West A., Zaytsev V., Everson M. [Document No.] JTC1/SC2/WG2 N4725R = L2/16-113R: Towards an Encoding of the Khitan Small Script // The Unicode Consortium: [official website]. 2016. 194 pp.
The Khitan Small Script (Chinese Qìdān xiǎozì 契丹小字) and the Khitan Large Script (Chinese Qìdān dàzì 契丹大字) are two distinct and morphologically different scripts that were both used by the Khitan people of Northern China to write the Khitan language during the Liao Dynasty (907–1125), the Kara-Khitan Khanate (1124–1218) and the Jin dynasty (1115–1234). The large script was devised in 920, under the orders of Abaoji, founder of the Liao dynasty. The small script was created a little later, in about 924 or 925 by a scholar named Yelü Diela, reportedly inspired by the Uyghur script, although the small script has no obvious similarities with the Uyghur script. Both large and small scripts have only been partially deciphered, and there are many unanswered questions related to their orthography.
This document suggests a revised list of 472 Khitan Small Script characters as candidates for encoding in ISO/IEC 10646 and Unicode. This document also discusses other aspects not fully covered in the previous proposals (WG2 N3820 and N3918 submitted by China in 2010), such as the encoding model and font considerations.
The Annual IOM Academic Session “The Written Heritage of the Orient as the Basis for Classical Tradition of Oriental Studies” will be held on December 4–6, 2023. The program of the Session is now available.
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