A significant part of the Manichaean texts was written in a script probably invented by Mani himself based on the Palmyra alphabet. All the secular and Buddhist texts as well as a significant part of the Manichaean and some Christian texts are written in the so-called “national” Sogdian script. All three writing systems are ultimately derivatives of the Western Semitic consonant quasi-alphabet but they have undergone a series of changes in their development.
Most of the Buddhist and some of Manichaean texts are written in the so-called “formal script” or “Sutra script” which is calligraphic as opposed to the early lapidary handwriting and the cursive script. In “Sutra script” all letters within a word are connected to each other usually along the line but some are connected below the line. Line spacing and margins are uniform and rather large. Often there are marks of a lead pencil for lining a pothi leaf or scroll. The yellowish Chinese paper and dark brown ink create a concise and warm color scheme. The spellings of letters are uniform (special forms with a “tail” were used for final characters of the word) and are probably subject to a certain set proportion although the exact ratio of length and height of various letters has not yet been traced. A reed pen (kalam) was used as a writing tool. It was sharpened in the form of a thin stroke.
You can learn more about the topic in the book-album "Sogdia: the Heart of the Silk Road" (XXXV volume) from the series "Cultural Legacy of Uzbekistan in the World Collections".
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Sogdian texts in three types of script
The Sogdian texts are written in three types of script. Most Christian texts are written in the Syriac script close to the Estrangela variant.