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Sidetic language
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<h2 id="evidence">Evidence</h2> <h3>Inscriptions and coins</h3> <p>Coins from Side were first discovered in the 19th century, which bore legends in a then-unknown script. In 1914, an altar came to light in Side with a Greek inscription and a Sidetic one, but the latter could not be deciphered. It was only after the discovery of a second Greek-Sidetic bilingual inscription in 1949, that Hellmut Theodor Bossert was able to identify 14 letters of the Sidetic script using the two bilinguals.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:2" href="#fn:2"><sup>2</sup></a> In 1964 a large stone block was unearthed near the east gate of Side, with two longer Sidetic texts, including loan words from Greek (<i>istratag</i> from στρατηγός, 'commander' and <i>anathema-</i> from ἀνάθημα, 'votive offering'). In 1972, a text was found outside Side for the first time, at the neighbouring town of <a href="/facts/Lyrbe/yes8jsbC">Lyrbe</a>-Seleukia. Currently, eleven Sidetic coins and several coins with Sidetic legends are known. </p> <h3>Citations</h3> <p>In addition to the inscriptions, two Sidetic words are known from ancient Greek texts: ζειγάρη for <a href="/facts/Cicada/cYYh0HVr">cicada</a>,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:3" href="#fn:3"><sup>3</sup></a> mentioned by the ancient lexicographer <a href="/facts/Hesychius_of_Alexandria/mCHIHuBb">Hesychius</a>, and λαέρκινον for <a href="/facts/Valeriana/zjmSuFNd">Valeriana</a>, cited by <a href="/facts/Galen/9gDqPdwl">Galen</a>. In addition, it is believed that some incomprehensible characters in the third book of <a href="/facts/Hippocrates/lXUElFQD">Hippocrates</a>' <i>Epidemics</i> were originally quotations of the doctor Mnemon of Side, which might have been in the Sidetic script.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:4" href="#fn:4"><sup>4</sup></a> </p> <h3>Catalogue of Sidetic texts</h3> <p>The designated number and date of discovery are given: </p> <ul><li>S1 = S I.1.1 Artemon bilingual from Side (1914).</li> <li>S2 = S I.1.2 Apollonios bilingual from Side (1949).</li> <li>S3 & S4 = S I.2.1-2 Strategos dedications from Side (1964).</li> <li>S5 = S II.1.1 <a href="/facts/Palimpsest/ex7L751z">Palimpsest</a> bronze altar table or voting tablet (1969).</li> <li>S6 = S I.1.3 Euempolos bilingual from <a href="/facts/Seleucia_(Pamphylia)/CD67f6vS">Lyrbe-Seleukia</a> (1972).</li> <li>S7 = S I.2.3 Inscription on fragment of the rim of a pot (1982).</li> <li>S8 = S I.2.4 Inscription on stone Heraldes relief (1982).</li> <li>S9 = S I.2.5 A list of names,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:5" href="#fn:5"><sup>5</sup></a> also interpreted as the "Athenodoros memorial"<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:6" href="#fn:6"><sup>6</sup></a> - at six complete lines (and traces of two more lines), this is the longest Sidetic inscription (1995).</li> <li>S10 = S III 5th century BC coins with around twenty different legends (since 19th century).</li> <li>S11 Words possibly from Mnemon,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:7" href="#fn:7"><sup>7</sup></a> a physician of Side (1983), who added notes in Sidetic to a Greek Hippocrates manuscript.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:8" href="#fn:8"><sup>8</sup></a></li> <li>S12 = S II.2.1 A <a href="/facts/Soapstone/g0bAFg66">steatite</a> scarab, of uncertain provenance ("acquired in Turkey"); on its underside three (?) hardly identifiable signs have been carved, possibly Sidetic (2005).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:9" href="#fn:9"><sup>9</sup></a></li> <li>S13 = S I.2.6 Graffito from Lyrbe-Seleukia (2014).</li></ul> <p>In addition a few Sidetic words have been handed down via classical authors, though not written in Sidetic script: "laerkinon" (λαέρκινον, = the herb <a href="/facts/Valerian_(herb)/8GuaJgYl">valerian</a>), "zeigarê" (ζειγάρη, a cricket, cicada).