Proto-Indo-Iranian language
Proto-Indo-Iranian, also Proto-Indo-Iranic,[1] is the reconstructed proto-language of the Indo-Iranian/Indo-Iranic branch of Indo-European. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Indo-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the late 3rd millennium BC, and are often connected with the Sintashta culture of the Eurasian Steppe and the early Andronovo archaeological horizon.
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | |
|---|---|
| Proto-Indo-Iranic (PIIr) | |
| Reconstruction of | Indo-Iranian languages |
| Region | Eurasian Steppe |
| Era | late 3rd m. BCE |
Reconstructed ancestor | |
| Lower-order reconstructions | |
| Part of a series on |
| Indo-European topics |
|---|
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Proto-Indo-Iranian was a satem language, likely removed less than a millennium from its ancestor, the late Proto-Indo-European language, and in turn removed less than a millennium from Old Avestan (of the Ancient Iranian religion) and Vedic language (of the Rigveda), its descendants.
Proto-Indo-Iranian has been considered to form a subgroup along with Greek, Armenian and Phrygian on the basis of many striking similarities in the morphological structure. However, this issue remains unsettled.[2]
It is the ancestor of Indo-Aryan languages, the Iranian languages, and the Nuristani languages, predominantly spoken in the Southern Asian subregion of Eurasia.
Descriptive phonology
| Labial | Coronal | Palatal | Velar | Laryngeal | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| dental/alveolar | post-alveolar | first | second | |||||
| Plosive | voiceless | *p | *t | *ć | *č | *k | ||
| voiced | *b | *d | *ȷ́ | *ǰ | *g | |||
| aspirated | *bʰ | *dʰ | *ȷ́ʰ | *ǰʰ | *gʰ | |||
| Fricative | voiceless | *s | *š | *H | ||||
| voiced | (*z) | (*ž) | ||||||
| Nasal | *m | *n | ||||||
| Liquid | (*l) | *r *r̥ | ||||||
| Semivowel | *y | *w | ||||||
| High | *i *ī | *u *ū |
|---|---|---|
| Low | *a *ā | |
In addition to the vowels, *H, and *r̥ could function as the syllabic core.
Two palatal series
Proto-Indo-Iranian is hypothesized to have contained two series of stops or affricates in the palatal to postalveolar region.[3] The phonetic nature of this contrast is not clear, and hence they are usually referred to as the primary or first series (*ć *ȷ́ *ȷ́ʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European palatovelar *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ) and the second or secondary series (*č *ǰ *ǰʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European plain and labialized velars, *k, *g, *gʰ and *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ, in palatalizing contexts). The following table shows the most common reflexes of the two series (Proto-Iranian is the hypothetical ancestor to the Iranian languages, including Avestan and Old Persian):[4][5]
| PII | Proto-Indo-Aryan | Sanskrit | Proto-Iranian | Avestan | Old Persian | Nuristani |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ć | ś ([ɕ]) | ś ([ɕ]) | *ts | s | θ | ċ ([ts]) / š |
| *ȷ́ | j ([dʑ]) | j ([dʑ]) | *dz | z | d | j ([dz]) / z |
| *ȷ́ʰ | źh ([dʑʱ]) | h ([ɦ]) | ||||
| *č | c ([tɕ]) | c ([tɕ]) | *č | č | č | č |
| *ǰ | j ([ɖʐ]) | j ([dʑ]) | *ǰ | ǰ | ǰ | ǰ / ž |
| *ǰʰ | źh ([ɖʐʱ]) | h ([ɦ]) |
Laryngeal
Proto-Indo-European is usually hypothesized to have had three to four laryngeal consonants, each of which could occur in either syllabic or non-syllabic positions. In Proto-Indo-Iranian, the laryngeals merged as one phoneme /*H/. Beekes suggests that some instances of this /*H/ survived into Rigvedic Sanskrit and Avestan as unwritten glottal stops as evidenced by metrics.[6]
Accent
Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit (and also Avestan, though it was not written down[7]), Proto-Indo-Iranian had a pitch accent system similar to present-day Japanese, conventionally indicated by an acute accent over the accented vowel.
