Khotanese

Khotanese is an extinct Indo-European language that was spoken in the Tarim Basin of present-day Xinjiang, China, during the 1st millennium BCE. It is known from a collection of inscribed texts, known as the Khotanese script, which consists of 128 characters. The Khotanese script is unique and has not been definitively deciphered, although various attempts have been made to interpret it.

The language is believed to have been closely related to Saka, another Indo-European language spoken in Central Asia. The Khotanese texts are primarily religious and philosophical in nature, and they provide valuable insights into the beliefs and practices of the people who used the language. The texts also contain references to various deities, rituals, and cosmological concepts.

The Khotanese language is significant for its historical and cultural importance, as it offers a glimpse into the religious and intellectual life of the people who spoke it. However, due to the lack of decipherment of the Khotanese script, much of the language's content remains inaccessible to modern scholars. Ongoing research and efforts to decipher the script continue to shed light on the language and its cultural context.