Old Persian language
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The Old Persian language is one of two Old Iranian languages. The other is Avestan). Old Persian was used during the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BC to 300 BC). Examples of Old Persian have been found in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.[1]
| Old Persian | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Region | Ancient Iran | |||
| Era | evolved into Middle Persian by c. 300 BC | |||
| Language family | ||||
| Writing system | Old Persian cuneiform | |||
| Language codes | ||||
| ISO 639-2 | peo | |||
| ISO 639-3 | peo | |||
| Linguist List | peo | |||
| ||||
Classification
Old Persian is an Old Iranian language, a member of the Southwestern Iranian language group. As an Iranian language, Old Persian is a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
Old Persian subsequently developed into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian.
Phonology
The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
Vowels
- Long: /eː/ /iː/ /o/
- Short: /eu/ /ei/ /ea/
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p /p/ | b /b/ | t /t/ | d /d/ | c /c/ | j /ɟ/ | k /k/ | g /g/ | ||
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | f /f/ | θ /θ/ | ç /ç/ | x /x/ | h /h/ | |||||
| Sibilant | s /s/ | z /z/ | š /ʃ/ | |||||||
| Rhotic | r /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | v /ʋ/ | l /l/ | y /j/ | |||||||
Grammar
Nouns
Old Persian stems:
- a-stems (-a, -am, -ā)
- i-stems (-iš, iy)
- u- (and au-) stems (-uš, -uv)
- consonantal stems (n, r, h)
| -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-).
In Old Persian were used mostly the forms of first and third persons. Only Dual form used was ajīvatam 'both lived'.
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'be' | 'bring' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | ahmiy | barāmiy |
| 3.pers. | astiy | baratiy | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | ahmahiy | barāmahiy |
| 3.pers. | hatiy | baratiy | |
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'do, make' | 'be, become' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | akunavam | abavam |
| 3.pers. | akunauš | abava | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | akumā | abavāmā |
| 3.pers. | akunava | abava | |
| Active | Middle |
|---|---|
| -nt- | -amna- |
| -ta- |
| -tanaiy |
Lexicon
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Persian | Middle Persian | Modern Persian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *açva | aspa | asp | asp اسپ | horse |
| *kāma | kāma | kām | kām کام | desire |
| *daiva | daiva | div | div دیو | devil |
| drayah | drayā | daryā دریا | sea | |
| dasta | dast | dast دست | hand | |
| *bhāgī | 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 |
| stūnā | stūn | sotūn ستون | column (related to stand) | |
| šiyāta | šād | šād شاد | happy | |
| *arta | arta | ard | ord ارد | truth |
| *draugh- | drauga | drōgh | dorōgh دروغ | lie (maybe legendary related to drought) |
Old Persian Language Media
Close-up of the Behistun inscription
An Old Persian inscription in Persepolis
Related pages
References and bibliography
- Brandenstein, Wilhelm (1964), Handbuch des Altpersischen, Wiesbaden: O. Harrassowitz
- Hinz, Walther (1966), Altpersischer Wortschatz, Nendeln, Liechtenstein: Kraus
- Kent, Roland G. (1953), Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon, New Haven: American Oriental Society
- Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1996), "Iranian languages", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 7, Cosa Mesa: Mazda: 238-245
- Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989), "Altpersisch", in R. Schmitt (ed.), Compendium linguarum Iranicarum, Wiesbaden: Reichert: 56–85
- Tolman, Herbert Cushing (1908), Ancient Persian Lexicon and the Texts of the Achaemenidan Inscriptions Transliterated and Translated with Special Reference to Their Recent Re-examination, New York/Cincinnati: American Book Company
Further reading
- Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An introduction to Old Persian (PDF) (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard
- Peterson, Joseph H. (2006), Old Persian Texts, Herndon, VA: avesta.org
- Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1995), "Cases in Iranian languages and dialects", Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 5, Cosa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 25–37, archived from the original on 2007-11-04, retrieved 2008-07-26
- Stolper, Matthew W. & Jan Tavernier (1995), "From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian administrative tablet from the Persepolis Fortification", Arta, vol. 2007:1, Paris: Achemenet.com
- University Of Chicago (2007, June 22). Everyday text shows that Old Persian was probably more commonly used than previously thought.[1][2]