Sogdian

Sogdian is a script used to write the Sogdian language, a now extinct East Iranian language. It was used in the eastern part of the Persian Empire, in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang in China. The script is derived from the Aramaic alphabet, and was in use from the 2nd century BC to the 13th century AD. It is believed to have been derived from the Achaemenid Persian cuneiform script, which was in use in the Persian Empire from the 6th century BC to the 4th century AD. The Sogdian alphabet consists of twenty-seven letters, of which twenty-two are consonants and five are vowels. The consonants are divided into three groups: labials, dentals, and velars. The vowels are a, e, i, o, and u. The Sogdian script is written from right to left. Each letter has an independent form, and there is no connection between the letters. The Sogdian language was spoken in the eastern part of the Persian Empire, in what is now Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, and Xinjiang in China. It was a member of the Eastern Iranian languages, which also includes Pashto and Yazdi. The Sogdian language is known from a number of sources, including inscriptions, coins, and manuscripts. The largest body of Sogdian literature is the Turfan collection, which consists of more than eighty manuscripts dating from the 9th to the 13th century AD. The Sogdian alphabet was used to write a number of other languages, including Persian, Uyghur, and Tibetan.