Originally posted by shunyadragon
Comparison only can logically conclude some sort of relationship and not one necessarily derived from another. There are several alternative explanations for this relationship. Even if the Mongolian is either wholey or in part derived from Ughar, this does not change my conclusions.
I believe that I read of Genghiz Khan requiring the creation of a Mongolian script, based on the Uighur alphabet.
We have evidence for vertically written Syriac from the time of the Tang dynasty. I don't know about the earliest Uighur writings, but the presence of several alphabets in the area (Syriac, Pahlavi, Manichean) and the resemblance between the Uighur alphabet and the Syriac Estrangelo alphabet suggest an adaptation.
Alphabets do not appear to be a natural development, as while writing systems developed separately in various areas of the world, only those centering on the Middle East, the Mediterranean, or Iran in their earliest forms, are alphabetic. The others tended to be either logographic or syllabic.
Be Well,
Bob Griffin