<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:10" href="#fn:10"><sup>10</sup></a> </p> <h2 id="characteristics-of-sidetic">Characteristics of Sidetic</h2> <h3>The Sidetic script</h3> <p>Texts in the Sidetic language are written right to left in an alphabet of 31 distinct letters in inscriptions, plus another 4 characters found only on coins. Since the 2010s consensus has grown with regard to the transliteration of the characters. D2, n2 and s2 have similar sound values to d, n and s, perhaps even allophones:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:11" href="#fn:11"><sup>11</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><td>Nollé number</td><td>N01</td><td>N02</td><td>N03</td><td>N04</td><td>N05</td><td>N06</td><td>N07</td><td>N08</td><td>N09</td><td>N10</td><td>N11</td><td>N12</td><td>N13</td><td>N14</td><td>N15</td><td>N16</td><td>N17</td><td>N18</td></tr><tr><td>glyph</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(variants:)</td><td></td><td></td><td>()</td><td></td><td>()</td><td>(?)</td><td></td><td></td><td>()</td><td>()</td><td></td><td></td><td>()</td><td>()</td><td></td><td>()</td><td></td><td>()</td></tr><tr><td>Graz-Verona transliteration</td><td><i>a</i></td><td><i>e</i></td><td><i>i</i></td><td><i>o</i></td><td><i>u</i></td><td><i>w</i></td><td><i>y</i></td><td><i>p</i></td><td><i>d2</i></td><td><i>m</i></td><td><i>t</i></td><td><i>d</i></td><td><i>θ</i></td><td><i>s</i></td><td><i>s2</i></td><td><i>n</i></td><td><i>l</i></td><td><i>𐌣</i></td></tr><tr><td>(superseded transliterations:)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>(<i>v, j</i>)</td><td>(<i>j</i>, <i>w</i>)</td><td></td><td>(<i>τ,</i> <i>ç, φ</i>)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>(<i>z</i>, <i>ś</i>)</td><td>(<i>s</i>)</td><td></td><td></td><td>(<i>š</i>, <i>ṯ</i>)</td></tr><tr><td>notes</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>vowel or semivowel</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Zinko & Rizza have perhaps [ð]</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td colspan="2">no consensus transliteration</td><td></td><td></td><td>value uncertain; likely /ts/ or /ʃ/</td></tr></tbody></table> <table><tbody><tr><td>Nolle number</td><td>N19</td><td>N20</td><td>N21</td><td>N22</td><td>N23</td><td>N24</td><td>N25</td><td>N26</td><td>N27</td><td>N28</td><td>N29</td><td>N30</td><td>N31</td></tr><tr><td>glyph</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(variants:)</td><td>()</td><td></td><td>()</td><td></td><td></td><td>()</td><td>(?)</td><td>()</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>transliteration</td><td><i>g</i></td><td><i>χ</i></td><td><i>r</i></td><td>V</td><td><i>k</i></td><td><i>b</i></td><td><i>n2</i></td><td><i>z</i> (?)</td><td><i>ψ</i></td><td><i>ɸ</i></td><td><i>Σ</i></td><td><i>𐤱</i>, <i>⧖</i></td><td><i>⋷</i></td></tr><tr><td>(superseded transliterations:)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>(<i>ñ</i>)</td><td>(<i>c</i>, <i>ñ</i>)</td><td>(<i>δ</i>)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>notes</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>unknown vowel</td><td></td><td>some indications *b → [β]</td><td></td><td>probably [z]</td><td></td><td></td><td>value unknown</td><td>value unknown</td><td>value unknown</td></tr></tbody></table> <table><tbody><tr><td>Nolle number</td><td>N32</td><td>N33</td><td>N34</td><td>N35</td><td>N36</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>glyph</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>(variants:)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>transliteration</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Ω</td><td><i>:</i></td><td><i>𐅂</i></td></tr><tr><td>(superseded transliterations:)</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td></td></tr><tr><td>notes</td><td colspan="4">letters attested only from coins</td><td>word separator</td><td>marks sums in drachmas</td></tr></tbody></table> <p>The values of two-thirds of the letters are now firmly established, but there are still significant uncertainties: for example, while the majority view is that the frequent vertical strokes ( or ) are a character denoting a sibilant (<i>z</i> or <i>s</i>), that as a genitival ending would fit in nicely with the usual paradigms of the Anatolian languages,<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:12" href="#fn:12"><sup>12</sup></a> others interpret the strokes as word dividers.