Origin from 700
The Old Uyghur alphabet is a cursive, originally vertically written script that developed from the Sogdian script, itself descended from Aramaic, in the late seventh or early eighth century, for writing the Old Uyghur Turkic language. After Genghis Khan's defeat of the Naiman in 1204 he captured an Uyghur scribe, Tata-tonga, and had him teach the Mongolian princes to write using this script, founding what became the traditional Mongolian script and, later, the Manchu alphabet.
Facts
Script TypeA cursive, joining consonantal script in the Aramaic tradition; described in the sources as an alphabet/abjad depending on convention. DirectionalityTraditionally written vertically, top to bottom, in columns running left to right, following the Sogdian vertical convention; horizontal left-to-right use emerged after the fourteenth century. 1 In Use Since (Year) Directionality (class)Top-to-bottom, vertical columns left-to-right 1 Classification
Script StatusClassified 'extinct' per this entity's own cited source and standard scholarly consensus on the script's current use; checked 2026-09-27. Connections
Ancestor Of
Source Wikipedia: Old Uyghur Alphabet
Descends From
Aramaic Alphabet, Scripts Why this is disputed. The direct intermediate is the Sogdian script, cursive Aramaic-derived and not yet a live entity here (entity request filed alongside this batch); this edge records the real but indirect Aramaic ancestry until Sogdian is minted.
Source Wikipedia: Old Uyghur Alphabet
Sharpened from the prior associated-stance edge to Aramaic Alphabet now that the direct intermediate, Sogdian Script, exists.
Source Wikipedia: Sogdian Alphabet
Is Of Script Type
Script Of
Source Old Uyghur language (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia: Old Uyghur Alphabet
WikipediaHistory section
A cursive form of the Sogdian script that developed in the late 7th or early 8th century was subsequently adapted for Turkic languages
- Description section
View the Source Wikipedia: Sogdian Alphabet
WikipediaDescends From: Sogdian Script, Article textQuote, Descends From: Sogdian Script, Article text
The "Uyghur" cursive script eventually developed into the Old Uyghur alphabet, which was used to write the Old Uyghur language.
Old Uyghur language (Wikipedia)
Script Of: Old Uyghur, Infobox: scriptQuote, Script Of: Old Uyghur, Infobox: script
Old Turkic script, Old Uyghur alphabet, Manichaean script, Sogdian alphabet, Syriac alphabet, Brahmi script
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