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The (unicode:Kharoṣṭhī) script is an ancient script used in ancient Gandhara (primarily modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan) to write the Gandhari Prakrit and Sanskrit. An abugida, it was in use from the middle of the 3rd century BCE until it died out in its homeland around the 3rd century CE. It was also in use in Bactria, the Kushan Empire, Sogdia and along the Silk Road, where there is some evidence it may have survived until the 7th century in the remote way stations of Khotan and Niya. (unicode:Kharoṣṭhī) is encoded in the Unicode range U+10A00–U+10A5F, from version 4.1.0. ==Form== is mostly written right to left (type A), but some inscriptions (type B) already show the left to right direction that was to become universal for the later South Asian scripts. Each syllable includes the short /a/ sound by default, with other vowels being indicated by diacritic marks. Recent epigraphical evidence highlighted by Professor Richard Salomon of the University of Washington has shown that the order of letters in the (unicode:Kharoṣṭhī) script follows what has become known as the Arapacana alphabet. As preserved in Sanskrit documents, the alphabet runs: :''(unicode:a ra pa ca na la da ba ḍa ṣa va ta ya ṣṭa ka sa ma ga stha ja śva dha śa kha kṣa sta jñā rtha (''or'' ha) bha cha sma hva tsa gha ṭha ṇa pha ska ysa śca ṭa ḍha)'' Some variations in both the number and order of syllables occur in extant texts. (unicode:Kharoṣṭhī) includes only one standalone vowel sign which is used for initial vowels in words. Other initial vowels use the a character modified by diacritics. Using epigraphic evidence, Salomon has established that the vowel order is /a e i o u/, rather than the usual vowel order for Indic scripts /a i u e o/. This is the same as the Semitic vowel order. Also, there is no differentiation between long and short vowels in (unicode:Kharoṣṭhī). Both are marked using the same vowel markers. The alphabet was used in Gandharan Buddhism as a mnemonic for remembering a series of verses relating to the nature of phenomena. In Tantric Buddhism this list was incorporated into ritual practices, and later became enshrined in mantras. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Kharosthi」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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