De l’alphabet sogdien

This paper, reprinted from the Journal Asiatique, provides a handy introduction to the Sogdian (Sanskrit) alphabet used for Buddhist texts in Central Asia. Its derivation from Syriac alphabets, brought to Central Asia by Nestorian missionaries, is clear; it is even possible to see which local scripts certain letters were adapted from. This work is especially of interest to scholars of comparative linguistics, Semitics, and Sanskrit.