Historical phonology
The most distinctive phonological change separating Proto-Indo-Iranian from Proto-Indo-European is the collapse of the ablauting vowels *e, *o into a single vowel, Proto-Indo-Iranian *a (but see Brugmann's law). Grassmann's law, Bartholomae's law, and the Ruki sound law were also complete in Proto-Indo-Iranian.
A fuller list of some of the hypothesized sound changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Indo-Iranian follows:
- The Satem shift, consisting of two sets of related changes. The PIE palatals *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ are fronted or affricated, eventually resulting in PII *ć, *ȷ́, *ȷ́ʰ, while the PIE labiovelars *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ merge with the velars *k *g *gʰ.[8]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ḱm̥tóm | *ćatám | śatám | satəm | centum | hund(red) | id |
| *ǵónu | *ȷ́ā́nu | jā́nu | zānu | genū | 'knee' | id |
| *ǵʰimós | *ȷ́ʰimás | himá | ziiā̊ | hiems | 'winter' / 'snow' | |
| *kʷós | *kás | kás | ka | quis | who | id |
| *gʷṓws | *gā́wš | gaus | gao | bōs | 'cow' | id |
| *gʷʰormós | *gʰarmás | gharmás | garəma | formus | warm | 'warmth, heat' |
- The PIE liquids *l *r *l̥ *r̥ merge as *r *r̥.[9]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ḱléwos | *ćráwas | śrávas | srauua | clueō | 'fame, honour, word' | |
| *wĺ̥kʷos | *wŕ̥kas | vŕ̥kas | vəhrka | lupus | 'wolf' | id |
- The PIE syllabic nasals *m̥ *n̥ merge with *a.[9]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *déḱm̥ | *dáćm̥ | *dáća | dáśa | dasā | decem | ten | id |
| *gʷm̥tós | *gm̥tás | *gatás | gatá | gata | ventus | come | 'come, gone' |
| *n̥bʰrós | *n̥bʰrás | *abʰrás | abhrá | aβra | imber | 'rain, cloud' |
- Bartholomae's law: an aspirate immediately followed by a voiceless consonant becomes voiced stop + voiced aspirate. In addition, dʰ + t > dᶻdʰ.[10]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ubʰtós | *ubdʰás | sámubdha | ubdaēna | (web, weave) | 'woven' / 'made of woven material' |
| *wr̥dʰtós | *wr̥dᶻdʰás | vr̥ddʰá | vərəzda | 'grown, mature' | |
| *dʰéwgʰti | *dáwgdʰi | dógdhi | *daogdi | (daugh·ter) | 'to milk' |
- The Ruki rule: *s is retracted to *š when immediately following a liquid (*r *r̥ *l *l̥), a high vowel (*i *u), a PIE velar (*ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ *k *g *gʰ *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ) or the syllabic laryngeal *H̥.[11] Its allophone *z likewise becomes *ž.[9]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *wisós | *wišás | víṣas | viša | vīrus | 'poison, venom' | |
| *ḱeHs- | *ćH̥šam | aśiṣam | sīšā | 'teach!' | ||
| *ǵéwseti | *ȷ́áwšati | jóṣati | zaošō | gustus | 'to like, taste' | |
| *kʷsép- | *kšáp- | kṣáp- | xšap- | 'darkness' | ||
| *plúsis | *plúšiš | plúṣi | *fruši | pūlex | 'flea, noxious insect' | |
| *nisdós | *niždás | nīḷá/nīḍá | *nižda | nīdus | nest | 'nest' |
- Before a dental occlusive, *ć becomes *š and *ȷ́ becomes *ž. *ȷ́ʰ also becomes *ž, with aspiration of the occlusive.[12]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *h₁oḱtṓ | *Haćtā́ | *Haštā́ | aṣṭá | ašta | octō | eight | 'eight' |
| *dr̥ḱtós | *dr̥ćtás | *dr̥štás | dr̥ṣṭá | dərəšta | 'seen, visible, apparent' | ||
| *mr̥ǵt- | *mr̥ȷ́d- | *mr̥žd- | mr̥ḷ-/mr̥ḍ- | mərəžd- | 'to forgive, pardon' | ||
| *uǵʰtós | *uȷ́dʰás | *uždʰás | ūḍhá | *užda | vector | weight | 'carried' |
- The sequence *ćš was simplified to *šš.[13]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *h₂éḱs- | *Háćšas | *Háššas | ákṣa | aša | axis | axle | 'axle, shoulder' |
- The "second palatalization" or "law of palatals": *k *g *gʰ develop palatal allophones *č *ǰ *ǰʰ before the front vowels *i, *e.[10] through an intermediate *kʲ *gʲ *gʲʰ.
