Lycian alphabet

For other uses, see Lycian (disambiguation).

The Lycian alphabet was used to write the Lycian language of the Asia Minor region of Lycia. It was an extension of the Greek alphabet, with half a dozen additional letters for sounds not found in Greek. It was largely similar to the Lydian and the Phrygian alphabets.

Lycian
Script type	Alphabet
Time period	c.500 – c.200 BC
Direction	Left-to-right
Languages	Lycian language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Phoenician Greek Lycian
Sister systems	Carian, Lydian, Phrygian
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Lyci (202), ​Lycian
Unicode
Unicode alias	Lycian
Unicode range	U+10280–U+1029F
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 Decree of Pixodaros in the Lycian script

The alphabet

The Lycian alphabet^[1][2] contains letters for 29 sounds. Some sounds are represented by more than one symbol, which is considered one "letter". There are six vowel letters, one for each of the four oral vowels of Lycian, and separate letters for two of the four nasal vowels. Nine of the Lycian letters do not appear to derive from the Greek alphabet.

The Lycian alphabet

Lycian letter	Transliteration	IPA	Notes
𐊀	a	[a]
𐊂	b	[β]
𐊄	g	[ɣ]
𐊅	d	[ð]
𐊆	i	[i], [ĩ]
𐊇	w	[w]
𐊈	z	[t͡s]
𐊛	h	[h]
𐊉	θ	[θ]
𐊊	j or y	[j]
𐊋	k	[kʲ]	[ɡʲ] after nasals
𐊍	l	[l] and [l̩]~[əl]
𐊎	m	[m]
𐊏	n	[n]
𐊒	u	[u], [ũ]
𐊓	p	[p]	[b] after nasals
𐊔	κ or c	[k]? [kʲ]? [h(e)]
𐊕	r	[r] and [r̩]~[ər]
𐊖	s	[s]
𐊗	t	[t]	[d] after nasals. ñt is [d] as in 𐊑𐊗𐊁𐊎𐊒𐊜𐊍𐊆𐊅𐊀 / [Ñtemuχlida] Error: {{Lang}}: Non-latn text (pos 6)/Latn script subtag mismatch (help) for Greek Δημοκλείδης / Dēmokleídēs.[3]
𐊁	e	[e]
𐊙	ã	[ã]	𐊍𐊒𐊖𐊙𐊗𐊕𐊀 / Lusãtra for Greek Λύσανδρος / Lúsandros.[4]
𐊚	ẽ	[ẽ]
𐊐	m̃	[m̩], [əm], [m.]	originally perhaps syllabic [m], later coda [m]
𐊑	ñ	[n̩], [ən], [n.]	originally perhaps syllabic [n], later coda [n]
𐊘	τ	[tʷ]? [t͡ʃ]?
𐊌	q	[k]	[ɡ] after nasals
𐊃	β	[k]? [kʷ]?	voiced after nasals
𐊜	χ	[q]	[ɢ] after nasals

Numbers

Lycian uses the following number symbols: I (vertical stroke) = 1, < ("less than" sign) (or, rarely, L or C or V or Y) = 5, O (circle) = 10; a horizontal stroke — is one half;^[5] a symbol somewhat like our letter H may mean 100.^[6]

The number 128½ would therefore be expressed as HOO<III—.

Unicode

Main article: Lycian (Unicode block)

The Lycian alphabet was added to the Unicode Standard in April, 2008 with the release of version 5.1. It is encoded in Plane 1 (Supplementary Multilingual Plane).

The Unicode block for Lycian is U+10280–U+1029F:

Lycian[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)

0

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

A

B

C

D

E

F

U+1028x

𐊀

𐊁

𐊂

𐊃

𐊄

𐊅

𐊆

𐊇

𐊈

𐊉

𐊊

𐊋

𐊌

𐊍

𐊎

𐊏

U+1029x

𐊐

𐊑

𐊒

𐊓

𐊔

𐊕

𐊖

𐊗

𐊘

𐊙

𐊚

𐊛

𐊜

Notes ^ As of Unicode version 16.0 ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

• Asia portal

• Letoon trilingual
• Lycian language

Notes

1. Adiego (2007) page 764.
2. Bryce (1986) pages 56-57.
3. Bryce, T. R. (January 1986). "The Pronunciation of Delta in Greek and Lycian". Classical Philology. 81 (1): 56–58. doi:10.1086/366958. JSTOR 269877. S2CID 162200292. First page displayable no charge.
4. Bryce (1986) page 58.
5. Laroche, Emmanuel (1979). "L'inscription lycienne". Fouilles de Xanthos. VI: 51–128: 100–101.
6. Melchert, H. Craig. "The Trilingual Inscription of the Létôon. Lycian Version" (PDF). Achemenet. Retrieved 2021-03-04.

References

• Adiego, I. J. (2007). "Greek and Lycian". In Christidis, A. F.; Arapopoulou, Maria; Chriti, Maria (eds.). A History of Ancient Greek From the Beginning to Late Antiquity. Chris Markham (trans.). Cambridge University press. ISBN 978-0-521-83307-3.. Translator Chris Markham.
• Bryce, Trevor R. (1986). The Lycians - Volume I: The Lycians in Literary and Epigraphic Sources. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanum Press. ISBN 87-7289-023-1.
• Roger D. Woodard, 2007, The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor.

External links

• Everson, Michael (2006-02-05). "N3019R2: Proposal to encode the Lycian and Lydian scripts in the SMP of the UCS" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. Retrieved 2024-06-25.