Jost Gippert (University of Hamburg)

The development of an individual script matching a remarkably complex sound system was a prerequisite for the emergence of literacy in the Albanian language. According to the account by the Armenian author Koryun, it was his teacher Mesrop Mashtots who in the early 5th century, together with an Albanian (Aghuan) named Benjamin, “created letters” for it which he “successfully arranged, examined and fixed” (Koryun, Life of Mashtots, ch. 16) [Abeghyan 1941, 68].

Koryun’s testimony notwithstanding, the shape and extent of the Albanian script remained unknown to the scholarly world until 1937 when an alphabet list attributed to the Aghuankʽ was detected in a 13th-century Armenian manuscript of the Matenadaran (M 7117), a “collective codex of educational character” from the school of Tʽovma Mecopecʽi which contains the list of “Albanian” letters (aghuanitsʽ girn) along with accounts of several other scripts (Armenian, Hebrew, Greek, Arabic, Latin, Georgian, and Coptic) [Abuladze 1938; Shanidze 1938]. According to this manuscript, the Albanian alphabet, arranged in alphabetical order in 11 lines with the letter names added in Armenian transcription below each of them, comprised 52 characters (see Figures 1-2 where the Albanian list, embedded between the accounts of the (Old) Georgian and Coptic scripts, is highlighted).

Ms. Yerevan, Matenadaran, 7117, fol. 145r
Fig. 1: Ms. Yerevan, Matenadaran, 7117, fol. 145r
Same, fol. 145v
Fig. 2: Same, fol. 145v

Even though both the letter shapes and the Armenian transcripts of the letters are anything but reliable, the alphabet list of the 14th–15th century was the clue to the decipherment of the few Albanian inscriptions and, especially, the palimpsested manuscripts of the language that were detected among the so-called “New Finds” of St Catherine’s Monastery on Mt Sinai in the 1990s. With the biblical material contained in the latter (see Albanian language for details), it was possible to establish the alphabet in its entirety even though two characters contained in the alphabet list have remained unattested. Table I shows the letters as appearing in the palimpsests, contrasted with those of the list, the (reconstructed) letter names, the presumptive phonetic values, and the numerical functions of the letters, which turned out to warrant the correctness of the alphabetical order of the alphabet list at least for the first 21 letters. [Gippert et al. 2008, II–1-20; Gippert/Schulze 2023, 168-177]

