Lydian
Script details
See all script details: code, region, status and more
| Code | Lydi |
| Script type | alphabet |
| Region | European |
| Status | Historical |
| Direction | RTL |
| Baseline | bottom |
| Case | no |
| White space | between words |
| Complex behaviors | |
| OpenType code | lydi |
| ISO 15924 Numeric Code / Key | 116 (right-to-left alphabetic) |
Script description
The Lydian script was used between 700 and 200 BC for writing the Lydian language, an ancient Indo-European language spoken in the modern-day Turkish provinces of Manisa and inland İzmir.
The Lydian script was an alphabet based on the Eastern Greek alphabet, although visually similar letters do not necessarily represent the same sounds in both scripts.
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Twenty-six sounds were represented in the script, some by more than one letter.
Early examples of Lydian writing are written both from left to right and from right to left. One is written in boustrophedon style. Later texts were written exclusively from right to left. Words were generally separated by spaces, although there is one text in which words are separated by dots.
Languages that use this script
| Language | Writing System Code | Writing System Status | SLDR/CLDR locale | Regional variants |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lydian | xld-Lydi | in use | xld-Lydi-TR (Turkey) |
Unicode status
In The Unicode Standard, Lydian script implementation is discussed in Chapter 8 Europe-II — Ancient and Other Scripts
.
Resources
- ScriptSource page for Lydian - all about scripts, languages, and writing systems
- Wikipedia article on Lydian