OLD PERSIAN
- + Add to Faves
- + Translate
- + Share
العربية
ä¸å›½
Français
Deutsch
Ελληνική
हिनà¥à¤¦à¥€
Italiano
日本語
Português
РуÑÑкий
Español
(Redirected from Old Persian language)
'Old Persian' is one of the two attested forms of Old Iranian languages. Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
Comparative linguistics classifies Old Persian as a Southwestern Iranian language, in the group of Iranian languages, which is one of the two subgroups of Indo-Iranian languages. This latter group is one of the branches of the Indo-European language family.
Unlike Avestan, which is the other attested Old Iranian language, Old Persian remained a living language. By the late Achaemenid era, Old Persian had begun to evolve into Middle Persian, which eventually became the language of state under the Sassanids (3rd-7th c. CE). Middle Persian is in turn the precursor of the Modern Persian language.
Old Persian "presumably"[1] 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.)." 1
Old Persian was written from left to right in Old Persian cuneiform script, a semi-alphabetic syllabic Cuneiform script. Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs which represent consonants, vowels, or sequences of single consonants plus vowels, a set of three numerals (1, 10, 100), a word divider, and a few ideograms.
The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
'Vowels'
★ Long:
★ Short:
'Consonants'
Old Persian stems:
★ a-stems (-a, -am, -Ä)
★ i-stems (-iÅ¡, iy)
★ u- (and au-) stems (-uÅ¡, -uv)
★ consonantal stems (n, r, h)
Adjectives are declinable in similar way.
'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 ''ajīva'tam''' 'both lived'.
★ Iranian languages
★ Old Persian cuneiform script
★
1.
★
★
★
★ : 238-245
★ : 56–85
★
★
★
★
★
'Old Persian' is one of the two attested forms of Old Iranian languages. Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.
| Contents |
| Relationship to other languages |
| Script |
| Phonology |
| Grammar |
| Nouns |
| Verbs |
| Lexicon |
| See also |
| References and Bibliography |
| Further reading |
Relationship to other languages
Comparative linguistics classifies Old Persian as a Southwestern Iranian language, in the group of Iranian languages, which is one of the two subgroups of Indo-Iranian languages. This latter group is one of the branches of the Indo-European language family.
Unlike Avestan, which is the other attested Old Iranian language, Old Persian remained a living language. By the late Achaemenid era, Old Persian had begun to evolve into Middle Persian, which eventually became the language of state under the Sassanids (3rd-7th c. CE). Middle Persian is in turn the precursor of the Modern Persian language.
Old Persian "presumably"[1] 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.)." 1
Script
Old Persian was written from left to right in Old Persian cuneiform script, a semi-alphabetic syllabic Cuneiform script. Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs which represent consonants, vowels, or sequences of single consonants plus vowels, a set of three numerals (1, 10, 100), a word divider, and a few ideograms.
Phonology
The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
'Vowels'
★ Long:
★ Short:
'Consonants'
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar | Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p | b | t | d | c | j | k | g | ||
| Nasal | m | n | ||||||||
| Fricative | f | θ | ç | x | h | |||||
| Sibilant | s | z | Å¡ | |||||||
| Rhotic | r | |||||||||
| Approximant | v | l | y | |||||||
Grammar
Nouns
Old Persian stems:
★ a-stems (-a, -am, -Ä)
★ i-stems (-iÅ¡, iy)
★ u- (and au-) stems (-uÅ¡, -uv)
★ consonantal stems (n, r, h)
| -a | -am | -Ä | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| 'Nominative' | -a | -Ä | -Ä, -Äha | -am | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä |