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *-kʷe | *-kʲa | *-ča | -ca | -ča | -que | 'and' | |
| *gʷih₃wós | *gʲiHwás | *ǰiHwás | jīvás | juuō | vīvus | quick | 'alive, living' |
| *gʷʰénti | *gʲʰánti | *ǰʰánti | hánti | jaiṇti | -fendit | 'slays' |
- Brugmann's law: *o in an open syllable lengthens to *ō.[14]
| PIE | pre-PII | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *deh₃tórm̥ | *daHtā́rm̥ | *daHtā́ram | dātā́ram | dātārəm | datōrem | 'giver' (accusative singular) |
- The vowels *e *o merge with *a. Similarly, *ē, *ō merge with *ā. This has the effect of giving full phonemic status to the second palatal series *č *ǰ *ǰʰ.
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *dédeh₃ti | *dádaHti | dádāti | dadāiti | dat | 'to give' | |
| *h₃dónts | *Hdánts | dant | dantan | dēns | tooth | 'tooth' |
| *bʰréh₂tēr | *bʰráHtā | bhrā́tr̥ | brātar | frāter | brother | 'brother' |
| *wṓkʷs | *wā́kš | vā́k | vāxš | vōx | 'voice' |
- In certain positions, laryngeals were vocalized to *i. This preceded the second palatalization.[15][16]
- Following a consonant, and preceding a consonant cluster
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English/Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ph₂tréy | *pitráy | pitré | piθrē | patrī | 'father' (dative singular) |
- Following a consonant and word-final
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *-medʰh₂ | *-madʰHi | -mahi | -maidī/-maiδi | (1st person plural middle ending) |
- The Indo-European laryngeals all merged into one phoneme *H, which may have been a glottal stop. This was probably contemporary with the merging of *e and *o with *a.[17]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Latin | English |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *ph₂tḗr | *pHtā́ | pitā́ | ptā | pater | 'father' |
- According to Lubotsky's Law, *H disappeared when followed by a voiced nonaspirated stop and another consonant:[18]
| PIE | PII | Sanskrit | Avestan | Glossary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *bʰéh₂geti | *bʰáǰati | bhájati | bažat̰ | 'to divide, distribute' |
Subsequent sound changes
Among the sound changes from Proto-Indo-Iranian to Indo-Aryan is the loss of the voiced sibilant *z; among those to Proto-Iranian is the de-aspiration of the PIE voiced aspirates.
