Old Turkic script

E128743

alphabet historical script runiform script writing system

The Old Turkic script is an ancient runiform alphabet used by early Turkic peoples to write the earliest known Turkic inscriptions across Central Asia.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (18)

Label	Occurrences
Old Turkic script canonical	23
Orkhon script	3
Old Turkic	2
Old Turkic runiform script	2
Göktürk script	1
Old Hungarian script	1
Old Turkic block	1
Old Turkic inscriptions	1
Old Turkic runic corpus	1
Old Turkic runic inscriptions	1
Old Turkic runic script	1
Orkhon runic	1
Orkhon runic writing system	1
Orkhon standard	1
Runiform Turkic script	1
Turkic runes	1
Yenisei script	1
runiform Old Turkic alphabet	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T1040441 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Old Turkic script
Context triple: [Kazakh language, historicalWritingSystem, Old Turkic script]

A. Classical Mongolian script
Classical Mongolian script is the historic vertical writing system used for the Mongolian language, derived from the Old Uyghur alphabet and still employed in Inner Mongolia today.
B. Kharoṣṭhī script
The Kharoṣṭhī script is an ancient right-to-left writing system used in northwestern South Asia, especially in the Gandhāra region, primarily for early Buddhist and administrative texts.
C. Ruqʿah script
Ruqʿah script is a simple, highly legible Arabic handwriting style commonly used for everyday writing and official documents in the Arab world.
D. Tirhuta script
Tirhuta script is a traditional Brahmic writing system historically used for the Maithili language of the Mithila region in India and Nepal.
E. Geʽez script
The Geʽez script is an ancient abugida writing system originating in the Horn of Africa, primarily used for the Geʽez language and later adapted for several modern Ethiopian and Eritrean languages.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Old Turkic script
Target entity description: The Old Turkic script is an ancient runiform alphabet used by early Turkic peoples to write the earliest known Turkic inscriptions across Central Asia.

A. Classical Mongolian script
Classical Mongolian script is the historic vertical writing system used for the Mongolian language, derived from the Old Uyghur alphabet and still employed in Inner Mongolia today.
B. Kharoṣṭhī script
The Kharoṣṭhī script is an ancient right-to-left writing system used in northwestern South Asia, especially in the Gandhāra region, primarily for early Buddhist and administrative texts.
C. Ruqʿah script
Ruqʿah script is a simple, highly legible Arabic handwriting style commonly used for everyday writing and official documents in the Arab world.
D. Tirhuta script
Tirhuta script is a traditional Brahmic writing system historically used for the Maithili language of the Mithila region in India and Nepal.
E. Geʽez script
The Geʽez script is an ancient abugida writing system originating in the Horn of Africa, primarily used for the Geʽez language and later adapted for several modern Ethiopian and Eritrean languages.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (48)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	alphabet ⓘ historical script ⓘ runiform script ⓘ writing system ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Göktürk script ⓘ linked to: Old Turkic script Orkhon script ⓘ linked to: Old Turkic script Turkic runes ⓘ linked to: Old Turkic script
associatedEmpire	Göktürk Khaganate ⓘ
associatedReligion	Tengrism ⓘ
decipheredBy	Vilhelm Thomsen ⓘ
deciphermentYear	1893 ⓘ
direction	right-to-left ⓘ
eraOfUse	circa 7th–10th centuries CE ⓘ
hasCharacterType	consonant letters ⓘ vowel letters ⓘ
hasDistinctFeature	angular runiform shapes ⓘ separate letters for front and back vowels ⓘ
iso15924Code	Orkh ⓘ
notableInscription	Orkhon inscriptions ⓘ Talass inscriptions ⓘ Yenisei inscriptions ⓘ
numberOfLetters	38 ⓘ
primaryLanguage	Old Turkic ⓘ linked to: Old Turkic language
region	Central Asia ⓘ Mongolia ⓘ Siberia ⓘ
scriptCategory	Brahmic-influenced scripts ⓘ
scriptFamily	Turkic scripts ⓘ
scriptForm	runic-like ⓘ
scriptUsage	administrative texts ⓘ commemorative stelae ⓘ monumental inscriptions ⓘ
successorScript	Old Uyghur script ⓘ linked to: Old Uyghur alphabet
timePeriod	8th century ⓘ 9th century ⓘ
unicodeBlock	Old Turkic ⓘ linked to: Old Turkic language
unicodeRange	U+10C00–U+10C4F ⓘ
usedBy	Göktürks ⓘ linked to: Göktürk Khaganate Uyghurs ⓘ early Turkic peoples ⓘ
usedFor	Old Turkic language ⓘ
writingDirectionDetail	horizontally right-to-left ⓘ
writingMedium	metal ⓘ paper ⓘ stone inscriptions ⓘ wood ⓘ
writingSystemStatus	extinct ⓘ
writingSystemType	alphabetic ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (44)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Kazakh language → historicalWritingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Turks → historicalWritingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Aramaic alphabet → ancestorOf → Old Turkic script ⓘ

subject linked to: Aramaic alphabet (historically)

Turkic languages → haveHistoricalScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Turkic languages → haveHistoricalScript → runiform Old Turkic alphabet ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Hungarians → historicalWritingSystem → Old Hungarian script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Oghuz → traditionalScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Old Turkic (runiform and Uyghur-script traditions) → writingSystem → Old Turkic runiform script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Old Turkic (runiform and Uyghur-script traditions) → standardForm → Orkhon standard ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Supplementary Multilingual Plane → contains → Old Turkic block ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Old Turkic language → writingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Old Turkic script → alsoKnownAs → Göktürk script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Old Turkic script → alsoKnownAs → Orkhon script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Old Turkic script → alsoKnownAs → Turkic runes ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Kara-Khanid Khanate → writingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Göktürk Khaganate → writingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Orkhon inscriptions → writingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Karluk tribes → usedScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Talasp inscriptions → usesScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Talasp inscriptions → providesEvidenceFor → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Karluk → scriptUsed → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Yenisei inscriptions → writingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Turkic scripts → hasWritingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Turkic scripts → hasWritingSystem → Orkhon script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Turkic scripts → hasWritingSystem → Yenisei script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Turkic scripts → hasWritingSystem → Runiform Turkic script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Turkic scripts → scriptFamilyIncludes → Old Turkic runiform script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Orkh → represents → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Orkh → represents → Orkhon runic writing system ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Orkh → scriptName → Old Turkic ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Orkh → scriptName → Orkhon runic ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Orkh → usedIn → Old Turkic inscriptions ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Orkh → hasUnicodeBlock → Old Turkic ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Altai → historicallyWrittenWith → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Karluk Yabghu State → usedScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Kül Tigin → inscriptionLanguage → Old Turkic runic script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Kül Tigin → scriptUsedInMonument → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Yabgu → scriptAttestedIn → Old Turkic runic inscriptions ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Tonyukuk → scriptOfInscription → Orkhon script ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Tonyukuk → mentionedIn → Old Turkic runic corpus ⓘ

linked to: Old Turkic script

Karakhanid era → hasWritingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Turk → historicalWritingSystem → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Karluk Turks → usedScript → Old Turkic script ⓘ

Aramaic script → influenced → Old Turkic script ⓘ

All labels observed (18)

How this entity was disambiguated Show

Statements (48)

How these facts were elicited Show

Referenced by (44)

How this entity was disambiguated

How these facts were elicited