Lycian alphabet

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
Type
Alphabet
LanguagesLycian language
Time period
500-330 BC
Parent systems
Phoenician
  • Greek
    • Lycian
Sister systems
Lydian, Phrygian
DirectionLeft-to-right
ISO 15924Lyci, 202
Unicode alias
Lycian
Unicode range
U+10280–U+1029F
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 letterTransliterationIPANotes
𐊀a[a]
𐊂b[β]
𐊄g[ɣ]
𐊅d[ð]
𐊆i[i], [ĩ]
𐊇w[w]
𐊈z[t͡s]
𐊛h[h]
𐊉θ[θ]
𐊊j or y[j]
𐊋k[kʲ][ɡʲ] after nasals
𐊍l[l] and [l̩]~[əl]
𐊎m[m]
𐊏n[n]
𐊒u[u], [ũ]
𐊓p[p][b] after nasals
𐊔κ[k]? [kʲ]? [h(e)]
𐊕r[r] and [r̩]~[ər]
𐊖s[s]
𐊗t[t][d] after nasals. ñt is [d] as in 𐊑𐊗𐊁𐊎𐊒𐊜𐊍𐊆𐊅𐊀 / Ñtemuχlida for Greek Δημοκλείδης / Dēmokleídēs.[3]
𐊁e[e]
𐊙ã[ã]𐊍𐊒𐊖𐊙𐊗𐊕𐊀 / Lusãtra for Greek Λύσανδρος / Lúsandros.[4]
𐊚ẽ[ẽ]
𐊐m̃[m̩], [əm], [m.]originally perhaps syllabic [m], later coda [m]
𐊑ñ[n̩], [ən], [n.]originally perhaps syllabic [n], later coda [n]
𐊘τ[tʷ]? [t͡ʃ]?
𐊌q[k][ɡ] after nasals
𐊃β[k]? [kʷ]?voiced after nasals
𐊜χ[q][ɢ] after nasals

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)
 0123456789ABCDEF
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
  1. ^ As of Unicode version 13.0
  2. ^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points

See also

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. First page displayable no charge.
  4. Bryce (1986) page 58.

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 0-521-83307-8.. 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.
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