The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily, Indo-Iranian. They are spoken by the Iranian peoples. Avestan is the oldest recorded Iranian language (besides Avestan Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name. The language must also at some time have been a natural language, but how long ago that was is unknown. Its status as a sacred language ensured its continuing use for new compositions long after). Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets From the 4th millennium BCE in the Sumerian, Babylonian, Assyrian and Hittite civilisations of the Mesopotamia region, cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylus often made of reed. Once written upon, many tablets were dried in the sun or air, remaining fragile. Later, these unfired clay tablets could be soaked in water, seals A seal can be a wax seal bearing an impressed figure, or an embossed figure in paper, with the purpose of authenticating a document, but the term can also mean any device for making such impressions or embossments, essentially being a mould that has the mirror image of the figure in counter-relief, such as mounted on rings known as signet rings of the Achaemenid The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenid Persian Empire (550–330 BC) was among the first Persian Empires that ruled over significant portions of Greater Iran, and followed the Iranian Median Empire. At the height of its power, the Iranian Achaemenid Empire encompassed approximately 7.5 million square kilometers, held the greatest percentage of world era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran Iran (Persian: ايران [ʔiˈɾɒn] ), officially the Islamic Republic of Iran and formerly known internationally as Persia until 1935, is a country in Central Eurasia, located on the northeastern shore of the Persian Gulf, northwestern shore of the Gulf of Oman, and the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Both "Persia" and "Iran&, Iraq Iraq (obsolete spelling: Irak; pronounced /ɪˈræk/ or /ɪˈrɑːk/; also US: /aɪˈræk/ ; Arabic: العراق Al-‘Irāq), officially the Republic of Iraq (Arabic: جمهورية العراق (help·info) Jumhūrīyat Al-‘Irāq, Kurdish: كۆماری عێراق‎, Komara Iraqê), is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the, Turkey Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey ( Türkiye Cumhuriyeti (help·info)), is a Eurasian country that stretches across the Anatolian peninsula in western Asia and Thrace (Rumelia) in the Balkan region of southeastern Europe. Turkey is bordered by eight countries: Bulgaria to the northwest; Greece to the west; Georgia to the and Egypt Egypt (pronounced /ˈiːdʒɪpt/ ; Arabic: مصر‎ Miṣr, pronounced [misˤɾ] ( listen); Egyptian Arabic: Maṣr [ˈmɑsˤɾ]; Coptic: Ⲭⲏⲙⲓ, kīmi; Egyptian: Kemet), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Western Asia. Covering an area of about 1,010,[1] the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun inscription The Behistun Inscription is a multi-lingual inscription located on Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of Iran, near the town of Jeyhounabad in western Iran (dated to 525 BCE).

Contents

Classification

Old Persian is an Old Iranian language and a member of the Southwestern Iranian language group. As an Iranian language The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily, Indo-Iranian. They are spoken by the Iranian peoples. Avestan is the oldest recorded Iranian language, Old Persian is also a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. "Indo" refers to the Indian subcontinent, since in the pre-colonial era the language group extended geographically from Europe in the west to India in the language family. Avestan Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the Indo-Iranian Language group. The Indo-Iranian language group is a branch of the Indo-European language family, the only other attested Old Iranian language, does not belong to the same geographic division as Old Persian and is typologically Linguistic typology is a subfield of linguistics that studies and classifies languages according to their structural features. Its aim is to describe and explain the structural diversity of the world's languages. It includes three subdisciplines: qualitative typology, which deals with the issue of comparing languages and within-language variance; distinct.

