INDO
- ARYAN SUPERSTRATE IN MITANNI
Some
theonyms, proper names and other terminology of the Mitanni are
considered to form (part of) an Indo-Aryan superstrate, suggesting
that an Indo-Aryan elite imposed itself over the Hurrian population
in the course of the Indo-Aryan expansion.
In
a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni (between Suppiluliuma
and Shattiwaza, c. 1380 BC), the deities Mitra, Varun, Indra, and
Nasatya (Ashvins) are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text (circa
1400 BC) includes technical terms such as aik (Vedic Sanskrit eka,
one), ter (tri, three), panza (pañca, five), satt (sapt,
seven), na (nav, nine), vartan (vartan, round). The numeral aik
"one" is of particular importance because it places the
superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper (Vedic Sanskrit
ek, with regular contraction of /ai/ to [e:]) as opposed to Indo-Iranian
or early Iranian (which has *aiv; compare Vedic ev"only")
in general.
Another
text has babru (-nnu) (babhru, brown), parit (-nnu) (palit, grey),
and pinkar (-nnu) (pingala, red). Their chief festival was the celebration
of the solstice (vishuva) which was common in most cultures in the
ancient world.
The
Mitanni warriors were called marya (Hurrian: maria-nnu), the term
for (young) warrior in Sanskrit as well; note mišta-nnu (=
mizdha,~ Sanskrit midha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)"
(Mayrhofer II 358).
Sanskritic
interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumar (artaššumar)
as Art-smar"who thinks of Arta/Rta" (Mayrhofer II 780),
Biridashva (biridašua, biriiašua) as Pritasva "whose
horse is dear" (Mayrhofer II 182), Priyamazda (priiamazda)
as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear" (Mayrhofer II 189,
II378), Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining"
(Mayrhofer I 553), Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by
Indra" (Mayrhofer I 134), Shativaz (šattiuaza) as Sativaj"winning
the race price" (Mayrhofer II 540, 696), Šubandu as Subandhu
"having good relatives" (a name in Palestine, Mayrhofer
II 209, 735), Tushratt (tuišeratt, tušratt, etc.) as *tuaišarath,
Vedic Tvesarath"whose chariot is vehement" (Mayrhofer
I 686, I 736).
Attested
words and comparisons :
All of the following examples are from Witzel (2001). For the pronunciation
of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform as š and z, see Proto-Semitic
language#Fricatives.
Names
of people :
|
Transcription
of cuneiform |
Interpretation |
Vedic equivalent |
|
bi-ir-ya-ma-aš-da |
Priyamazdha |
Priyamedha |
|
bi-ir-ya-aš-šu-wa,
bi-ir-da-aš-šu-wa |
Priyasva
~ Pritasva |
Pritasva |
|
ar-ta-aš-šu-ma-ra |
Artasmara |
Rtasmara |
|
ar-ta-ta-a-ma |
Artadhama(n?) |
Rtadhaman |
|
tu-uš-rat-ta,
tu-iš-e-rat-ta, tu-uš-e-rat-ta |
Tvaiša(?)ratha |
Tve?áratha |
|
in-tar-ú-da,
en-dar-ú-ta |
Indrauta |
Indrota |
Continued
...
|
Transcription
of cuneiform |
Comments |
|
bi-ir-ya-ma-aš-da |
"whose
wisdom is dear"; /azd(h)/ to [e:d(h)] is a regular development
in Vedic and its descendants (Indo-Aryan in the narrow sense) |
|
bi-ir-ya-aš-šu-wa,
bi-ir-da-aš-šu-wa |
"whose
horse is dear" |
|
ar-ta-aš-šu-ma-ra |
"who
thinks of Arta/Rta" |
|
ar-ta-ta-a-ma |
"his
abode is Rta" |
|
tu-uš-rat-ta,
tu-iš-e-rat-ta, tu-uš-e-rat-ta |
"whose
chariot is vehement" |
|
in-tar-ú-da,
en-dar-ú-ta |
"helped
by Indra"; /au/ to [o?] is a regular development in
Vedic; ú specifically indicates [u]
as opposed to [o] |
Names
of gods :
From treaties of Mitanni.
|
Transcription
of cuneiform |
Interpretation |
Vedic equivalent |
| a-ru-na,
ú-ru-wa-na |
Varun |
Varun |
| mi-it-ra |
Mitra |
Mitra |
| in-tar,
in-da-ra |
Indra |
Indra |
| na-ša-ti-ya-an-na |
Nasatya(-nna) |
Nasatya |
| a-ak-ni-iš |
Agnis |
Agni |
Continued
...
| Transcription
of cuneiform |
Comments |
| a-ru-na,
ú-ru-wa-na |
|
| mi-it-ra |
|
| in-tar,
in-da-ra |
|
| na-ša-ti-ya-an-na |
Hurrian grammatical
ending -nna |
| a-ak-ni-iš |
only
attested in Hittite, which retains nominative -/s/
and lengthens stressed syllables |
Horse
training :
From Kikkuli.
|
Transcription
of cuneiform |
Interpretation |
Vedic equivalent |
| a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni |
asva-san-ni? |
ashva-san- |
| -aš-šu-wa |
-asva |
ashva |
| a-i-ka- |
aika- |
eka |
| ti-e-ra- |
tera- ? |
tri |
| pa-an-za- |
panca- ? |
pañca |
| ša-at-ta |
satta |
sapta |
| na-a-[w]a- |
nava- |
nav |
| wa-ar-ta-an-na |
vartan(n)a |
vartan |
Continued
...
|
Transcription
of cuneiform |
Comments |
| a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni |
"master
horse trainer" (Kikkuli himself) |
| -aš-šu-wa |
"horse";
in personal names |
| a-i-ka- |
"1" |
| ti-e-ra- |
"3" |
| pa-an-za- |
"5";
Vedic c is not an affricate,[citation
needed] but apparently its Mitanni equivalent
was |
| ša-at-ta |
"7";
/pt/ to /t?/ is either an innovation in Mitanni or a misinterpretation
by a scribe who had Hurrian šinti "7"
in mind |
| na-a-[w]a- |
"9" |
| wa-ar-ta-an-na |
round,
turn |
Sources
:
• James
P. Mallory. "Kuro-Araxes Culture", Encyclopedia of Indo-European
Culture. Chicago–London: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997.
• Manfred
Mayrhofer. Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen, 3
vols. Heidelberg: Carl Winter, 1992-2001.
• Manfred
Mayrhofer. “Welches Material aus dem Indo-arischen von Mitanni
verbleibt für eine selektive Darstellung?”, in Investigationes
philologicae et comparativae: Gedenkschrift für Heinz Kronasser,
ed. E. Neu. Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz, 1982, pp. 72-90.
• Paul
Thieme, The 'Aryan Gods' of the Mitanni Treaties, Journal of the
American Oriental Society 80, 301-317 (1960)
Source
:
https://en.wikipedia.org/
wiki/Indo-Aryan_superstrate
_in_Mitanni
