡗ‎ ࡘ‎ ࡙‎ ࡚‎ ࡛‎ ࡞‎
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 15.1
2.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Chapter 9: Middle East-I, Modern and Liturgical Scripts". The Unicode Standard, Version 10.0 (PDF). Mountain View, CA: Unicode, Inc. June 2017. ISBN 978-1-936213-16-0.
  2. ↑ Häberl, Charles G. (February 2006). "Iranian Scripts for Aramaic Languages: The Origin of the Mandaic Script". Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research (341): 53–62. doi:10.7282/T37D2SGZ.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Daniels, Peter T.; Bright, William, eds. (1996). The World's Writing Systems. Oxford University Press, Inc. pp. 511–513. ISBN 978-0195079937.
  4. 1 2 3 Macúch, Rudolf (1965). Handbook of Classical and Modern Mandaic. Berlin: De Gruyter. pp. 7–26.
  5. ↑ Mandaean Network.
  6. 1 2 3 Drower, Ethel Stefana; Macúch, Rudolf (1963). A Mandaic Dictionary. London: Clarendon Press. pp. 1, 491.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Drower, Ethel Stefana (1937). The Mandaeans of Iraq and Iran: Their Cults, Customs, Magic, Legends, and Folklore. Oxford: Clarendon Press. pp. 240–243.
  8. ↑ This table can be viewed correctly using Firefox and the font Noto Sans Mandaic.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Everson, Michael; Richmond, Bob (2008-08-04). "L2/08-270R: Proposal for encoding the Mandaic script in the BMP of the UCS" (PDF).
  10. ↑ Häberl, Charles (2022). The Book of Kings and the Explanations of This World: A Universal History from the Late Sasanian Empire. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. pp. 33–34. ISBN 978-1-80085-627-1.
  11. ↑ Gelbert, Carlos (2011). Ginza Rba. Sydney: Living Water Books. ISBN 9780958034630.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mandaic script.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.