Mandaic alphabet
Alphabet used for writing the Mandaic language / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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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]
Mandaic | |
---|---|
Script type | Alphabet
|
Time period | 2nd century AD — present |
Direction | Right-to-left script |
Languages | Classical Mandaic Neo-Mandaic |
Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Phoenician
|
ISO 15924 | |
ISO 15924 | Mand (140), Mandaic, Mandaean |
Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Mandaic |
U+0840–U+085F | |
This article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA. For the distinction between [ ], / / and ⟨ ⟩, see IPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters. |
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]