Silk Road：The Roadmap
of Alphabets
李卫峰，SAAS SISU
‫ܚܡܝܕ ܠܝ‬
Scripts on RMB
Hanz
i
Mongolian
ruhgiU
Arabic
numerals
Braill
e
Pinyin
Tibeta
n
Zhuan
g
Writing Systems of the World
Origins of Writing Systems
Quipu
Carved Symbols &
Knottings
Clay Tokens
Writing System Typology
Hieroglyph
Semanto-phonetic writing
systems Phonography
Syllabary
Abjad
Abugida
Alphabet
Cylinder Seal
Cuneiforms
Oracles & Bronze Inscriptions
Hieroglyphs
Rosetta Stone
Ugaritic Alphabet
1300 BCE to 800 BCE
Origin of All Alphabets
Donghua
‫دونغ هوا‬
‫דונגהוא‬
Δονγχυα
Дунхуа
โดงหวา
त ग
ों हुआ
Proto-Sinaitic
Proto-Sinaitic
Stone Rubbing
Development of A
Proto-Sinaitic
Every letter standing
for the first consonant
of the Sinaitic
equivalent to the
Hieroglyphic symbol
Proto-Sinaitic
Proto-Sinaitic
Phoenician Script
Proto-Sinaitic
Epigraphic Scripts
South Arabian Epigraphic Script
500 BCE to 600 CE
Ethiopian Abugida
4c. AD -- today
Phoenician Alphabet (10c. BCE)
Phoenician AB.
Cadmous
8c. BCE
Greek AB.
Latin AB.
Cyrillic AB.
Phoenician AB.
Square Letters
10c. BCE
Syriac AB.
Aramaic AB.
Brahmi AB.
Pahlavi AB.
Square Letters
Palmyrene Script
Pahlavi script
Brahmi（6c. BCE-3c. CE）
S. Asian & SE. Asian Scripts
Tibetan
Devanāgar
ī
Bengali
Dehong Dai
Burmese
S. Asian & SE. Asian Scripts
‫ܢܢܒܢܝܒܝܣܫܫܒܝܣܒܝܒܝ‬
‫بلسيبيسيبشششيبسبسيبشس‬
ीीगीगू दंददि्ादिसनंमदिदि्ादीीमनि
दीनदीनद.पदपलदननदनदनद
Kharoṣṭhī Scripts (4c. BCE3c.CE)
Used in Gandhara (犍陀罗)
Tocharian Script (5-8 c. CE)
May 1987
Tamazigh Script
3c. BCE-3c.
CE
Rejuvenated as
Morocco’s second
official language in
2009
Syriac Script
大秦景教流行中国碑
Syriac Script
 ‫ כפר נחום‬kfar naḥum 那鸿
之村
 ‫ كفر نحوم‬kafr naḥūm
 Καπερναούμ ḥ is lost
 Capernaüm
 迦百农
 Arabic Script in a Syriac
flavor (‫)ܟܦܪ ܢܚܘܡ‬
 Biblical metaphor
 Greater Syrian Story
Released on April
29
Sogdian and Uyghur Scripts
Sogdian script fragment
Uyghur script fragament
Mongolian & Manchurian Scripts
Mongolian script
Manchurian script
Mandaic Script
Nabatean Script
Arabic Script
Red dots: vowels
Green signs: glottal stops
Golden signs: long
consonants
1,3,4,7 letters
consonants
2 Hamza waṣl
5 long consonant
6 long vowel ā
Greek Alphabet
Latin Alphabet
古拉丁语：
MANIOS MED FHEFHAKED NVMASIOI
Cyrillic Alphabet
ABC about ABC
‫א‬
Αα Aa
Аа
‫ا‬
‫ב‬
Ββ Bb
Бб Вв
‫ب‬
‫ג‬
Γγ Cc Gg
Гг
‫ج‬
‫ד‬
Δδ Dd
Дд
‫د‬
One Language Many Scripts, Chinese
Case
Xiao Erjin
Dongan
One Language Many Scripts, Chinese
Case
Gospel According to Mark in Shanghai and
Suzhou Dialect
One Language Many Scripts, Chinese
Case
Nüshu in Jiangyong
County
Bopomofo as transliteration
for Korean language used in
Korean War
‫‪Garshuni, Judeo-Arabic, Maltese‬‬
‫وقد فات اليوم بعد اليوم واألسبوع بعد األسبوع‪ ،‬ولم يرجع األمير األكبر‬
‫كذلك‪ ،‬ومكثت األميرة المسكينة مضظربة مشغولة البال على أخويها‪ .‬وكلما‬
‫استيقظت‬
Garshuni, Judeo-Arabic, Maltese
Garshuni, Judeo-Arabic, Maltese
Il-bnedmin kollha jitwieldu ħielsa u ugwali fiddinjità u d-drittijiet. Huma mogħnija birraġuni u bil-kuxjenza u għandhom igibu
ruħhom ma' xulxin bi spirtu ta' aħwa.
