Inscriptional Parthian
Inscriptional Parthian is a script used to write the Parthian language on coins of Parthia from the time of Arsaces I (250 BC).
It was also used for inscriptions of Parthian (mostly on clay fragments) and later Sasanian periods (mostly on official inscriptions).
| Inscriptional Parthian | |
|---|---|
 Parthian version of Shapur I's inscription at the Ka'ba-ye Zartosht | |
| Script type | |
Time period | 250 BC |
| Direction | Right-to-left script  |
| Languages | Parthian language |
| Related scripts | |
Parent systems | Aramaic alphabet
|
| ISO 15924 | |
| ISO 15924 | Prti (130), Inscriptional Parthian |
| Unicode | |
Unicode alias | Inscriptional Parthian |
| U+10B40–U+10B5F | |
Inscriptional Parthian is written right to left and the letters are not joined.
Letters
Inscriptional Parthian uses 22 letters:
| Name[A] | Image | Text | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aleph |  | 𐭀 | /a/, /aː/ |
| Beth |  | 𐭁 | /b/, /v/ |
| Gimel |  | 𐭂 | /g/, /j/ |
| Daleth |  | 𐭃 | /d/, /j/ |
| He |  | 𐭄 | /h/ |
| Waw |  | 𐭅 | /v/, /r/ |
| Zayin |  | 𐭆 | /z/ |
| Heth |  | 𐭇 | /h/, /x/ |
| Teth |  | 𐭈 | /t/ |
| Yodh |  | 𐭉 | /j/, /ĕː/, /ĭː/ |
| Kaph |  | 𐭊 | /k/ |
| Lamedh |  | 𐭋 | /l/ |
| Mem |  | 𐭌 | /m/ |
| Nun |  | 𐭍 | /n/ |
| Samekh |  | 𐭎 | /s/ |
| Ayin |  | 𐭏 | /ʔ/ |
| Pe |  | 𐭐 | /p/, /b/ |
| Sadhe |  | 𐭑 | /s/ |
| Qoph |  | 𐭒 | /q/ |
| Resh |  | 𐭓 | /r/ |
| Shin |  | 𐭔 | /ʃ/, /ʒ/ |
| Taw |  | 𐭕 | /t/, /d/ |
Ligatures
Inscriptional Parthian uses seven standard ligatures:
| Ligature | Sequence | |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Text | |
 | 𐭂𐭅 | 𐭂 (gimel) + 𐭅 (waw) |
 | 𐭇𐭅 | 𐭇 (heth) + 𐭅 (waw) |
 | 𐭉𐭅 | 𐭉 (yodh) + 𐭅 (waw) |
 | 𐭍𐭅 | 𐭍 (nun) + 𐭅 (waw) |
 | 𐭏𐭋 | 𐭏 (ayin) + 𐭋 (lamedh) |
 | 𐭓𐭅 | 𐭓 (resh) + 𐭅 (waw) |
 | 𐭕𐭅 | 𐭕 (taw) + 𐭅 (waw) |
The letters sadhe (𐭑) and nun (𐭍) have swash tails which typically trail under the following letter. For example:
| Ligature | Sequence | |
|---|---|---|
| Image | Text | |
 | 𐭍𐭍 | 𐭍 (nun) + 𐭍 (nun) |
 | 𐭍𐭃 | 𐭍 (nun) + 𐭃 (daleth) |
Numbers
Inscriptional Parthian had its own numerals:
| Value | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 10 | 20 | 100 | 1000 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sign | Image |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |
| Text | 𐭘 | 𐭙 | 𐭚 | 𐭛 | 𐭜 | 𐭝 | 𐭞 | 𐭟 | |
Numbers are written right-to-left. Numbers without corresponding numerals are additive. For example, 158 is written as 𐭞𐭝𐭝𐭜𐭛𐭛 (100 + 20 + 20 + 10 + 4 + 4).
Unicode
Inscriptional Parthian script was added to the Unicode Standard in October, 2009 with the release of version 5.2.
The Unicode block for Inscriptional Parthian is U+10B40–U+10B5F:
| Inscriptional Parthian[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+10B4x | 𐭀 | 𐭁 | 𐭂 | 𐭃 | 𐭄 | 𐭅 | 𐭆 | 𐭇 | 𐭈 | 𐭉 | 𐭊 | 𐭋 | 𐭌 | 𐭍 | 𐭎 | 𐭏 |
| U+10B5x | 𐭐 | 𐭑 | 𐭒 | 𐭓 | 𐭔 | 𐭕 | 𐭘 | 𐭙 | 𐭚 | 𐭛 | 𐭜 | 𐭝 | 𐭞 | 𐭟 | ||
| Notes | ||||||||||||||||
References
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