Middle Persian: Spelling of Norouz

[clorin]

How is 'Norouz' (Persian new year) spelled in Middle Persian script? I have only ever seen transliterations of nwklwc or nōg-rōz.

 

[PersoLatin]

This is from MacKenzie Pahlavi Dictionary, (RtoL) :

 

[fdb]

How is 'Norouz' (Persian new year) spelled in Middle Persian script? I have only ever seen transliterations of nwklwc or nōg-rōz.

nwklwc is a transliteration; nōg-rōz is a transcription.

 

[PersoLatin]

nwklwc is a transliteration; nōg-rōz is a transcription.

Hi fdb,

If during transliteration, the scholars had assigned ō for w, g for k, r for l etc., would that have been called transcription? I often struggle with the difference between the two terms, in practice.

 

[Aloyalfriend]

I often struggle with the difference between the two terms, in practice.

Technically, transliteration is concerned primarily with accurately representing the graphemes of another script, whilst transcription is concerned primarily with representing its phonemes.
In addition, transliteration is concerned with scripts, whilst transcription is concerned with writing systems (the way a script is applied to a particular language).
Transliteration is useful when studying some aspect of a language or script which does not require an intimate understanding or representation of the language’s phonetic systems, or where the pronunciation differences between languages or dialects are not important. Transcription is useful for study which has a greater focus on phonetic systems, for example when determining how closely related two languages are, for language learners wishing to improve their pronunciation, or for examining dialectal variation within a language.

 

[PersoLatin]

Great thanks. I was aware of the theory & in the context of this example, your explanation has made it clearer for me. This is how I see it now, let's see if I got it so:

"nwklwc is a transliteration of 'a' word from Pahlavi and nōg-rōz as well as noruz, nowrouz & نوروز, are examples of its various transcription."

 

[Aloyalfriend]

You're welcome. You got it right