Old Persian language
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Old Persian | ||
|---|---|---|
| Spoken in: | Ancient Iran | |
| Language extinction: | Evolved into Middle Persian | |
| Language family: | Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Old Persian |
|
| Writing system: | Old Persian Cuneiform | |
| Language codes | ||
| ISO 639-1: | none | |
| ISO 639-2: | peo | |
| ISO 639-3: | peo | |
| Note: This page may contain IPA phonetic symbols in Unicode. | ||
| History of the Persian language |
| Proto-Iranian (ca. 1500 BCE)
Southwestern Iranian languages |
| Old Persian (c. 525 BCE - 300 BCE)
|
| Middle Persian (c.300 BCE-800 CE)
Pahlavi script • Manichaean script • Avestan script |
| Modern Persian (from 800) |
The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan). Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BC to 300 BC). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt[1] the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun inscription (dated to 525 BC).
Contents |
[edit] Classification
Old Persian is an Old Iranian language, a member of the Southwestern Iranian language group. As an Iranian language, Old Persian is a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
Avestan, the only other attested Old Iranian language, does not belong to the same geographic division as Old Persian and is typologically distinct.
[edit] Language evolution
Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian.
By the 4th. century, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius's inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian."[2]
[edit] Substrates
Old Persian "presumably"[2] has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were peculiar to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names [...] and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan." "Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)." [2]
[edit] Script
Old Persian was written from left to right the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script. The Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs representing vowels and consonants, 8 logograms, and 3 signs which can be combined to represent any numeral, although only a few numbers are actually attested in the inscriptions.
[edit] Phonology
The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
Vowels
- Long: /aː/ /iː/ /uː/
- Short: /a/ /i/ /u/
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p /p/ | b /b/ | t /t/ | d /d/ | c /c/ | j /ɟ/ | k /k/ | g /g/ | ||
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | f /f/ | θ /θ/ | ç /ç/ | x /x/ | h /h/ | |||||
| Sibilant | s /s/ | z /z/ | š /ʃ/ | |||||||
| Rhotic | r /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | v /ʋ/ | l /l/ | y /j/ | |||||||
[edit] Grammar
[edit] Nouns
Old Persian stems:
- a-stems (-a, -am, -ā)
- i-stems (-iš, iy)
- u- (and au-) stems (-uš, -uv)
- consonantal stems (n, r, h)
| -a | -am | -ā | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | -a | -ā | -ā, -āha | -am | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā |
| Vocative | -ā | -ā | -ā | -am | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā |
| Accusative | -am | -ā | -ā | -am | -ā | -ā | -ām | -ā | -ā |
| Instrumental | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Dative | -ahyā, -ahya | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ahyā, -ahya | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Ablative | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Genitive | -ahyā, -ahya | -āyā | -ānām | -ahyā, -ahya | -āyā | -ānām | -āyā | -āyā | -ānām |
| Locative | -aiy | -āyā | -aišuvā | -aiy | -āyā | -aišuvā | -āyā | -āyā | -āšuvā |
| -iš | -iy | -uš | -uv | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | -iš | -īy | -iya | -iy | -in | -īn | -uš | -ūv | -uva | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Vocative | -i | -īy | -iya | -iy | -in | -īn | -u | -ūv | -uva | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Accusative | -im | -īy | -iš | -iy | -in | -īn | -um | -ūv | -ūn | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Instrumental | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Dative | -aiš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -aiš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auš | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Ablative | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Genitive | -aiš | -īyā | -īnām | -aiš | -īyā | -īnām | -auš | -ūvā | -ūnām | -auš | -ūvā | -ūnām |
| Locative | -auv | -īyā | -išuvā | -auv | -īyā | -išuvā | -āvā | -ūvā | -ušuvā | -āvā | -ūvā | -ušuvā |
Adjectives are declinable in similar way.
[edit] Verbs
Voices
Active, Middle (them. pres. -aiy-, -ataiy-), Passive (-ya-).
In Old Persian were used mostly the forms of first and third persons. Only Dual form used was ajīvatam 'both lived'.
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'be' | 'bring' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | ahmiy | barāmiy |
| 3.pers. | astiy | baratiy | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | ahmahiy | barāmahiy |
| 3.pers. | hatiy | baratiy | |
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'do, make' | 'be, become' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | akunavam | abavam |
| 3.pers. | akunauš | abava | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | akumā | abavāmā |
| 3.pers. | akunava | abava | |
| Active | Middle |
|---|---|
| -nt- | -amna- |
| -ta- |
| -tanaiy |
[edit] Lexicon
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Persian | Middle Persian | Modern Persian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *açva | aspa | asp | asp | horse |
| *kāma | kāma | kām | kām | desire |
| *daiva | daiva | div | div | devil |
| drayah | drayā | daryā | sea | |
| dasta | dast | dast | hand | |
| *bhāgī | bāji | bāj | bāj | tribute |
| *bhrātr- | brātar | brādar | barādar | brother |
| *bhūmī | būmi | būm | būm | region, land |
| *martya | martya | mard | mard | man |
| *māsa | māha | māh | māh | moon, month |
| *vāsara | vāhara | Bahār | bahār | spring |
| stūnā | stūn | sotūn | column (related to stand) | |
| šiyāta | šād | šād | happy | |
| *arta | arta | ard | ord | truth |
| *draugh- | drauga | drōgh | dorōgh | lie (maybe legendary related to drought) |
[edit] See also
[edit] References and Bibliography
- ^ Roland G. Kent, Old Persian, 1953 [1]
- ^ a b c Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard, <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/OldPersian/opcomplete.pdf>
- Brandenstein, Wilhelm (1964), Handbuch des Altpersischen, Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz
- Hinz, Walther (1966), Altpersischer Wortschatz, Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus
- Kent, Roland G. (1953), Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, New Haven: American Oriental Society
- Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1996), “Iranian languages”, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 7, Cosa Mesa: Mazda: 238-245
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989), “Altpersisch”, in R. Schmitt, Compendium linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden: Reichert: 56–85
- Tolman, Herbert Cushing (1908), Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions Transliterated and Translated with Special Reference to Their Recent Re-examination, New York/Cincinnati: American Book Company
[edit] Further reading
- Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard, <http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/OldPersian/opcomplete.pdf>
- Peterson, Joseph H. (2006), Old Persian Texts, Herndon, VA: avesta.org, <http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm>
- Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1995), “Cases in Iranian languages and dialects”, Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 5, Cosa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 25-37
- Stolper, Matthew W. & Jan Tavernier (1995), “From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian Administrative Tablet from the Persepolis Fortification”, Arta, vol. 2007:1, Paris: Achemenet.com
- University Of Chicago (2007, June 22). Everyday Text Shows That Old Persian Was Probably More Commonly Used Than Previously Thought.[2][3]
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