| PIE | O.Indc/VS | Av | PIE | OInd/VS | Av | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| *p | > | p | p | *ph̥₂tḗr "father" | pitā́ "father" | pitar- "father" |
| *b | > | b | b | *bél- "strong" | bálam "strength" | — |
| *bʰ | > | bh | b | *bʰréh₂tēr "brother" | bhrā́tār- "brother" | brātar- "brother |
| *t | > | t | t | *tuHóm "thou" | tuvám "thou" | tvəm "thou" |
| *d | > | d | d | *dóru "wood" | dā́ru "wood" | dāru- "wood" |
| *dʰ | > | dh | d | *dʰoHnéh₂- "grain" | dhānā́- "grain" | dāna- "grain" |
| *ḱ | > | ś | s | *déḱm̥ "ten" | dáśa "ten" | dasa "ten" |
| *ǵ | > | j | z | *ǵónu "knee" | jā́nu "knee" | zānu- "knee" |
| *ǵʰ | > | h | z | *ǵʰimós "cold" | himá- "cold, frost" | zəmaka- "winterstorm" |
| *k | > | k ~ c | x ~ č | *kruh₂rós "bloody" | krūrá- "bloody" | xrūra- "bloody" |
| *téket "may he run" | — | tačat̰ "may he run" | ||||
| *g | > | g ~ j | g ~ ǰ | *h₂éuges- "strength" | ójas- "strength" | aoǰah "strength" |
| *h₂ugrós "strong" | ugrá- "strong" | ugra- "strong" | ||||
| *gʰ | > | gh ~ h | g ~ ǰ | *dl̥Hgʰós "long" | dīrghá- "long" | darəga- "long" |
| *dleHgʰistos "longest" | drā́ghiṣṭha | draǰišta- "longest" | ||||
| *kʷ | > | k ~ c | k ~ č | *kʷós "who" | káḥ "who" | kō "who" |
| *kʷe "and" | ca "and" | ́ča "and" | ||||
| *gʷ | > | g ~ j | g ~ ǰ | *gʷou- "cow" | gav- "cow" | gau- "cow" |
| *gʷih₃wós "alive" | jīvá- "alive" | OPer: ǰīva- "living" | ||||
| *gʷʰ | > | gh ~ h | g ~ ǰ | *gʷʰnénti "strike" (pl.) | ghnánti "strike" (pl.) | — |
| *gʷʰénti "strikes" | hánti "strikes" | ǰainti "strikes" | ||||
| *s | > | s | s ~ h | *septm̥ "seven" | saptá "seven" | hapta "seven" |
| *h₁ésti "is" | ásti "is" | asti "is" | ||||
| *y | > | y | y | *yugóm "yoke" | yugam "yoke" | yuga- "yoke" |
| *w | > | v | v | *wéǵʰeti "drives, rides" | váhati "drives" | vazaiti "travels" |
| *m | > | m | m | *méh₂tēr "mother" | mātár- "mother" | mātar- "mother" |
| *n | > | n | n | *nós "us" | nas "us" | nō "us" |
| *l | > | l ~ r | r | *kʷeleti "moves" | carati "moves" | caraiti "moves" |
| *r | > | r | r | *bʰréh₂tēr "brother" | bhrā́tār- "brother" | brātar- "brother |
| *n̥ | > | a | a | *n̥- "un-" | a- "un-" | a- "un-" |
| *m̥ | > | a | a | *ḱm̥tóm "hundred" | śatám "hundred" | satəm "hundred" |
| *l̥ | > | r̥ | ərər | *wĺ̥kʷos "wolf" | vŕ̥ka- "wolf" | vəhrka- "wolf" |
| *r̥ | > | r̥ | ərər | *ḱŕ̥d- "heart" | hŕ̥d- "heart" | zərəd- "heart" |
| *i | > | i | i | *linékʷti "leaves" | riṇákti "leaves" | irinaxti "releases" |
| *e | > | a | a | *déḱm̥ "ten" | dáśa "ten" | dasa "ten" |
| *ē | > | ā | ā | *h₂nḗr "man" | nā "man" | nā "man" |
| *a | > | a | a | *h₂éǵeti "drives" | ájati "drives" | azaiti "drives" |
| *ā | > | ā | ā | *méh₂tēr "mother" | mātā́ "mother" | mātar- "mother" |
| *o | > | a ~ ā | a ~ ā | *ǵómbʰos "tooth, peg" | jā́mbha- "tooth, tusk" | — |
| *ǵónu "knee" | jānu "knee" | zānu- "knee" | ||||
| *ō | > | ā | ā | *dʰoHnéh₂- "grain" | dhānā́- "grain" | dāna- "grain" |
| *u | > | u | u | *yugóm "yoke" | yugám "yoke" | yuga- "yoke" |
| *ū | > | ū | ū | *mū́s "mouse" | mū́ṣ- "mouse" | NPer mūs "mouse" |
| *h₁ | > | ∅ | ∅ | *h₁ésti "is" | ásti "is" | asti "is" |
| *h₂ | > | ∅ | ∅ | *h₂ŕ̥tḱos "bear" | ŕ̥kṣa- "bear" | arəša- "bear" |
| *h₃ | > | ∅ | ∅ | *h₃ókʷs(i) "eye" | ákṣi "eye" | aši "eye" |