<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:13" href="#fn:13"><sup>13</sup></a> </p> <h3>Grammar</h3> <p>The inscriptions show that Sidetic was already strongly influenced by Greek at the time when they were created. Like <a href="/facts/Lycian_language/9uotLqML">Lycian</a> and <a href="/facts/Carian_language/WufUyyKb">Carian</a>, it was part of the <a href="/facts/Luwian_language/zlcGzPyy">Luwian language</a> family. However, only a few words can be derived from Luwian roots, like <i>maśara</i> 'for the gods' (Luwian <i>masan(i)-</i>, 'god', 'divinity'), and, possibly, <i>malwadas</i> 'votive offering' (Luwian <i>malwa-</i>; but alternative readings are possible, for example, <i>Malya das</i>, 'he dedicated to Malya [= Athena]'). It has been argued that there were also Anatolian pronouns (<i>ev</i>, 'this'; <i>ab</i>, 'he/she/it'), conjunctions (<i>ak</i> and <i>za</i>, 'and'), prepositions (<i>de</i>, 'for'), and adverbs (<i>osod</i>, 'there'). </p><p>The declension of nouns basically follows a familiar Anatolian language pattern:<a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:14" href="#fn:14"><sup>14</sup></a><a class="footnote-ref" id="fnref:15" href="#fn:15"><sup>15</sup></a> </p> <table><tbody><tr><th rowspan="2"></th><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Grammatical_number/zzs5AV6v">Singular</a></th><th colspan="2"><a href="/facts/Grammatical_number/zzs5AV6v">Plural</a></th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Grammatical_gender/2hEshpnP">animate</a></th><th><a href="/facts/Grammatical_gender/2hEshpnP">inanimate</a></th><th>animate</th><th>inanimate</th></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Nominative_case/wXX3Vn4x">Nominative</a></th><td>-Ø</td><td rowspan="2"></td><td rowspan="2">-s (-z/ś)</td><td rowspan="2"></td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Accusative_case/HA1Q81qd">Accusative</a></th><td>-o (?)</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Genitive_case/nMXh3StK">Genitive</a></th><td colspan="2">-s (-z/ś)</td><td colspan="2">-e</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Dative_case/bBjY0RVf">Dative</a> / <a href="/facts/Locative_case/h9KCqqhq">Locative</a></th><td colspan="2">-i, -a (-o?)</td><td colspan="2">-a</td></tr><tr><th><a href="/facts/Ablative_case/GotGMD3k">Ablative</a></th><td colspan="2">-d (?)</td><td colspan="2"></td></tr></tbody></table> <p>No verbs have yet been securely identified. A promising candidate is <i>ozad</i>, 'he offered', dedicated' (twice attested with object <i>anathemataz</i>, 'sacrifices'), a 3rd person singular preterite with the common Anatolian ending <i>-d</i>. </p><p>Like the neighbouring <a href="/facts/Pamphylian_Greek/MnjFQPB5">Pamphylian language</a>, <a href="/facts/Apheresis_(linguistics)/t9qNG34x">aphaeresis</a> is frequent in names in Sidetic (e.g. <i>Poloniw</i> for Apollonios, <i>Thandor</i> for Athenodoros), as is <a href="/facts/Syncope_(phonology)/tL4MKHht">syncope</a> (e.g. <i>Artmon</i> for Artemon). </p> <h2 id="see-also">See also</h2> <ul> <li>Asia portal</li></ul> <ul><li><a href="/facts/Pisidian_language/Vrt2qsUN">Pisidian language</a></li></ul> <h2 id="further-reading">Further reading</h2> <ul><li>Zinko, Christian, and Zinko, Michaela. "Sidetisch – Ein Update zu Schrift und Sprache". In: <i>Hrozný and Hittite: The First Hundred Years</i>. Editors: Ronald I. Kim, Jana Mynářová, and Peter Pavúk. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2019. pp. 416–432. doi: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004413122_023">https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004413122_023</a> (In German)</li></ul> <h2 id="external-links">External links</h2> <ul><li><a href="http://www.ediana.gwi.uni-muenchen.de">"Digital etymological-philological Dictionary of the Ancient Anatolian Corpus Languages (eDiAna)"</a>. <a href="/facts/Ludwig-Maximilians-Universit%25C3%25A4t_M%25C3%25BCnchen/eJtBcjAE">Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München</a>. Retrieved 2017-03-14.</li> <li><a href="http://tied.verbix.com/tree/anat/sidetian.html">Indo-European Database</a></li></ul> <h2 id="references">References</h2> <ol> <li id="fn:1"><p>Pandey, Anshuman. "Introducing the Sidetic Script" (PDF). Unicode Consortium. Retrieved 2021-04-12. <a href="https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2019/19106-sidetic-intro.pdf" target="_blank">https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2019/19106-sidetic-intro.pdf</a> <a href="#fnref:1" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:2"><p>Bossert, H. T. (1950). "Scrittura e lingua di Side in Pamfilia". PDP. 13: 32–46. <a href="#fnref:2" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:3"><p>Hesychius says the Greek equivalent is τέττιξ, or cicada: Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert. "'Tettix', in: A Greek-English Lexicon". Perseus.Tufts. Retrieved 2021-05-02. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=te/ttic" target="_blank">http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=te/ttic</a> <a href="#fnref:3" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:4"><p>Nolle, Johannes (1983). "Die "Charaktere" im 3. Epidemienbuch des Hippokrates und Mnemon von Side". Epigraphica Anatolica. 2: 8.85–98. <a href="#fnref:4" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:5"><p>Pérez Orozco, Santiago. "La lengua Sidética. Una actualización [The Sidetic language. An update]". Retrieved 2021-11-13. (in Spanish) <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43814581" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/43814581</a> <a href="#fnref:5" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:6"><p>Woudhuizen, D. (2020). "On the Reading and Interpretation of the Two Longer Sidetic Inscriptions S I.2.1 and S I.2.5". Živa Antika. 70 (1/2): 17–34. doi:10.47054/ZIVA20701-2017w. S2CID 245576848. Retrieved 2021-11-13. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45107430" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/45107430</a> <a href="#fnref:6" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:7"><p>Smith, William. "Mnemon (A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology)". Perseus Tufts. Retrieved 2021-04-12. <a href="http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D28%3Aentry%3Dmnemon-bio-1" target="_blank">http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0104%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DM%3Aentry+group%3D28%3Aentry%3Dmnemon-bio-1</a> <a href="#fnref:7" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:8"><p>Nollé, Johannes (1983). "Die "Charaktere" im 3. Epidemienbuch des Hippokrates und Mnemon von Side". Epigraphica Anatolica. 1: 85–98. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/8335264" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/8335264</a> <a href="#fnref:8" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:9"><p>Rizza, Alfredo (2005). "A new epigraphic Document with Sidetic(?) signs". Kadmos. 44 (1–2): 60–74. doi:10.1515/KADM.2005.010. S2CID 162036788. <a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" target="_blank">/wiki/Doi_(identifier)</a> <a href="#fnref:9" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:10"><p>Nollé (1983) p. 95. <a href="#fnref:10" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:11"><p>Michaela Zinko & Alfredo Rizza, based on 2025 research submitted to the Unicode Script Encoding Working Group to take into consideration for Unicode 17.0 <a href="#fnref:11" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:12"><p>Pérez Orozco, Santiago. "La lengua Sidética. Una actualización [The Sidetic language. An update]". Retrieved 2021-11-13. (in Spanish) <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43814581" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/43814581</a> <a href="#fnref:12" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:13"><p>Woudhuizen, D. (2020). "On the Reading and Interpretation of the Two Longer Sidetic Inscriptions S I.2.1 and S I.2.5". Živa Antika. 70 (1/2): 17–34. doi:10.47054/ZIVA20701-2017w. S2CID 245576848. Retrieved 2021-11-13. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/45107430" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/45107430</a> <a href="#fnref:13" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:14"><p>Pérez Orozco, Santiago. "La lengua Sidética. Una actualización [The Sidetic language. An update]". Retrieved 2021-11-13. (in Spanish) <a href="https://www.academia.edu/43814581" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/43814581</a> <a href="#fnref:14" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> <li id="fn:15"><p>Касьян, А.С. (Alexei S. Kassian) (January 2013). "Сидетский язык [The Sidetic language] (in: Языки Мира : Реликтовые индоевропейские языки Передней и Центральной Азии [Languages of the world : Relict Indo-European languages of Near- and Central-Asia], pp. 175-177)". Moskva Academia. Retrieved 2021-04-14. <a href="https://www.academia.edu/5541696" target="_blank">https://www.academia.edu/5541696</a> <a href="#fnref:15" class="footnote-back-ref">↩</a></p></li> </ol>