No. Palim­psests Alphabet list Actual reading   Intended reading   Reconstr. name Phonetic value Transliteration Num. value
1 𐔰 Ալթ։ Altʿ: Ալթ Altʿ Alt [a] a 1
2 𐔱 Ոդեթ։ Odetʿ: *Բեթ *Betʿ *Bet [b] b 2
3 𐔲 Զիմ։ Zim: *Գիմ *Gim *Gim [g] g 3
4 𐔳 Գատ։ Gat: *Դատ։ *Dat *Daṭ [d] d 4
5 𐔴 Էբ։ Ēb: *Եբ։ *Eb *Eb [e] e 5
6 𐔵 Զառլ։ Zar̄l: Զառլ Zar̄l Zarl [z] z 6
7 𐔶 Են։ En: *Էն *Ēn *Ēn [ej / e:] ē 7
8 𐔷 Ժիլ: Žil: Ժիլ Žil Žil [ʒ] ž 8
9 𐔸 Թաս։ Tʿas Թաս Tʿas Tas [t] t 9
10 𐔹 Ճա́: Čá Ճա́ Čá *Ć̣a [tɕ’] ć̣ 10
11 𐔺 Յուդ։ Yowd Յուդ Yowd Yowd [j] y 20
12 𐔻 Ժա́ Žá Ժա́ Žá *Źa [ʓ] ź 30
13 𐔼 Իր́բ։ Írb Իր́բ Írb *Irb [i] i 40
14 𐔽 Շա։ Ša *Շա́ *Šá * ʕa? *Šʕa? [ˤ] ʕ 50
15 𐔾 Լան։ Lan Լան Lan Lan [l] l 60
16 𐔿 Ի՛նա։ Ína Ի՛նա Ína *In’a ? [nj] n’ 70
17 𐕀 Խէ՛ն։ Xḗn Խէ՛ն Xḗn *Xʕēn ? [x] x 80
18 𐕁 Դան։ Dan *Դա́ն *Dán *D’an [dj] d’ 90
19 Ճառ։ Čar̄ *Ծառ *Car̄ *C̣ar [ts’] c̣ 100
20 𐕃 Զոխ։ Zox *Ջո́խ *J̌óx *Ʒ́ox [dʓ] ʒ́ 200
21 𐕄 Կա́ր Kár Կա́ր Kár *Ḳʕar ? [ḳ] ḳ 300
22 𐕅 Լի՛տ։ Lít Լի՛տ Lít L’iṭ [lj] l’ *400
23 𐕆 Հէտ։ Hēt Հէտ Hēt Hēṭ [h] h *500
24 𐕇 Հայ։ Hay Հայ Hay *X̣ay [q, χ] x̣ *600
25 𐕈 Ար։ Ar *Ա՛ր *Ár *År [ɒ] å *700
26 𐕉 Ցոյ։ Cʿoy *Ցո́յ *Cʿóy *Ćoy [tɕ] ć *800
27 Ճի։ Či Ճի Či Č̣i [tʃ’] č̣ *900
28 𐕋 Չայ։ Čʿay *Չա́յ *Čʿáy *C’aj [tsj] ? (c’) *1000
29 𐕌 Մա́կ։ Mák Մա́կ Mák *Maq̇? [m] m *2000
30 Կա́ռ։ Kar̄ Կա́ռ։ Kár̄ *Q̣ar ? [q̇] q̇ *3000
31 𐕎 Նուց։ Nowcʿ Նուց Nowcʿ Nowc [n] n *4000
32 *𐕏 Ջա́յ։ J̌áy Ջա́յ J̌áy Ʒ’ay [dzj] ? (ʒ’) *5000
33 𐕐 Շաք։ Šakʿ Շաք Šakʿ Šak [ʃ] š *6000
34 *𐕑 Ջայն։ J̌ayn Ջայն J̌ayn Ǯayn [dʒ] ǯ *7000
35 𐕒 Ուն Own Ուն Own *On [o] o *8000
36 𐕓 տայ։ Tay *Տա́յ *Táy *Ṭ’aj [tj’] ṭ’ *9000
37 𐕔 Խամ։ Xam Խամ Xam *Fam [f] f *10000
38 𐕕 Ձայ։ Jay Ձայ Jay Ʒaj [dz] ʒ *20000
39 𐕖 Չատ։ Čʿat Չատ։ Čʿat Čaṭ [tʃʿ] č *30000
40 𐕗 Պեն։ Pen Պեն Pen P̣en [p’] ṗ *40000
41 𐕘 Փէս։ Pʿēs *Խէս *Xēs *Ġēs [γ] ġ *50000
42 𐕙 Կատ։ Kat *Երատ։ *Erat *Raṭ [r] r *60000
43 𐕚 սէկ։ Sēk Սէկ։ Sēk Sēḳ [s] s *70000
44 𐕛 Վէզ։ Vēz Վէզ Vēz Vēz [v] v *80000
45 𐕜 տիւր Tiwr Տիւր Tiwr Ṭüwr [t’] ṭ *90000
46 𐕝 սոյ։ Soy Սոյ Soy *Śoy [ɕ] ś *100000
47 𐕞(𐕡) Իոն։ Ion Իոն։ Ion *Üwn [y] ü *200000
48 Ծա́ւ։ Cáw Ծա́ւ Cáw *C̣’aw [tsj’] c̣’ *300000
49 𐕠 Ցայն։ Cʿayn Ցայն Cʿayn Cayn [tsʿ] c *400000
50 𐕡 Յայդ։ Yayd Յայդ Yayd Yayd [w] w *500000
51 𐕢 Փիւր։ Pʿiwr Փիւր Pʿiwr Püwr [pʿ] p *600000
52 𐕣 Քի՛ւ։ Kʿiw Փի՛ւ Kʿiw Küw [kʿ] k *700000

