Lydian
Script type	Alphabet
Period	700-200 BCE
Direction	Right-to-left script
Languages	Lydian language
Related scripts
Parent systems	Egyptian hieroglyphs[1] Proto-Sinaitic Phoenician Anatolian Lydian
Sister systems	Some otheralphabets of Asia Minor
ISO 15924
ISO 15924	Lydi(116), ​Lydian
Unicode
Unicode alias	Lydian
Unicode range	U+10920–U+1093F
This article containsphonetic transcriptions in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. For the distinction between[ ],/ / and ⟨ ⟩, seeIPA § Brackets and transcription delimiters.

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Lydian script was used to write theLydian language. Like other scripts ofAnatolia in theIron Age, the Lydian alphabet is based on thePhoenician alphabet. It is related to the East Greek alphabet, but it has unique features.

The first modern codification of the Lydian alphabet was made byRoberto Gusmani in 1964, in a combinedlexicon, grammar, and text collection.

Early Lydian texts were written either from left to right or from right to left. Later texts all run from right to left. One surviving text is in the bi-directionalboustrophedon manner. Spaces separate words except in one text that uses dots instead. Lydian uniquely features aquotation mark in the shape of a triangle.^[2]

The Lydian alphabet^[3][4] is closely related to the otheralphabets of Asia Minor as well as to theGreek alphabet. It contains letters for 26 sounds. Some are represented by more than one symbol, which is considered one "letter." Unlike theCarian alphabet, which had anf derived fromΦ, the Lydianf has the peculiar8 shape also found in theNeo-Etruscan alphabet and in Italic alphabets ofOsco-Umbrian languages such as Oscan, Umbrian, Old Sabine and South Picene (Old Volscian),^[5] and it is thought to be an invention of speakers of aSabellian language (Osco-Umbrian languages).^[5]

The Lydian Alphabet

Letter		Transliteration	Sound (IPA)	Notes
Text	Image
𐤠		a	[a]
𐤡		traditional:b new:p	[p~b]	Plain labial voiced to [b] before nasals and probably [r]
𐤢		g	[ɡ]	Occasionally substituted for secondarily voiced /k/.
𐤣		d	[θ~ð]?	Descends from non-initial PIE *d and *dʰ, lenited PIE *t, and PIE *i̯; most likely an interdental [θ~ð] though another coronal fricative such as [z] is possible
𐤤		e	[eː]	Fairly high and long, like Greek ει; only occurs accented.
𐤥		traditional:v new:w	[w~v]	Descends from PIE *w; may have been labiodental. Now usually transcribedw to avoid confusion with ν for the nasal 𐤸.
𐤦		i	[i]
𐤧		y	[i̯~j]?	Apparently an allophone of /i/, perhaps when unstressed. Attested only 11 times:artymu- ~ artimu-.[6] It may be a borrowing ofCarian𐊹.
𐤨		k	[k~ɡ]	Voiced to [ɡ] before nasals and probably [r]
𐤩		l	[l]
𐤪		m	[m]
𐤫		n	[n]
𐤬		o	[oː]	Fairly high and long, like Greek ου; only occurs accented.
𐤭		r	[r]
𐤮		traditional:ś new:s	[s]	A simple [s], despite its former traditional transcription.
𐤯		t	[t~d]	Voiced to [d] before nasals and probably [r]
𐤰		u	[u]
𐤱		f	[f] or [ɸ]	Labiodental or bilabial fricative. Alternates with /w/ in: 𐤩𐤤𐤱𐤮~‎𐤩𐤤𐤥𐤮 lews~lefs "Zeus"
𐤲		q	[kʷ]	At least historically [kʷ]; it is not clear if this pronunciation was still current.
𐤳		traditional:s new:š	[ʃ] or [ç]	Palatalized *s. Newer transcriptions use š.
𐤴		τ	[tʃ] or [tç]	𐤴𐤴ττ results from 𐤯+‎𐤳t+š as in: 𐤨𐤠𐤯+𐤳𐤠𐤣𐤪𐤶𐤮 >‎ 𐤨𐤠𐤴𐤴𐤠𐤣𐤪𐤶𐤮 kat+šadmẽs > kaττadmẽs
𐤵		ã	nasal vowel	Perhaps [ãː]. Only occurs accented.Ã ora is found before a nasal consonant:aλiksãntruλ ~ aλiksantruλ.[7]
𐤶		ẽ	nasal vowel	Not [ẽ]; perhaps [ã] or [æ̃] as in Lycian. Only occurs accented.
𐤷		λ	[ʎ] (or [ɾʲ]?)	Palatalized *l (or palatalizedflap?[8])
𐤸		traditional:ν new:ñ	[ɲ] or [ŋ]?	Arose from word-final or palatalized *m and *n; later loss of final vowels caused it to contrast with those sounds. Transliterated as a Greek ν (nu). A new transcription isñ, to avoid confusion with the Latin letterv and parallel to theLycian letter transcribed asñ, also with similar but unclear pronunciation.)
𐤹		c	[ts~dz]?	An undetermined affricate or fricative: [ts], [z], [dz], or [dʒ], etc. At least one origin isassibilated PIE *d.

In addition, two digraphs,aa andii, appear to beallophones of [a] and [i] under speculative circumstances, such as lengthening from stress.^[9] Complex consonant clusters often appear in the inscriptions and, if present, anepentheticschwa was evidently not written: 𐤥𐤹𐤯𐤣𐤦𐤣wctdid [wt͡stθiθ], 𐤨𐤮𐤡𐤷𐤯𐤬𐤨kspλtok [kspʎ̩tok].

Note: a newer transliteration employingp forb,s forś,š fors, and/orw forv appears in recent publications and the online Dictionary of the Minor Languages of Ancient Anatolia (eDiAna), as well asMelchert's Lydian corpus.^[10][11]

𐤬𐤭𐤠ora [ora] "month"

𐤩𐤠𐤲𐤭𐤦𐤳𐤠laqriša [lakʷriʃa] "wall, dromos" or "inscription"^[12]

𐤡𐤦𐤭𐤠pira [pira] "house, home"

𐤥𐤹𐤡𐤠𐤲𐤶𐤫𐤯wcpaqẽnt [w̩t͡spaˈkʷãnd] "to trample on" (from PIE*pekʷ- "to crush")

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

The Unicode block for Lydian is U+10920–U+1093F:

• Lydian language
• Lydia
• Lydians
• Runes

• Lydian language
• Writing systems
• Obsolete writing systems
• Right-to-left writing systems

• CS1 errors: missing periodical
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Scripts with ISO 15924 four-letter codes
• Pages with plain IPA