At 15:47 -0800 2004-01-02, Peter Kirk wrote:
I have found a new script which may need to be encoded in Unicode. Well, I haven't found it myself, Zaza Alexidze has done that. I was previously aware of this Caucasian Albanian script, but I have only just found out that for the first time an extensive document - 300 pages of a lectionary, dating probably from the 5th century CE - has been found written in this alphabet, and in an ancient form of the Udi language. It seems to be a truly separate alphabet, although distantly related to Georgian and Armenian.
Does it? The links you gave were a bit less than conclusive in that regard.
But it is not even roadmapped for Unicode.
Must you use such rhetoric?
It wasn't roadmapped because we had no comprehensive information on it. Now we have more information, which is excellent.
Sorry. The "even" was intended to imply that this script is so obscure that it hasn't found its way into the excellent roadmaps. I hope now we can find space for it. But obviously we do need to confirm that it is distinct from Georgian and Armenian. Note the following, from http://www.azer.com/aiweb/categories/magazine/ai113_folder/113_articles/113_zaza_secrets_revealed.html:
Curiously, the Albanian alphabet with its 52 letter has many letters that resemble other alphabets, specifically Georgian (19 letters), Ethiopian (14 letters) and Armenian (10).
But these are resemblances only in shape, not also in sound. Obviously further work is required. We should await the publication of
Aleksidze, Zaza & Jean-Pierre Mahé & Jost Gippert & Wolfgang Schulze (in preparation). /The Caucasian-Albanian Palympsest from Mt. Sinai. Edition and interpretation./ Monumenta Paleographica Medii Aevi. Turnhout: Brepols [prévue].
-- Peter Kirk [EMAIL PROTECTED] (personal) [EMAIL PROTECTED] (work) http://www.qaya.org/