With its 52 letters, the Albanian alphabet reflects a highly complex sound system with 45 consonants and 7 vowels, which is typical for an East Caucasian language. In comparison with the sound system of the modern Udi language, which is the closest relative (if not the direct descendant) of Caucasian Albanian, it is somewhat more differentiated, comprising, e.g., palatalised consonants like n’, l’, and c’; a peculiarity is the pharyngeal consonant (ʕ) appearing in combinations with vowel characters where Udi today has pharyngealised vowels. All in all, the alphabet reveals remarkable linguistic insight as it mostly follows the principle of one phoneme being represented by one character; however, there are two exceptions to this rule, which are at the same time indicative of the background of the alphabet: there is no individual letter for the vowel u, which is instead written as a digraph o+w, just as in Armenian and (Old) Georgian, and the seventh letter, ē, stands not for a long vowel but for a diphthong ey, again just as its Old Armenian and Georgian counterparts. It is clear that both these features reflect idiosyncracies of late antique Greek where the digraph Ο+Υ stood for the vowel u and the letter ēta, Η, is likely to still have had a diphthong-like pronunciation (ey) before further developing into i. It can thus be taken for granted that all three Caucasian alphabets were developed on the basis of a Greek one. There is, however, a clear indication that the Albanian alphabet was modelled not directly on the Greek but on the Armenian, namely, in the internal order of the characters: Together with Armenian, the Albanian deviates from the Greek order from the sixth character onwards, and as in Armenian, characters that have no counterpart in the model are inserted in the alphabetical sequence with no discernible principle. In contrast to this, the Georgian alphabet preserves the Greek order up to its 24^th^ letter, khi, including the so-called digamma with a sound value of v at the 6th position, and with additional characters added after khi or at positions that were of no use (Ξ, Ψ, Ϟ). The importance of the alphabetical order for the historical interrelation cannot be underestimated, given that the numerical use of the characters prevented changes right from the beginning. It is therefore highly probable that the Albanian alphabet was modelled on the Armenian but the Georgian was not. Table 2 shows the four alphabets in synopsis, arranged after the Greek with the individual additions indicated by different colours; a PDF version is also available.[Gippert et al. 2008, II–16-17]

Greek     Georgian       Armenian       Albanian      
Name Letter num. Name Letter trl. num. Name Letter trl. num. Name Letter trl. num.
alpha Α 1 ani Ⴀ a 1 ayb Ա a 1 alt 𐔰 a 1
beta Β 2 bani Ⴁ b 2 ben Բ b 2 *bet 𐔱 b 2
gamma Γ 3 gani Ⴂ g 3 gim Գ g 3 *gim 𐔲 g 3
delta Δ 4 doni Ⴃ d 4 da Դ d 4 *daṭ 𐔳 d 4
epsilon Ε 5 eni Ⴄ e 5 eč Ե e 5 *eb 𐔴 e 5
digamma Ϝ 6 vini Ⴅ v 6                
zēta Ζ 7 zeni Ⴆ z 7 za Զ z 6 zarl 𐔵 z 6
ēta Η 8 hē Ⴡ ē 8 ē Է ē 7 *ēn 𐔶 ē 7
              etʿ Ը ə 8        
                      žil 𐔷 ž 8
thēta Θ 9 tani Ⴇ t 9 tʿo Թ tʿ 9 tas 𐔸 t 9
                      *ć̣a 𐔹 ć̣ 10
                      yowd 𐔺 y 20
              žē Ժ ž 10 *źa 𐔻 ź 30
iota Ι 10 ini Ⴈ i 10 ini Ի i 20 *iˤrb 𐔼 i 40
                      *(š)ˤa 𐔽 ˤ 50
              liwn Լ l 30 lan 𐔾 l 60
                      *in’a 𐔿 n’ 70
              xē Խ x 40 *xˤēn 𐕀 x 80
                      *d’an 𐕁 d’ 90
              ca Ծ c 50 *c̣ar 𐕂 c̣ 100
                      *ʒ́ox 𐕃 ʒ́ 200
kappa Κ 20 ḳani Ⴉ ḳ 20 ken Կ k 60 *ḳˤar 𐕄 ḳ 300
                      l’iṭ 𐕅 l’ 400
              ho Հ h 70 hēṭ 𐕆 h 500
                      *qay 𐕇 x̣ 600
              ja Ձ j 80        
                      *år 𐕈 å 700
lambda Λ 30 lani Ⴊ l 30 ład Ղ ł 90        
                      *ćoy 𐕉 ć 800
              čē Ճ č 100 č̣i 𐕊 č̣ 900
                      *c’ay 𐕋 c’ 1000
my Μ 40 mani Ⴋ m 40 men Մ m 200 *maq̇ 𐕌 m 2000
                      *q̇ar 𐕍 q̇ 3000
              yi Յ y 300        
ny Ν 50 nari Ⴌ n 50 nu Ն n 400 nuc 𐕎 n 4000
ksi Ξ 60                        
      ye Ⴢ y 60                
                      ʒ’ay *𐕏 *ʒ’ 5000
              ša Շ š 500 šak 𐕐 š 6000
                      ǯayn *𐕑 *ǯ 7000
omikron Ο 70 oni Ⴍ o 70 vo Ո o 600 *on 𐕒 o 8000
                      *ṭ’ay 𐕓 ṭ’ 9000
                      *fam 𐕔 f 10000
                      ʒay 𐕕 ʒ 20000
              čʿa Չ čʿ 700 čaṭ 𐕖 č 30000
pi Π 80 ṗari Ⴎ ṗ 80 pē Պ p 800 ṗen 𐕗 ṗ 40000
qoppa Ϟ 90                        
      žani Ⴏ ž 90                
              ǰē Ջ ǰ 900        
                      *ġēs 𐕘 ġ 50000
rho Ρ 100 rae Ⴐ r 100 r̄a Ռ r̄ 1000 *raṭ 𐕙 r 60000
sigma Σ 200 sani Ⴑ s 200 sē Ս s 2000 sēḳ 𐕚 s 70000
              vew Վ v 3000 vēz 𐕛 v 80000
tau Τ 300 ṭani Ⴒ ṭ 300 tiwn Տ t 4000 ṭüwr 𐕜 ṭ 90000
                      *śoy 𐕝 ś 100000
              rē Ր r 5000        
                      *ün 𐕞 ü 200000
                      *c̣’aw 𐕟 c̣’ 300000
              cʿo Ց cʿ 6000 cayn 𐕠 c 400000
ypsilon Υ 400 wie Ⴣ w 400 yiwn Ւ w 7000 yayd 𐕡 w 500000
phi Φ 500 pari Ⴔ p 500 pʿiwr Փ pʿ 8000 püwr 𐕢 p 600000
khi Χ 600 kani Ⴕ k 600 kʿē Ք kʿ 9000 küw 𐕣 k 700000
psi Ψ 700                        
      ġani Ⴖ ġ 700                
      q̇ari Ⴗ q̇ 800                
      šini Ⴘ š 900                
      čini Ⴙ č 1000                
      cani Ⴚ c 2000                
      ʒili Ⴛ ʒ 3000                
      c̣ili Ⴜ c̣ 4000                
      č̣ari Ⴝ č̣ 5000                
      xani Ⴞ x 6000                
      qari Ⴤ q 7000                
      ǯani Ⴟ ǯ 8000                
      hae Ⴠ h 9000                
omega Ω 800 hoe Ⴥ ō 10000 ō Օ ō 10000        
sampi Ϡ 900                        
              fē Ֆ f          