Language evolution Evolutionary linguistics is the scientific study of the origins and development of language. The main challenge in this research is the lack of empirical data: spoken language leaves no traces. This led to an abandonment of the field for more than a century. Since the late 1980s, the field has been revived in the wake of progress made in the

By the 4th century, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II Artaxerxes II Mnemon was king of Persia from 404 BC until his death. He was a son of Darius II of Persia and Parysatis and Artaxerxes III Artaxerxes III of Persia (Old Persian: 𐎠𐎼𐎫𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎠, transliterated as Artaxšaçrā), was the Great King (Shah) of Persia and the eleventh Emperor of the Achaemenid Empire and the first Pharaoh of the 31st dynasty of Egypt. He was the son and successor of Artaxerxes II and was succeeded by his son, Arses of Persia (also known as differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian."[2] Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian Middle Persian is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as Western Iranian language. It descends from Old Persian and is the nominal ancestor of Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian. Professor. Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and also the writer of the book Persian Grammar states: The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Dari or Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan Avestan is a Eastern Iranian language that was used to compose the sacred hymns and canon of the Zoroastrian Avesta. Iranian languages are part of the Indo-Iranian Language group. The Indo-Iranian language group is a branch of the Indo-European language family, Parthian, Soghdian The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana , located in modern day Uzbekistan and Tajikistan (chief cities: Samarkand, Panjakent, Fergana), Kurdish The Kurds are an Ethnic-Iranian ethnolinguistic group mostly inhabiting a region known as Kurdistan, which includes adjacent parts of Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. Substantial Kurdish communities also exist in the cities of western Turkey, and they can also be found in Lebanon, Armenia, Azerbaijan and, in recent decades, some European countries, Pashto Pashto , also known as Afghani, is an Indo-European language spoken primarily in Afghanistan and northwestern Pakistan. Pashto belongs to the Eastern Iranian branch of the Indo-Iranian language family. There are nearly 40 million Pashtuns. As defined in the Constitution of Afghanistan, Pashto is a national and official language, etc., Old Middle Middle Persian is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as Western Iranian language. It descends from Old Persian and is the nominal ancestor of Persian and New Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain and has official-language status in the first three countries under different names. Persian is a pluricentric language. The Persian language has been a medium for literary and represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars Fars (pronounced /fɑːs/ (Persian: فارس, Fârs) (Originally Pars) is one of the 30 provinces of Iran. It is in the south of the country and its center is Shiraz. It has an area of 122,400 km². In 2006, this province had a population of 4.34 million people, of which 61.2% were registered as urban dwellers, 38.1% villagers, and 0.7% nomad (the true Persian country from the historical point of view) and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran[3]. Consequently, Modern Persian Persian is an Iranian language within the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European languages. It is widely spoken in Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan and Bahrain and has official-language status in the first three countries under different names. Persian is a pluricentric language. The Persian language has been a medium for literary and is one of the few Indo-European The Indo-European languages are a family of several hundred related languages and dialects, including most major languages of Europe, the Iranian plateau, and the Indian subcontinent. "Indo" refers to the Indian subcontinent, since in the pre-colonial era the language group extended geographically from Europe in the west to India in the languages which has extant writing in its old, middle and modern form. Comparison at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax.

Substrates

Old Persian "presumably"[2] has a Median language The Median language is the language of the Medes. Together with Gilaki, Mazandarani, Kurdish language, Parthian and Baluchi, the language of the Medes is classified as a northwestern Iranian language substrate In linguistics, a stratum or strate is a language that influences, or is influenced by another through contact. A substratum is a language which is influenced by another, while a superstratum is the language that exerts the influence. An adstratum refers to a language that is in contact with another language in a neighbour population without. 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]

Script

Main article: Old Persian cuneiform script Texts written in this cuneiform were found in Persepolis, Susa, Hamadan, Armenia, and along the Suez Canal. They were mostly inscriptions from the time period of Darius the Great and his son Xerxes. Later kings down to Artaxerxes III used corrupted forms of the language classified as “pre-Middle Persian”