‫ وقد وهبوا‬.‫تولد جميع الناس أحرارا ميساوين في الكرامة والحقوق‬
.‫عقال وضميرا وعليهم ان يعامل بعضهم بعضا بروح اإلخاء‬
Kurdishes
4 Alphabets
Latin1: Kurdish
Academy of
Language
Latin2: Based on
Turkish alphabet
Cyrillic: USSR
Perso-Arabic
One Script Many Languages
Yiddish
Ladino
Juhuri (Jewish Persian)
Arabic Calligraphy
Writing System Reforms
Turkey: Osmani to Latin
China: TC to SC
Korean: de facto abolished
Hanzi
1st
letter in Bible
Genesis 1: 1
‫בראׁשית ברא אלהים את הׁשמים ואת הארץ‬
The first letter in Bible is
開端章
1st Letter in Quran
Quran 1: 1
‫بسم هللا الرحمن الرحيم‬
bi-sm-i al-lāh-i al-raħmān-i al-rahīm-i
The first letter in Quran is also
Virgin or Grape?
 Die syro-aramäische Lesart des Koran: Ein Beitrag zur
Entschlüsselung der Koransprache
 The Syro-Aramaic Reading of the Koran: A Contribution to
the Decoding of the Language of the Koran
 Christoph Luxenberg (alias）
Quran 44:54, 52:20:
‫وزوجهم بحور عين‬
wa-zawwajnā-hum bi-ḥūr-in ʕīn-in
我將以白皙的、美目的女子，做他們的伴侶
‫روح‬
‫زوج‬
rawwaḥ（使……休息）
zawwaj （為……婚
配）
ḥūr 白的, ʕīn 大眼的，閃耀的
44：55 他們在樂園中，將安全地索取各種水果
Luxenberg：ḥūr-in ʕīn-in 白色的晶瑩的（葡萄）
Eye or Eyes
Gen 39:7
And it came to pass after these things, that his master's
wife cast her eyes upon Joseph; and she said, Lie with
me.
这事以后，约瑟主人的妻以目送情给约瑟，说，你与我同寝吧。
, ָ‫עֵ ינֶּיה‬-‫אֲ ֹדנָיו אֶּ ת‬-‫ ו ִַת ָשא אֵ ֶּׁשת‬,‫ אַ חַ ר הַ ְדבָ ִרים הָ אֵ לֶּ ה‬,‫ַוי ְִהי‬
.‫ ִׁשכְ בָ ה ִע ִמי‬,‫ֹאמר‬
ֶּ ‫יֹוסֵ ף; וַת‬-‫אֶּ ל‬
‫ܘܗܘܐ ܡܢ ܒܬܪ ܦܬܔܡܐ ܗܠܝܢ ܐܪܡܝܬ ܐܢܬܬ ܡܪܗ ܥܝܢܗ‬
‫ܥܠ ܝܘܤܦ ܘܐܡܪܬ ܕܡܟ ܥܡܝ‬
wahwā men bāṯar peṯḡāme hāllen ʔarmyaṯ ʔattaṯ māreh ʕaynāh ʕal
yawsef wemraṯ dmaḵ ʕam
What is PALM?
Palm
 palm tree 棕榈
 date palm 枣椰树
Alumnus of your school
Shen Shangyun （申上赟）
 Arabic Department, SISU
 Midddle East Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 Intern Researcher on Coptic Christianity in Arab West Report,
Cairo, Egypt
Virgin tree, Matariya Village,
Egypt
Alumnus of your school
May 27, 2017, al-Miniyaẗ, Egypt, ISIS assaulted the villagers, leaving
29 Christians dead. 7 of those were from Dayr Jarnous, where
Maria and Joseph sheltered 2000 years ago.
Alumna of your school
Feng Shihao（冯诗豪）
 Arabic Department, SISU
 Midddle East Studies, Hebrew University of Jerusalem
 Intern of UNESCO, Cairo, Egypt
!‫شكرا‬
wfli@shisu.edu.cn
dongfangyu@shisu.edu.cn