Since 2014, the Albanian script as represented in the Table has been integrated into the Unicode Standard, with the letters covering code points 10350-1056F. Of the glyphs represented in the Unicode chart (see https://unicode.org/charts/PDF/U10530.pdf), one (1054B, CYAY) must be changed as the character in question (no. 28 in the alphabet) has only recently been detected in the Sinai palimpsests; its correct shape is not as in the alphabet list but 𐕋.

Bibliography

Abeghyan, M. (Մանուկ Աբեղյան), Վարք Մաշտոցի [The Life of Mashtots]. Yerevan: Haypetrat 1941. Repr. 1985 in Koriwn. Varkʿ Mashtotsʿi. Delmar, N.Y: Caravan Books. Repr. 1994 in Matevosyan, A. (Արտաշես Մաթևոսյան) (ed.), Կորյուն. Վարք Մեսրոպ Մաշտոցի [Life of Mesrop Mashtots]. Yerevan: Hayastan. http://www.armenianart.org/books/koryun.pdf.

Abuladze, I. (Илья Абуладзе), “К открытию алфавита кавказских албанцев” [On the Detection of the Alphabet of the Caucasian Albanians], Bulletin de l’Institut Marr de Langues, d’Histoire et de Culture Matérielle / Известия Института Языка, Истории и Материальной Культуры им. Акад. Н. Я. Марра 4/1 (1938), p. 69-71. https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/317424.

Gippert, J. – Schulze, W., “The Language of the Caucasian Albanians”, in J. Gippert – J. Dum-Tragut (eds), Caucasian Albania – An International Handbook, Berlin/Boston: de Gruyter 2023, p. 167-229. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110794687-004.

Gippert, J., Schulze, W., Aleksidze, Z., Mahé, J.-P., The Caucasian Albanian Palimpsests of Mt. Sinai, vol. 1 (Monumenta Palaeographica Medii Aevi. Series Ibero-Caucasica 1), Turnhout: Brepols 2008.

Shanidze, A. (Акакий Шанидзе), “Новооткрытый алфавит кавказских албанцев и его значение для науки” [The Newly Discovered Alphabet of the Caucasian Albanians and Its Significance for Science]. Bulletin de l’Institut Marr de Langues, d’Histoire et de Culture Matérielle / Известия Института Языка, Истории и Материальной Культуры им. Акад. Н. Я. Марра 4 (1938), p. 1-68. https://dspace.nplg.gov.ge/handle/1234/317424.