| *h₄ | > | ∅ | ∅ | *h₄órǵʰis "testicle" | — | ərəzi- "testicle" |
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Iranian (Av, OP) | Vedic Sanskrit |
|---|---|---|
| *Háćwas "horse" | Av aspa, OP asa | áśva |
| *bʰaHgás "portion, share" | Av bāga | bhāgá |
| *bʰráHtā "brother" | Av, OP brātar | bhrā́tr̥ |
| *bʰúHmiš "earth, land" | OP būmiš | bhū́mi- |
| *mártyas "mortal, man" | Av maṣ̌iia, OP martiya | mártya |
| *mā́Has "moon" | Av mā̊, OP māha | mā́s |
| *wásr̥ "spring" | Av vaŋhar | vásara "morning" |
| *Hr̥tás "truth" | Av aṣ̌a, OP arta | r̥tá |
| *dʰráwgʰas "lie" | Av draoγa, OP drauga | drógha "using malicious words" |
| *sáwmas "pressed (juice)" | Av haoma | sóma- |
Morphology
Proto-Indo-Iranian has preserved much of the morphology of Proto-Indo-European: thematic and athematic inflection in both nouns and verbs, all three numbers of singular, dual and plural, all the tense, mood and voice categories in the verb, and the cases in the noun.
An important innovation in the noun is the creation of a genitive plural ending *-nām used with vowel stems. In verbs, the chief innovation is the creation of a passive conjugation with the suffix *-yá, with middle inflection.[20]
See also
References
- Peter Bellwood; Immanuel Ness (10 November 2014). The Global Prehistory of Human Migration. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 978-1-118-97059-1.
- Fortson, p. 203
- Burrow, pp. 78–79
- Ramat, Anna Giacalone (1998). The Indo-European Languages (illustrated ed.). London ; New York: Routledge. p. 134. ISBN 0-415-06449-X.
- Cardona, George; Dhanesh Jain (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. London ; New York: Routledge. p. 24. ISBN 0-7007-1130-9.
- Beekes (1988), p. 50
- Beekes, p. 55
- Burrow, pp. 74–75
- Fortson, p. 182
- Fortson, p. 181
- F. B. J. Kuiper. 1976. "Old East Iranian dialects." Indo-Iranian Journal 18, p. 242.
- Burrow, p. 91
- Burrow, pp. 92–94
- Fortson, p. 183
- Beekes, pp. 85–86
- Lubotsky, p. 53
- get ref
- Beekes, pp. 88–89
- "Indo-Iranian Languages." Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Ed. J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. pp. 305.
- Fortson p. 205
Bibliography
- Beekes, Robert Stephen Paul (1988). A Grammar of Gatha-Avestan. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN 90-04-08332-4.
- Burrow, T. (1973). The Sanskrit Language (third ed.). London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-04819-6.
- Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction (illustrated ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0316-7.
- Lubotsky, A. M. (1988). The System of Nominal Accentuation in Sanskrit and Proto-Indo-European. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN 90-04-08835-0.
- Alexander Lubotsky, "The Indo-Iranian substratum" in Early Contacts between Uralic and Indo-European, ed. Carpelan et al., Helsinki (2001).
- Asko Parpola, 'The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European', in Blench and Spriggs (eds), Archaeology and Language III, London and New York (1999).
External links
- "Early Indo-Iranic loans in Uralic: Sounds and strata" (PDF). Martin Joachim Kümmel, University of Jena. Seminar for Indo-European Studies.