Zanabazar's square script is a horizontal Mongolian square script , an abugida developed by the monk and scholar Zanabazar based on the Tibetan alphabet to write Mongolian. It can also be used to write Tibetan language and Sanskrit as a geometric typeface.
It was re-discovered in 1801 and the script's applications during its using period are not known. It read left to right, and employed vowel diacritics above and below the consonant letters.
Letters
Vowels
The Zanabazar Square script is an abugida. Each consonant represents a syllable with an inherent vowel /a/. The vowel can be changed by adding a diacritic to the consonant. Only the vowel /a/ is written as an independent letter; other independent vowels, for example those at the start of a word which can't be attached to a consonant, are written by adding the appropriate diacritic to the letter ⟨𑨀⟩. A length mark indicates that the vowel sound is long and a chandrabindu ⟨𑨵⟩ indicates that it is nasalised.5 The final consonant mark ⟨𑨳⟩ functions as a virama, or "killer stroke" that removes the inherent vowel, leaving an isolated consonant. When transcribing Sanskrit or Tibetan, a different virama, ⟨𑨴⟩ is used. Two additional diacritics are used for Sanskrit transcription, the anusvara ⟨𑨸⟩, which adds nasalisation and the visarga ⟨𑨹⟩, which adds aspiration.
Vowels, diacritics, and examples| diacritics | ◌ 𑨁i | ◌ 𑨂ü | ◌ 𑨃u | ◌ 𑨄e | ◌ 𑨅ö | ◌𑨆o | ◌𑨇ai or i | ◌𑨈au or u | ◌𑨉i6 | ◌𑨊ā | ◌𑨵ã | ◌𑨳 | ◌ 𑨴7 | ◌𑨸ṃ8 | ◌𑨹ḥ9 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| independent vowels | 𑨀a | 𑨀𑨁i | 𑨀𑨂ü | 𑨀𑨃u | 𑨀𑨄e | 𑨀𑨅ö | 𑨀𑨆o | 𑨀𑨇ai or i | 𑨀𑨈au or u | 𑨀𑨉i | 𑨀𑨊ā | 𑨀𑨵ã | 𑨀𑨸aṃ | 𑨀𑨹aḥ | ||
| consonant ⟨𑨋⟩ + diacritic | 𑨋ka | 𑨋𑨁ki | 𑨋𑨂kü | 𑨋𑨃ku | 𑨋𑨄ke | 𑨋𑨅kö | 𑨋𑨆ko | 𑨋𑨇kaior ki | 𑨋𑨈kauor ku | 𑨋𑨉ki | 𑨋𑨊kā | 𑨋𑨵kã | 𑨋𑨳k | 𑨋𑨴k | 𑨋𑨸kaṃ | 𑨋𑨹kaḥ |
Consonants
The Zanabazar script includes twenty basic consonants used for writing Mongolian, and twenty additional consonants that are used for transcribing Sanskrit, Tibetan, Chinese, and other languages.10
Basic consonants for Mongolian| 𑨍ga | 𑨋ka | 𑨏nga | 𑨒ja | 𑨐ca | 𑨓nya | 𑨛da | 𑨚tha | 𑨝na | 𑨠ba11 |
| 𑨞pa | 𑨢ma | 𑨪ya | 𑨫ra | 𑨭va | 𑨬la | 𑨮sha | 𑨰sa | 𑨱ha | 𑨲kssa |
| 𑨌kha | 𑨎gha | 𑨑cha | 𑨔tta | 𑨕ttha | 𑨖dda | 𑨗ddha | 𑨘nna | 𑨙ta | 𑨜dha |
| 𑨟pha | 𑨡bha | 𑨣tsa | 𑨤tsha | 𑨥dza | 𑨦dzha | 𑨧zha | 𑨨za | 𑨩-a | 𑨯ssa |
Tibetan consonant clusters
The following diacritics are used for transcribing Tibetan consonant clusters.
