# Unknown language



## Riddick1

Hi all.
I have posted with photo , please what language is this & what does it say ?


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## ewie

What's the object?


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## Riddick1

Hi , the object is a sword blade , appears to be Japanese not chinese,


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## Margrave

some parts of it seem like Arabic letters, but do not have a hint what it means.


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## ewie

Riddick1 said:


> Hi , the object is a sword blade


Could you be a bit more specific?


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## Riddick1

Its a Tachi mogito sword , i dont really know what specfiics you are asking for ?


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## jilar

Riddick1 said:


> appears to be Japanese not chinese,


What? The sword or the text?




Margrave said:


> some parts of it seem like Arabic letters


I think so.



Riddick1 said:


> Its a Tachi mogito sword , i dont really know what specfiics you are asking for ?


So, is it a katana, a tanto, a wakizashi ...?
All of them are Japanese swords, so the text probably  is Japanese.
But, maybe old Japanese:
...tachi are known to have been made in the _Kotō_ period, ranging from 900 to 1596.

Tachi - Wikipedia


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## cherine

It's not Arabic.


Riddick1 said:


> i dont really know what specfiics you are asking for ?


In similar situations, knowing the nature of the object and its provenance helps understanding the language and deciphering the writing.


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## Sardokan1.0

It's vaguely similar to Mongolian script. If it's Mongolian it should be read vertically.



Spoiler



Mongolian alphabets, pronunciation and language


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## Riddick1

Told it is a Tachi not Katana or any other , I have since learned it is a japanese sword. Have not yet been able to determine age of item.
Have now also had mentioned the script is buddhist possibly sanskrit if that helps narrow it down


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## Thersites

Probably Roswell 1947.


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## Sardokan1.0

Apparently in Japan they use three different kind of scripts. The Kanji, derived from Chinese ideographic script, and the Hiragana and Katakana, which are the native Japanese syllabic scripts.

The script on the sword could be in Hiragana, which has sinuous shapes, while the Katakana is more squared and geometrical. Moreover the writing on the sword could be a little stylish and harder to decipher because it seems to be made to follow the shape of the blade.



Spoiler: Hiragana













Spoiler: Katakana


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## clamor

Maybe it's just a hoax?


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## Ballenero

Fake!


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## Demiurg

clamor said:


> Maybe it's just a hoax?


That was my first thought, too.  The symbols on the left look like Egyptian hieroglyphs (snake + 2 x bread).



Thomas(CH) said:


> Probably Roswell 1947.


Or a "Rosetta" sword.


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## Riddick1

I wish to thank those members for helpful comments.
Any further positively constructed comments are welcome


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## ewie

It's not Sanskrit.


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## AndrasBP

I know nothing about swords but the inscription does not look like a real script of an existing language.
I think that's what clamor, ballenero and Demiurg meant.


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## clamor

Yes it is. But maybe it's a set of symbols -- I mean, not ''letters''?


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## Riddick1

Yes I tend to agree that it could be symbols & not actual letters but what they stand for , if anything , could be just an artistic whim of nothing but i would like to know if they do or do not actually represent a meaning of some kind.


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