PROTO
- IRANIAN LANGUAGE
Proto-Iranian
:
PIr, Proto-Iranic
Reconstruction of : Iranian languages
Reconstructed : Proto-Indo-European
Ancestors : Proto-Indo-Iranian
Proto-Iranian
or Proto-Iranic is the reconstructed proto-language of the Iranian
languages branch of Indo-European language family and thus the ancestor
of the Iranian languages such as Pashto, Persian, Sogdian, Zazaki,
Ossetian, Mazandarani, Kurdish, Talysh and others. Its speakers,
the hypothetical Proto-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the
2nd millennium BC and are usually connected with the Andronovo archaeological
horizon.
Proto-Iranian
was a satem language descended from the Proto-Indo-Iranian language,
which in turn, came from the Proto-Indo-European language. It was
likely removed less than a millennium from the Avestan language,
and less than two millennia from Proto-Indo-European.
Dialects
:
Skjærvø postulates that there were at least four
dialects that initially developed out of Proto-Iranian, two of which
are attested by texts :
1.
Old Northwest Iranian (unattested, ancestor of Ossetian)
2. Old Northeast Iranian (unattested, ancestor of Middle Iranian
Khotanese and modern Wakhi)
3. Old Central Iranian (attested, includes Avestan and Median)
4. Old Southwest Iranian (attested, includes Old Persian, ancestor
of modern Persian)
Phonological
correspondences :
| PIE |
Av |
*p |
→ |
p |
*bh |
→ |
b |
*t |
→ |
t |
*d |
→ |
d |
*dh |
→ |
d |
*k |
→ |
s |
*g |
→ |
z |
*gh |
→ |
z |
*k |
→ |
x
~ c |
*g |
→ |
g
~ z |
*gh |
→ |
g
~ z |
*kw |
→ |
k
~ c |
*gw |
→ |
g
~ j |
| PIE |
Av |
| *phzter "father" |
pitar- "father" |
| *bhréhzter "brother" |
bratar- "brother |
| *túhz "thou" |
tu- "thou" |
| *dóru "wood" |
dauru "wood" |
| *dhoHneh2- "grain" |
dana- "grain" |
| *dékmt "ten" |
dasa "ten" |
| *gónu "knee" |
zanu "knee" |
| *ghimós "cold" |
ziia° "winterstorm" |
| *kruhzrós "bloody" |
xruda "bloody" |
| *hzéuges- "strength" |
aojah "strength" |
| *dlh1ghós "long" |
darega- "long" |
| *kwós "who" |
ko "who" |
| *gwou- "cow" |
gao- "cow" |
|
Proto-Indo-Iranian |
Particulars |
| *
Hácwas 'horse' |
Avestan
: aspa
Old
Persian : asa (native word)
Persian
: asb (< Median)
Kurdish
: hesp
Vedic
Sanskrit : áshva |
| *
bhagás 'portion, part' |
Avestan
: baγa
Old
Persian : baga (god)
Persian
: bâj (tax)
Kurdish
: parçe
Vedic
Sanskrit : bhág |
| *
bhráHta 'brother' |
Avestan
: bratar
Old
Persian : brata
Persian
: barâdar
Kurdish
: bira(der)
Vedic
Sanskrit : bhra´tr |
| *
bhúHmiš 'earth, land' |
Avestan
: bumi
Old
Persian : bumiš
Persian
: bum
Kurdish
: ---
Vedic
Sanskrit : bhu´mi |
| *
mártyas 'mortal, man' |
Avestan
: masiia
Old
Persian : martiya
Persian
: mard (man)
Kurdish
: mêr(d) (man)
Vedic
Sanskrit : mártya |
| *
ma´Has 'moon' |
Avestan
: ma°
Old
Persian : maha
Persian
: mâh (moon, month)
Kurdish
: mang (moon), meh (month)
Vedic
Sanskrit : ma´sa |
| *
wasr 'spring' |
Avestan
: vanri
Old
Persian : vahara
Persian
: bahâr
Kurdish
: bihar
Vedic
Sanskrit : vasara 'morning' |
| *
Hrttás 'truth' |
Avestan
: aša
Old
Persian : arta
Persian
: râst (correct)
Kurdish
: rast
Vedic
Sanskrit : rtá |
| *
dhrawgh- 'falsehood' |
Avestan
: druj
Old
Persian : drauga
Persian
: dorugh (lie)
Kurdish
: diro, derew (lie)
Vedic
Sanskrit : druh- |
| *
sáwmas 'pressed juice' |
Avestan
: haoma
Old
Persian : * hauma
Persian
: hum
Kurdish
: ---
Vedic
Sanskrit : sóm
|
Development
into Old Iranian :
The term Old Iranian refers to the stage in Iranian history represented
by the earliest written languages: Avestan and Old Persian. These
two languages are usually considered to belong to different main
branches of Iranian, and many of their similarities are found also
in the other Iranian languages. Regardless, there are many arguments
to think that many of these Old Iranian features may not have occurred
yet in Proto-Iranian, and they may have instead spread across an
Old Iranian dialect continuum already separated in dialects. Additionally,
most Iranian languages cannot be derived from either attested Old
Iranian language: numerous unwritten Old Iranian dialects must have
existed, whose descendants surface in the written record only later.
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 Vedic Sanskrit. Avestan
has no **/l/ phoneme at all. Regardless many words, for which the
other Indo-European languages indicate original *l, still show /l/
in several Iranian languages, including New Persian, Kurdish and
Zazaki. These include e.g. Persian lab 'lip', liz- 'to lick', gulu
'throat' (compare e.g. Latin gula); Zazaki lü 'fox' (compare
e.g. Latin vulpes). This preservation is however not systematic,
and likely has been mostly diminished through interdialectal loaning
of r-forms, and in some cases extended by the loaning of words from
smaller western Iranian languages into Persian.
*
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, *0 and *x in most Iranian languages. However, they appear
to be retained in Parachi, varieties of Kurdish, and the Saka languages
(Khotanese, Tumshuqese and Wakhi); and to have merged with the voiceless
aspirated stops in Balochi. In the case of Saka, secondary influence
from Gandhari Prakrit is likely.
*
c, *dz > *s, *z :
The Proto-Indo-European palatovelars *k, *g (and *gh) were fronted
to affricates *c, *dz 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
/0/ 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.[7] The Saka languages show /š/. All other Iranian
languages have /sp/, or a further descendant (e.g. /fs/ in Ossetian).
*
r > *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.
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Proto-Iranian_language
