The Avestan Alphabet

What the original alphabet was in which the Avesta was written we do not know. The alphabet in which our texts are now preserved bears the stamp of a much later age than the language it presents. The question of the origin of this alphabet in which our Mss. are written has difficulties; but there is little doubt that it is derived from the Pahlavi alphabet of the Sassanian times; it is closely related to the book-Pahlavi. This point must be constantly borne in mind in discussing the letters. The question, moreover, of the transcription of this Avestan alphabet as we now possess it has long been and is still a very vexed one. This is the question, in particular, that forms the chief subject of inquiry in the present paper; but all investigations into the matter of transcription imply a more or less extended study of the alphabet from the standpoint of palaeography, phonetics and philology.

The lack of uniformity in the system of transliterating the Avestan characters is confusing to those pursuing philological studies; it has doubtless also in some degree retarded the advancement of the Avestan cause. From the standpoint of philology, the present necessity of some accordance in the method of transcribing this language is apparent.