| 'Vocative' | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä | -am | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä | -Ä |
| 'Accusative' | -am | -Ä | -Ä | -am | -Ä | -Ä | -Äm | -Ä | -Ä |
| 'Instrumental' | -Ä | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -Ä | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄbiyÄ | -ÄbiÅ¡ |
| 'Dative' | -ahyÄ, -ahya | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -ahyÄ, -ahya | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄbiyÄ | -ÄbiÅ¡ |
| 'Ablative' | -Ä | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -Ä | -aibiyÄ | -aibiÅ¡ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄbiyÄ | -ÄbiÅ¡ |
| 'Genitive' | -ahyÄ, -ahya | -ÄyÄ | -ÄnÄm | -ahyÄ, -ahya | -ÄyÄ | -ÄnÄm | -ÄyÄ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄnÄm |
| 'Locative' | -aiy | -ÄyÄ | -aiÅ¡uvÄ | -aiy | -ÄyÄ | -aiÅ¡uvÄ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄyÄ | -ÄÅ¡uvÄ |
| -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 | -Ä«y | -iya | -iy | -in | -Ä«n | -u | -Å«v | -uva | -uv | -un | -Å«n |
| 'Accusative' | -im | -īy | -iš | -iy | -in | -īn | -um | -ūv | -ūn | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| 'Instrumental' | -auÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -auÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -auv | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ | -auv | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ |
| 'Dative' | -aiÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -aiÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -auÅ¡ | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ | -auÅ¡ | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ |
| 'Ablative' | -auÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -auÅ¡ | -Ä«biyÄ | -Ä«biÅ¡ | -auv | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ | -auv | -Å«biyÄ | -Å«biÅ¡ |
| 'Genitive' | -aiÅ¡ | -Ä«yÄ | -Ä«nÄm | -aiÅ¡ | -Ä«yÄ | -Ä«nÄm | -auÅ¡ | -Å«vÄ | -Å«nÄm | -auÅ¡ | -Å«vÄ | -Å«nÄm |
| 'Locative' | -auv | -Ä«yÄ | -iÅ¡uvÄ | -auv | -Ä«yÄ | -iÅ¡uvÄ | -ÄvÄ | -Å«vÄ | -uÅ¡uvÄ | -ÄvÄ | -Å«vÄ | -uÅ¡uvÄ |
Adjectives are declinable in similar way.
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 ''ajīva'tam''' 'both lived'.
| 'Athematic' | 'Thematic' | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'be' | 'bring' | ||
| 'Sg.' | '1.pers.' | ah'miy' | bar'Ämiy' |
| '3.pers.' | as'tiy' | bar'atiy' | |
| 'Pl.' | '1.pers.' | ah'mahiy' | bar'Ämahiy' |
| '3.pers.' | h'atiy' | bar'atiy' | |
| 'Athematic' | 'Thematic' | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'do, make' | 'be, become' | ||
| 'Sg.' | '1.pers.' | 'a'kunav'am' | 'a'bav'am' |
| '3.pers.' | 'a'kunau'Å¡' | 'a'bav'a' | |
| 'Pl.' | '1.pers.' | 'a'ku'mÄ' | 'a'bav'ÄmÄ' |
| '3.pers.' | 'a'kunav'a' | 'a'bav'a' | |
| 'Active' | 'Middle' |
|---|---|
| -''nt-'' | -''amna-'' |
| -''ta-'' |
| -''tanaiy'' |
Lexicon
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Persian | Middle Persian | Modern Persian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ★ açva | aspa | asb | asb | horse |
| ★ kÄma | kÄma | kÄm | kÄm | desire |
| ★ daiva | daiva | div | div | demon |
| drayah | drayÄ | daryÄ | sea | |
| dasta | dast | dast | hand | |
| ★ bhÄgÄ« | bÄji | bÄj | bÄj | tribute |
| ★ bhrÄtr- | brÄtar | brÄdar | barÄdar | brother |
| ★ bhÅ«mÄ« | bÅ«mi | bÅ«m | bÅ«m | region, land |
| ★ martya | martya | mard | mard | man |
| ★ mÄsa | mÄha | mÄh | mÄh | moon, month |
| ★ vÄsara | vÄhara | BahÄr | bahÄr | spring |
| stÅ«nÄ | stÅ«n | sotÅ«n | column | |
| Å¡iyÄta | Å¡hÄd | Å¡hÄd | happiness | |
| ★ arta | arta | ard | ord | truth |
| ★ draugh- | drauga | drÅgh | dorÅgh | lie |
See also
★ Iranian languages
★ Old Persian cuneiform script
★
References and Bibliography
1.
★
★
★
★ : 238-245
★ : 56–85
★
Further reading
★
★
★
★
This article provided by Wikipedia. To edit the contents of this article, click here for original source.
psst.. try this: add to faves
