Editing Tocharian languages (section)

==Writing system==
{{Main|Tocharian script}}
[[File:Se pañäkte saṅketavattse ṣarsa papaiykau.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|{{center|1=[[Tocharian B]] inscription from the [[Kizil Caves]], in the Tocharian version of the [[Brahmi script]], reading:<br>𑀲𑁂𑀧𑀜𑀓𑁆𑀢𑁂 𑀲𑀡𑁆𑀓𑁂𑀢𑀯𑀝𑁆𑀲𑁂 𑀱𑀭𑁆𑀲 𑀧𑀧𑁃𑀬𑁆𑀓𑁅<br><small>(Traditional [[Brahmi script|Ashokan Brahmi]])</small><br>''Se pañäkte saṅketavattse ṣarsa papaiykau''<br>"This Buddha, by Sanketava's hand, was painted".<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Härtel |first1=Herbert |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BLuaphht8XwC&pg=PA107 |title=Along the Ancient Silk Routes: Central Asian Art from the West Berlin State Museums : an Exhibition Lent by the Museum Für Indische Kunst, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz, Berlin, Federal Republic of Germany |last2=Yaldiz |first2=Marianne |publisher=Metropolitan Museum of Art |year=1982 |isbn=978-0-87099-300-8 |page=107}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Le Coq |first=Albert von |url=http://dsr.nii.ac.jp/toyobunko/LFB-2/V-5/page-hr/0014.html.en |title=Die Buddhistische Spätantike in Mittelasien : vol.5 |page=10}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=A dictionary of Tocharian B |url=https://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/natlang/ie/tochB.html |website=www.win.tue.nl}}</ref>}}]]
Tocharian is documented in manuscript fragments, mostly from the 8th century (with a few earlier ones) that were written on palm leaves, wooden tablets, and Chinese [[paper]], preserved by the extremely dry climate of the Tarim Basin. Samples of the language have been discovered at sites in [[Kucha]] and [[Karasahr]], including many mural inscriptions.

Most of attested Tocharian was written in the [[Tocharian alphabet]], a derivative of the [[Brāhmī script|Brahmi]] alphabetic syllabary ([[abugida]]) also referred to as North Turkestan Brahmi or slanting Brahmi. However a smaller amount was written in the [[Manichaean script]] in which [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] texts were recorded.{{sfnp|Daniels|1996|p=531}}{{sfnp|Campbell|2000|p=1666}} It soon became apparent that a large proportion of the manuscripts were translations of known [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] works in [[Sanskrit]] and some of them were even bilingual, facilitating decipherment of the new language. Besides the Buddhist and [[Manichaeism|Manichaean]] religious texts, there were also monastery correspondence and accounts, commercial documents, caravan permits, medical and magical texts, and one love poem.

In 1998, the Chinese linguist [[Ji Xianlin]] published a translation and analysis of fragments of a Tocharian ''[[Maitreyasamitināṭaka|Maitreyasamiti-Nataka]]'' discovered in 1974 in [[Yanqi Hui Autonomous County|Yanqi]].<ref>"[http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/01/29/fragments_of_the_tocharian/index.html Fragments of the Tocharian]", Andrew Leonard, ''How the World Works'', [[Salon.com]], January 29, 2008. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080201082951/http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/01/29/fragments_of_the_tocharian/index.html |date=2008-02-01 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wright |first=J.C. |year=1999 |title=Review: ''Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nāṭaka of the Xinjiang Museum, China. In Collaboration with Werner Winter and Georges-Jean Pinault'' by Ji Xianlin |journal=[[Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies]] |volume=62 |issue=2 |pages=367–370 |doi=10.1017/S0041977X00017079 |jstor=3107526|s2cid=246638642 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Ji |first1=Xianlin |title=Fragments of the Tocharian A Maitreyasamiti-Nataka of the Zinjiang Museum, China |last2=Winter |first2=Werner |last3=Pinault |first3=Georges-Jean |publisher=Mouton De Gruyter |year=1998 |isbn=978-3-11-014904-3}}</ref>