Bactrian language
| Bactrian | |
|---|---|
| Αριαο | |
 The Bactrian alphabet (block and cursive letters, here in black). The Bactrian script was directly adapted from the Greek script (here in grey), with the addition of the letter sho (ϸ). | |
| Pronunciation | [arjaː] |
| Native to | Bactria |
| Region | Central Asia |
| Era | 300 BC – 1000 AD |
Indo-European
| |
| Bactrian script (Greek) Manichaean script | |
| Official status | |
Official language in | Kushan Empire Hephthalite Empire |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | xbc |
| Glottolog | bact1239 |
 Bactrian is an Extinct language according to the classification system of the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger | |
Bactrian (Bactrian: Αριαο, romanized: ariao [arjaː], meaning "Iranian") was an Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (some regions of present-day Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan and the Hephthalite empires.