Book Pahlavi is the cursive variant of the Pahlavi script, which was derived from the Aramaic script during the Sassanid period to write the Middle Persian language. Book Pahlavi was used primarily for writing books and documents, especially Zoroastrian works in Pahlavi, but later also for inscriptions.
Book Pahlavi is an abjad, meaning there are no unique vowel symbols, although it does make use of matres lectionis. Much like rasm in the Arabic script, a single letterform can be used for multiple letters, as they merged over time. (To avoid confusion, these are still usually transliterated differently.) Further ambiguity is added by the fact that the boundaries between letters are not clear, and many letters look identical to combinations of other letters.Roger D. Woodard: The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas. Cambridge University Press, 2008, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1, S. 123. Like other variants of Pahlavi, many Aramaic-language heterograms (Middle Persian huzwāreš; also called "Aramaeograms") are used in Book Pahlavi texts. In transliteration, these are written as capital letters to differentiate them from Middle Persian words.
The Avestan script was derived from Book Pahlavi as a phonetic alphabet with 52 characters (including 15 vowel characters) in order to compile the traditional sacred texts of the Avesta into a book. Sometimes, Middle Persian can be written in the Avestan script, where it is referred to as Pazend.
Letters +Book Pahlavi letters and their transliterationsLetter nameLetterin Middle Persian wordsin heterogramsImageTransliterationtranscriptionTransliterationAleph(zero), ā, aAHethhh, xḤ / HBethbbBGimelggGDalethdd, yDYodhyy, j, ē, ī, e, iYHēH / EWawww, ō, ū, o, uWNunnnNAyinʿ / OReshrrR(otiose sign)ZayinzzZKaphkg, k, γKOld KaphLamedhlr, lLhooked Lamedhstroked LamedhɫlMemmmMQophQSamekhss, hSPepb, p, fPSadhec / ṣč, z, jṢ / CShinšš, jSTawtd, tT
Ligatures Unlike other Pahlavi scripts, Book Pahlavi features extensive ligatures. Many letters take on descending forms before the letters aleph-heth, gimel-daleth-yodh, pe, sadhe, and taw.
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See also Heterogram (linguistics) Rasm Inscriptional Parthian Inscriptional Pahlavi Psalter Pahlavi Pazend Avestan alphabet Manichaean script Middle Persian literature
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