Old Persian was written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script Texts written in this cuneiform were found in Persepolis, Susa, Hamadan, Armenia, and along the Suez Canal. They were mostly inscriptions from the time period of Darius the Great and his son Xerxes. Later kings down to Artaxerxes III used corrupted forms of the language classified as “pre-Middle Persian”. The Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs representing vowels In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! [ɑː] or oh! [oʊ], pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! [ʃː], where there is a constriction or closure at some point along the vocal tract. A and consonants In articulatory phonetics, a consonant is a speech sound that is articulated with complete or partial closure of the upper vocal tract, the upper vocal tract being defined as that part of the vocal tract that lies above the larynx. Consonants contrast with vowels, 8 logograms A logogram, or logograph, is a grapheme which represents a word or a morpheme . This stands in contrast to phonograms, which represent phonemes (speech sounds) or combinations of phonemes, and determinatives, which mark semantic categories, and 3 signs which can be combined to represent any numeral, although only a few numbers are actually attested in the inscriptions.

Phonology

The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:

Vowels

Consonants

Labial Labials are consonants articulated either with both lips or with the lower lip and the upper teeth (labiodental articulation). English [m] is a bilabial nasal sonorant, [b] and [p] are bilabial stops (plosives), [v] and [f] are labiodental fricatives Dental In linguistics, a dental consonant or dental is a consonant that is articulated with the tongue against the upper teeth, such as /t/, /d/, /n/, and /l/ in some languages. Dentals are primarily distinguished from sounds in which contact is made with the tongue and the gum ridge, as in English , due to the acoustic similarity of the sounds and the/ Alveolar Alveolar consonants are articulated with the tongue against or close to the superior alveolar ridge, which is called that because it contains the alveoli of the superior teeth. Alveolar consonants may be articulated with the tip of the tongue (so-called apical consonants), as in English, or with the flat of the tongue just above the tip (the " Palatal Palatal consonants are consonants articulated with the body of the tongue raised against the hard palate . Consonants with the tip of the tongue curled back against the palate are called retroflex Velar Velars are consonants articulated with the back part of the tongue against the soft palate, the back part of the roof of the mouth, known also as the velum) Glottal Glottal consonants are consonants articulated with the glottis. Many phoneticians consider them, or at least the so-called fricatives, to be transitional states of the glottis without a point of articulation as other consonants have; in fact, some do not consider them to be consonants at all. However, the glottal stop at least behaves as a typical
Plosive A stop, plosive, or occlusive is a consonant sound produced by stopping the airflow in the vocal tract. The terms plosive and stop are usually used interchangeably, but they are not perfect synonyms. Plosives are oral stops with a pulmonic egressive airstream mechanism. The term is also used to describe oral stops. Many use the term nasal p /p/ b /b/ t /t/ d /d/ c /c/ j /ɟ/ k /k/ g /g/
Nasal A nasal consonant is produced with a lowered velum in the mouth, allowing air to escape freely through the nose. The oral cavity still acts as a resonance chamber for the sound, but the air does not escape through the mouth as it is blocked by the lips or tongue. Rarely, other types of consonants may be nasalized m /m/ n /n/
Fricative Fricatives are consonants produced by forcing air through a narrow channel made by placing two articulators close together. These may be the lower lip against the upper teeth, in the case of [f]; the back of the tongue against the soft palate, in the case of German [x], the final consonant of Bach; or the side of the tongue against the molars, in f /f/ θ /θ/ ç /ç/ x /x/ h /h/
Sibilant A sibilant is a type of fricative or affricate consonant, made by directing a jet of air through a narrow channel in the vocal tract towards the sharp edge of the teeth s /s/ z /z/ š /ʃ/
Rhotic Rhotic consonants, or "R"-like sounds, are non-lateral liquid consonants. This class of sounds is difficult to characterise phonetically, though most of them share some acoustic peculiarities, most notably a lowered third formant in their sound spectrum. However, "being r-like" is a strangely elusive feature, and the very same r /r/
Approximant Approximants are speech sounds that could be regarded as intermediate between vowels and "typical" consonants. In the articulation of approximants, articulatory organs produce a narrowing of the vocal tract, but leave enough space for air to flow without much audible turbulence. Approximants are therefore more open than fricatives. This v /ʋ/ l /l/ y /j/

Grammar

Nouns

Old Persian stems:

-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.

