Proto-Iranian language
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Proto-Iranian | |
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PIr, Proto-Iranic | |
Reconstruction of | Proto-Indo-European
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Part of a series on |
Indo-European topics |
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Proto-Iranian or Proto-Iranic
Proto-Iranian was a
Dialects
Skjærvø postulates that there were at least four dialects that initially developed out of Proto-Iranian, two of which are attested by texts:[3]
- Old Northwest Iranian (unattested, ancestor of Ossetian)
- Old Northeast Iranian (unattested, ancestor of Middle Iranian Khotanese and modern Wakhi)
- Old Central Iranian (attested, includes Avestan and Median, ancestor of most modern Iranian languages)
- Old Southwest Iranian (attested, includes Old Persian, ancestor of modern Persian)
Note that different terminology is used for the modern languages: Ossetian has often been classified as a "Northeast Iranian" language, while "Northwest Iranian" usually refers to languages to the northwest of Persian, such as Zaza or the Caspian languages.
Phonological correspondences
PIE[4] | Av |
PIE | Av | |
---|---|---|---|---|
*p | → | p | *ph₂tḗr "father" | pitar- "father" |
*bʰ | → | b | *bʰréh₂tēr "brother" | bratar- "brother" |
*t | → | t | *túh₂ "thou" | tū- "thou" |
*d | → | d | *dóru "wood" | dāuru "wood" |
*dʰ | → | d | *dʰoHneh₂- "grain" | dana- "grain" |
*ḱ | → | s | *déḱm̥t "ten" | dasa "ten" |
*ǵ | → | z | *ǵónu "knee" | zānu "knee" |
*ǵʰ | → | z | *ǵʰimós "cold" | ziiā̊ "winterstorm" |
*k | → | x ~ c | *kruh₂rós "bloody" | xrūda "bloody" |
*g | → | g ~ z | *h₂éuges- "strength" | aojah "strength" |
*gʰ | → | g ~ z | *dl̥h₁gʰós "long" | darəga- "long" |
*kʷ | → | k ~ c | *kʷós "who" | kō "who" |
*gʷ | → | g ~ j | *gʷou- "cow" | gao- "cow" |
Proto-Iranian | Avestan[5] |
Old Persian | Persian | Zaza | Kurdish | Vedic Sanskrit |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
*ph₂tḗr "father"[6][7][8] | pitār | pidar | پدر pedār | pi/pêr | bav | pitaraa |
*méh₂tēr "mother"[a][9][10] | mātar | mādar | مادر mādar | ma/mare | dayk | maataraa |
*Hácwah 'horse' | aspa | asa (native word)[11] | اسب asb (< Median) | astor | hesp | áśva |
*bagáh 'portion, part' | baγa | baga (god) | باج bâj (tax) | parçe | bhága | |
*bráHtā 'brother' | brātar | brātā | برادر barâdar | bırar | bira(der) | bhrā́tr̥ |
*búHmiš 'earth, land' | būmi | būmiš | بوم bum | bûm | bhū́mi
| |
*mártyah 'mortal, man' | maṣ̌iia | martiya | مرد mard (man) | merde, merdım | mêr(d) (man) | mártya |
*mā́Hah 'moon' | mā̊ | māha | ماه mâh (moon, month) | aşme | mang (moon), meh (month) | mā́sa |
*wáhr̥ 'spring' | vaŋri | vahara | بهار bahâr | wesar | bihar | vāsara 'morning' |
*Hr̥táh 'truth' | aša |
arta | راست râst (correct) | raşt | rast | r̥tá
|
*drúkš 'falsehood' | druj | drauga | دروغ dorugh (lie) | zûr | diro, derew (lie) | druh- |
*háwmah 'pressed juice' | haoma | hauma-varga | هوم hum | hum | sóma |
Development into Old Iranian
The term
- Vocalization of laryngeals
The Proto-Indo-European laryngeal consonants are likely to have been retained quite late in the Indo-Iranian languages in at least some positions.
- *l > *r
This change is found widely across the Iranian languages, indeed Indo-Iranian as a whole: it appears also in
- *s > *h
This change occurs in all Iranian languages, but is regardless sometimes thought to be later than Proto-Iranian, based on the Old Persian name Huša, thought to refer to Susa.
- Aspirated stops
The Proto-Indo-Iranian aspirated stops *pʰ, *tʰ and *kʰ were spirantized into *f, *θ and *x in most Iranian languages. However, they appear to be retained in
- *c, *dz > *s, *z
The Proto-Indo-European palatovelars *ḱ, *ǵ (and *ǵʰ) were fronted to affricates *ć, *dź in Proto-Indo-Iranian (the affricate stage being preserved in the Nuristani languages). The development in the Old Iranian period shows divergences: Avestan, as also most newer Iranian languages, show /s/ and /z/, while Old Persian shows /θ/ and /d/. (Word-initially, the former develops also into /s/ by Middle Persian.) — The change *c > *s must be also newer than the development *s > *h, since this new *s was not affected by the previous change.
- *cw > *sp
This change also clearly fails to apply to all Iranian languages. Old Persian with its descendants shows /s/, possibly likewise Kurdish and Balochi.[13] The Saka languages show /š/. All other Iranian languages have /sp/, or a further descendant (e.g. /fs/ in Ossetian).
- *θr > *c
This change is typical for Old Persian and its descendants, as opposed to Avestan and most languages first attested in the Middle or New Iranian periods. Kurdish and Balochi may again have shared this change as well.[13]
Notes
- ('Divine Mothers').
References
- ISBN 978-1-134-75091-7.
- )
- ^ Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2009). "Old Iranian". In Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.). The Iranian Languages. Routledge. pp. 50–51.
- )
- ^ Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2003). "Glossary". An Introduction to Young Avestan.
- ^ Dnghu, p. 2394.
- ^ Pokorny, p. 829.
- ^ Mallory & Adams (2006), p. 210.
- ^ Dnghu, pp. 1993-1994.
- ^ Pokorny, pp. 700-701.
- ISBN 978-1-4051-0316-9.
- .
- ^ a b Korn, Agnes (2003). "Balochi and the Concept of North-Western Iranian". In Jahani, Carina; Korn, Agnes (eds.). The Balochi and Their Neighbours. Ethnic and Linguistic Contact in Balochistan in Historical and Modern Times. Wiesbaden: Reichert. pp. 49–60.
Further reading
- Kontovas, Nicholas. "Reflexes of Proto-Iranic* w-as evidence for language contact."
- Kümmel, Martin Joachim. "“Prothetic h-” in Khotanese and the reconstruction of Proto-Iranic." Script and Reconstruction in Linguistic History.