Clusters letters and examples| diacritic | 𑨺r- | ◌𑨻-ya | ◌𑨼-ra | ◌𑨽-la | ◌𑨾-va |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| consonant ⟨𑨋⟩+ diacritic | 𑨺𑨋rka | 𑨋𑨻kya | 𑨋𑨼kra | 𑨋𑨽kla | 𑨋𑨾kva |
Other characters
Head marks are similar to Tibetan yig mgo, and may be used to mark the beginning of a text, page, or section. They may be decorated with a candra, ⟨𑨷⟩ or ⟨𑨶⟩
Head marks| 𑨿𑩀 𑨿𑨷𑩀𑨷 𑨿𑨶𑩀𑨶single-line | 𑩅𑩆 𑩅𑨷𑩆𑨷 𑩅𑨶𑩆𑨶double-line |
| 𑩁tsheg | 𑩂shad | 𑩃double shad | 𑩄long tsheg |
Unicode
Main article: Zanabazar Square (Unicode block)
"Zanabazar Square" has been included in the Unicode Standard since the release of Unicode version 10.0 in June 2017. The Zanabazar Square block contains 72 characters.12
The Unicode block for Zanabazar Square is U+11A00–U+11A4F:
| Zanabazar Square[1][2]Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+11A0x | 𑨀 | 𑨁 | 𑨂 | 𑨃 | 𑨄 | 𑨅 | 𑨆 | 𑨇 | 𑨈 | 𑨉 | 𑨊 | 𑨋 | 𑨌 | 𑨍 | 𑨎 | 𑨏 |
| U+11A1x | 𑨐 | 𑨑 | 𑨒 | 𑨓 | 𑨔 | 𑨕 | 𑨖 | 𑨗 | 𑨘 | 𑨙 | 𑨚 | 𑨛 | 𑨜 | 𑨝 | 𑨞 | 𑨟 |
| U+11A2x | 𑨠 | 𑨡 | 𑨢 | 𑨣 | 𑨤 | 𑨥 | 𑨦 | 𑨧 | 𑨨 | 𑨩 | 𑨪 | 𑨫 | 𑨬 | 𑨭 | 𑨮 | 𑨯 |
| U+11A3x | 𑨰 | 𑨱 | 𑨲 | 𑨳 | 𑨴 | 𑨵 | 𑨶 | 𑨷 | 𑨸 | 𑨹 | 𑨺 | 𑨻 | 𑨼 | 𑨽 | 𑨾 | 𑨿 |
| U+11A4x | 𑩀 | 𑩁 | 𑩂 | 𑩃 | 𑩄 | 𑩅 | 𑩆 | 𑩇 | ||||||||
| Notes1.^ As of Unicode version 16.02.^ Grey areas indicate non-assigned code points | ||||||||||||||||
See also
External links
References
Pandey, Anshuman (2015-12-03). "L2/15-337: Proposal to Encode the Zanabazar Square Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15337-zanabazar-square.pdf ↩
Shagdarsürüng, Tseveliin (2001). ""Study of Mongolian Scripts (Graphic Study or Grammatology). Enl."". Bibliotheca Mongolica: Monograph 1. ↩
Bareja-Starzyńska, Agata; Byambaa Ragchaa (2012). ""Notes on the Pre-existences of the First Khalkha Jetsundampa Zanabazar according to His Biography Written in the Horizontal Square Script."". Rocznik Orientalistyczny 1. ↩
Pandey, Anshuman (2015-12-03). "L2/15-337: Proposal to Encode the Zanabazar Square Script in ISO/IEC 10646" (PDF). ISO/IEC JTC1/SC2/WG2. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2015/15337-zanabazar-square.pdf ↩
"Mongolian Horizontal Square Script". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/mhss.htm ↩
Used in Sanskrit transcription. ↩
Used in Sanskrit and Tibetan transcription. ↩
Used in Sanskrit transcription. ↩
Used in Sanskrit transcription. ↩
"Mongolian Horizontal Square Script". www.omniglot.com. Retrieved 7 May 2024. https://www.omniglot.com/writing/mhss.htm ↩
Sometimes substituted for non-initial va. ↩
"Unicode 10.0.0". Unicode Consortium. June 20, 2017. Retrieved June 21, 2017. https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode10.0.0/ ↩