Verbs

Voices Active, Middle (them. pres. -aiy-, -ataiy-), Passive (-ya-).

Mostly the forms of first and third persons are attested. The only preserved Dual form is ajīvatam 'both lived'.

Present, Active
Athematic Thematic
'be' 'bring'
Sg. 1.pers. ahmiy barāmiy
3.pers. astiy baratiy
Pl. 1.pers. ahmahiy barāmahiy
3.pers. hatiy baratiy
Imperfect, Active
Athematic Thematic
'do, make' 'be, become'
Sg. 1.pers. akunavam abavam
3.pers. akunauš abava
Pl. 1.pers. akumā abavāmā
3.pers. akunava abava
Present participle
Active Middle
-nt- -amna-
Past participle
-ta-
Infinitive
-tanaiy

Lexicon

Proto-Indo-Iranian Proto-Indo-Iranian, is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium BC, and are usually connected with the early Andronovo archaeological horizon Old Persian Middle Persian Modern Persian meaning
*açva aspa asp asb اسب horse
*kāma kāma kām kām کام desire
*daiva daiva div div دیو demon
drayah drayā daryā دریا sea
dasta dast dast دست hand
*bhāgī Sanskrit bhaga is a term for "lord, patron", but also for "wealth, prosperity". The cognate term in Avestan and Old Persian is baga, of uncertain meaning but used in a sense in which "lord, patron" might also apply. A Slavic cognate is bog "god". The semantics is similar to English lord , the idea being that bāji bāj bāj باج/باژ tribute
*bhrātr- brātar brādar barādar برادر brother
*bhūmī būmi būm būm بوم region, land
*martya martya mard mard مرد man
*māsa māha māh māh ماه moon, month
*vāsara vāhara Bahār bahār بهار spring
stūpā stūnā stūn sotūn ستون column (related to stand)
šiyāta šād šād شاد happy
*arta arta Asha or arta is the Avestan language term for a concept of cardinal importance to Zoroastrian theology and doctrine. In the moral sphere, aša/arta represents what has been called "the decisive confessional concept of Zoroastrianism." The opposite of Avestan aša is druj, "lie." ard ord اُرد order(Ask for something)
*draugh- drauga drōgh dorōgh دروغ lie

See also

Ancient Near East portal refers to early civilizations in a region roughly corresponding to the modern Middle East: Mesopotamia , Persia (modern Iran), Armenia, Anatolia (modern Turkey), the Levant (modern Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, and Jordan), and Ancient Egypt, from the beginnings of Sumer in the 6th millennium BC until the region's conquest by Alexander the

References and Bibliography

  1. ^ Roland G. Kent, Old Persian, 1953 [1]
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ (Lazard, Gilbert 1975, “The Rise of the New Persian Language” in Frye, R. N., The Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. 4, pp. 595-632, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Further reading

External links

Iranian languages
Old
Eastern Avestan · Old Scythian
Western Median · Old Persian
Middle
Eastern Bactrian · Khwarezmian · Ossetic · Khotanese · Tumshuqese · Scythian · Sogdian
Western Parthian · Middle Persian
Modern
Eastern Bartangi · Ishkashmi · Khufi · Munji · Oroshori · Ormuri · Ossetic · Parachi · Pashto · Roshani (Roshni) · Sanglechi · Sarikoli · Shughni · Wakhi · Vanji · Yaghnobi · Yidgha · Yazgulami · Zebaki
Western Old Azari · Balochi · Bashkardi · Central Iran dialects · Dari (Zoroastrian) · Deilami · Taleshi · Gorani · Gilaki · Mazandarani · Kurdish (Sorani · Kurmanji · Southern Kurdish) · Laki · Luri · Bakhtiari Lori · Sangsari · Persian (Dari · Tajik · Hazaragi) · Tat · Tati · Zazaki · Dialects of Fars
Italics indicate extinct languages

Categories: Persian language | Southwestern Iranian languages | Old Persian language

 

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