Sprachen und Schriften
Documentation of the languages and scripts attested in pre-islamic Central Asia mainly using images from the Berlin Turfan Collection
compiled by Turfanforschung, Berlin and Göttingen
Languages and scripts in Central Asian Collections
language | script | sample | description | |
Old Tukic | Brāhmī | Mainz 641 | Fragment of theSäkiz Yükmäk Yarok sudur |
|
" | Manichaean | U 98 | 'Great Hymn to Mani'. Folio 24 in loose-leaf pothi-format. |
|
" | Sogdian | Mainz 225 | Fragment of the Uighur version of the Saddharmapuṇḍarīkasūtra. |
|
" | Uighur | U 3281 | Fragment of the Kš anti kılguluk nom bitig (chapter 1, folio 45) in Uighur script. |
|
" | Nestorian | U 7264 | Fragment of a wedding blessing of the Old Turkish Christian community. |
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" | Tibetan | Mainz 712 | Namaskāras to different Bodhisattvas. |
|
" | Runic | U 5 | Fragment of an Old Turkish Manichaean story in Runic script; well preserved folio of a Manichaean book in codex format. |  |
" | Arabian | 'Turki No. 1 continued' | A Turkish Yarkand document of a contract, the witnesses' statements are preserved. The way of folding such documents is visible. (M. Erdal, The Turkish Yarkand Documents, in: Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies XLVII,2 (1984), 260-301. |
|
" | 'Phags-pa | MongHT 71 |
|  |
Chinese | Brāhmī |
|
| see A Chinese text in Central Asian Brahmi script : new evidence for the pronunciation of Late Middle Chinese and Khotanese / R.E. Emmerick and E.G. Pulleyblank, Istituto Italiano per il Medio ed Estremo Oriente, Roma, 1993. |
" | Sogdian | U 8004 |
|  |
" | Uighur | U 5335 |
|  |
" | Tibetan |
|
| see A. Stein and Thomas, Frederick William, S. Miyamoto, and G.L.M. Clauson, 1929. 'A Chinese Mahayana Catechism in Tibetan and Chinese Characters'. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society (1929), 37-76. |
" | Chinese | |||
Sanskrit | Brāhmī | SHT 9_2c |
|  |
" | Sogdian | U 6171 | dhāranī |  |
" | Uighur | U 5334 | dhāranī |  |
" | Tibetan |
|
| (Dunhuang) |
" | Chinese |
|
| dhāranīs and the heart sutra in Dunhuang |
" | other Indian scripts, i.e. Pālā | SHT 7174 |
|  |
Sogdian | Brāhmī | Mainz 639 | Medical terms in Sanskrit and Sogdian. |  |
" | Manichaean | M 172 | The beginning of Mani's Evangelium in Middle Persian with Sogdian translation. |  |
" | Sogdian | Ch/So 20166 | A list of 'nations'. |  |
" | Nestorian | n 493 | A dialogue between two monks. |  |
Middle Persian | Manichaean | M 477b + M 482 | From a copy of the Shabuhragan, Mani's Middle Persian work presented to the Sasanian king Shabuhr I. |  |
" | Sogdian | So 18056 | Part of Mani's Evangelium. |  |
" | Runic |
|
| (MIK III 35) |
" | Pahlavī | PS 7 | A Christian Translation of the Psalms into Middle Persian in archaic script. |  |
New Persian | Manichaean | M 786 | Fragment of a Qaside with Arabic and Manichaean elements. (Henning 1962, 99ff.) |  |
" | Nestorian | n 175 | Pharmacological text. (Sims-Williams, New Persian Turfan texts in Syriac script) |  |
" | Arabic | np 1 |
|  |
" | Hebrew |
|
| two Judaeo-Persian letters from Dandan-i Uiliq, see the older one in A. Stein, Ancient Khotan II, CXIX. |
Parthian | Manichaean | M 4a |
|  |
" | Sogdian | Ch/So 11600 | Reck 2006, 69 |  |
" | Runic |
|
| (MIK III 35) |
" | Chinese |
|
| Manichaean Chinese hymn scroll from Dunhuang. The terms are listed in G. Mikkelsen's Dictionary of Manichaean Texts in Chinese, 2006. |
Bactrian | Manichaean | M 1224 | A page from a Bactrian book written on leather. (Sims-Williams 2009). |  |
" | Hephtalite | h 1 | Bactrian in Hephtalite script, a form of a cursive Greek script. |  |
Tibetan | Brāhmī |
|
| (Dunhuang) |
" | Uighur | U 5824 |
|  |
" | Tibetan | TibHT 37 | Folio of a manuscript on birch bark, collection of dhāranīs (gzuns-bsdus redaction). |  |
Mongolian | Brāhmī |
|
|
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" | 'Phags-pa | MongHT 8 | Fragment of a Mongolian version of the Subhāsitaratnanidhi. Blockprint, pagination in Chinese. |  |
" | Mongolian | MongHT 85+MongHT 86 (= U 5361) | Mongolian document, order to gate commanders. |  |
Prakrit | Brāhmī | SHT 16/10 | Mixture of Sanskrit and Prakrit. Prakrit: second line. |  |
" | Kharosṭhī | THT 4059 |
|  |
Tumshuq Saka | Brāhmī | TS 45 |
|  |
" | Kharosṭhī |
|
| apparently not attested with certainty |
Khotanese | Brāhmī | KS 5 |
| |
Tocharian A | Brāhmī | THT 909 | Fragment of the Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka (act XVI). |  |
Tocharian B | Brāhmī | THT 491 | Wooden object, Tocharian document, register. |  |
" | Manichaean | U 101a,b | "Great Hymn to Mani". Folio 27 in loose-leaf pothi format, alternating text in Old Turkic and Tocharian B. |  |
Hebrew | Hebrew |
|
| (Dunhuang) |
Syriac | Nestorian | SyrHT 2 | Draft of a Syriac letter. |  |
" | Uighur | SyrHT 20 | Folio of a manuscript with a mixture of passages from the Psalter and the Huḏrā. |  |
Arabic | Arabian |
|
| Yarkand (M. Gronke, 'The Arabic Yārkand documents', Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies XLIX ,3 1986, 454-507.) |
Tangut/Xixia | Tangut | Mainz 197 |
|  |
Greek | Greek | So 12950 (2) |
|  |
Khitan | Khitan | Ch 3586 |
|  |
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