The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from c. the 4th century BC). The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian. As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian dialects, the Middle Eastern Iranian preserves word-final syllables.
Map of modern Iranian languages. The Eastern Iranian languages are shaded red/purple (Pashto, Ossetian, Pamir, Ormuri)
The largest living Eastern Iranian language is Pashto, with some 40-60 million speakers between the Oxus River in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan. The second-largest language is Ossetic with roughly 600,000 speakers. All other languages have fewer than 200,000 speakers combined.
Most living Eastern Iranian languages are spoken in a contiguous area, in southern and eastern Afghanistan as well as the adjacent parts of western Pakistan, Gorno-Badakhshan Autonomous Province of eastern Tajikistan, and the far west of Xinjiangregion of China. There are also two living members in widely separated areas: the Yaghnobi language of northwestern Tajikistan (descended from Sogdian), and the Ossetic language of the Caucasus (descended from Scytho-Sarmatian). These are remnants of a vast ethno-linguistic continuum that stretched over most of Central Asia, Eastern Europe, and parts of the Caucasus, and West Asia in the 1st millennium BC, otherwise known as Scythia. The large Eastern Iranian continuum in Eastern Europe would continue up to including the 4th century AD, with the successors of the Scythians, namely the Sarmatians.[1]
Western Iranian is thought to have separated from Proto-Iranian in the course of the later 2nd millennium BC not long after Avestan, possibly occurring in the Yaz culture. Eastern Iranian followed suit, and developed in place of Proto-Iranian, spoken within the Andronovo horizon.
With Greek presence in Central Asia, some of the easternmost of these languages were recorded in their Middle Iranian stage (hence the "Eastern" classification), while almost no records of the Scytho-Sarmatian continuum stretching from Kazakhstan west across the Pontic steppe to Ukraine have survived. Some authors find that the Eastern Iranian people had an influence on Russian folk culture.[2]
Scythia and other Eastern Iranian speaking lands (shown in orange) circa 170 BC
Middle Persian/Dari spread around the Oxus River region, Afghanistan, and Khorasan after the Arab conquests and during Islamic-Arab rule.[3][4] The replacement of the Pahlavi script with the Arabic script in order to write the Persian language was done by the Tahirids in 9th century Khorasan.[5] The Persian Dari language spread and led to the extinction of Eastern Iranic languages like Bactrian and Khorezmian, with only a tiny amount of Sogdian descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining among the now Persian speaking Tajik population of Central Asia, due to the fact that the Arab-Islamic army which invaded Central Asia also included some Persians who later governed the region like the Samanids.[6] Persian was rooted into Central Asia by the Samanids.[7]
Classification
Eastern Iranian remains in large part a dialect continuum subject to common innovation. Traditional branches, such as "Northeastern", as well as Eastern Iranian itself, are better considered language areas rather than genetic groups.[8][9]
The initial syllable was in this word lost entirely in Yaghnobi due to a stress shift.
Lenition of voiced stops
Common to most Eastern Iranian languages is a particularly widespread lenition of the voiced stops *b, *d, *g. Between vowels, these have been lenited also in most Western Iranian languages, but in Eastern Iranian, spirantization also generally occurs in the word-initial position. This phenomenon is however not apparent in Avestan, and remains absent from Ormuri-Parachi.
A series of spirant consonants can be assumed to have been the first stage: *b > *β, *d > *ð, *g > *ɣ. The voiced velar fricative/ɣ/ has mostly been preserved. The labial member has been well-preserved too, but in most languages has shifted from a voiced bilabial fricative/β/ to the voiced labiodental fricative/v/. The dental member has proved the most unstable: while a voiced dental fricative/ð/ is preserved in some Pamir languages, it has in e.g. Pashto and Munji lenited further to /l/. On the other hand, in Yaghnobi and Ossetian, the development appears to have been reversed, leading to the reappearance of a voiced stop /d/. (Both languages have also shifted earlier *θ > /t/.)
The consonant clusters *ft and *xt have also been widely lenited, though again excluding Ormuri-Parachi, and possibly Yaghnobi.
External influences
The neighboring Indo-Aryan languages have exerted a pervasive external influence on the closest neighbouring Eastern Iranian, as it is evident in the development in the retroflex consonants (in Pashto, Wakhi, Sanglechi, Khotanese, etc.) and aspirates (in Khotanese, Parachi and Ormuri).[8] A more localized sound change is the backing of the former retroflex fricative ṣ̌[ʂ], to x̌[x] or to x[χ], found in the Shughni–Yazgulyam branch and certain dialects of Pashto. E.g. "meat": ɡuṣ̌t in Wakhi and γwaṣ̌a in Southern Pashto, but changes to guxt in Shughni, γwax̌a in Central and Northern Pashto.
Notes
^1 Munji dā is a borrowing from Persian but Yidgha still uses los.
^2 Ormuri marzā has a different etymological origin, but generally Ormuri [b] is preserved unchanged, e.g. *bastra- > bēš, Ormuri for "cord" (cf. Avestan band- "to tie").
^3 Ossetic ærvad means "relative". The word for "brother" æfsymær is of a different etymological source.
^J.Harmatta: "Scythians" in UNESCO Collection of History of Humanity – Volume III: From the Seventh Century BC to the Seventh Century AD. Routledge/UNESCO. 1996. pg. 182
^Rast, N. A. (1955). "Russians in the Medieval Iranian Epos". American Slavic and East European Review. 14 (2): 260–264. doi:10.2307/3000746. ISSN 1049-7544. JSTOR 3000746.
^Ira M. Lapidus (22 August 2002). A History of Islamic Societies. Cambridge University Press. pp. 127–. ISBN978-0-521-77933-3.
^Ira M. Lapidus (29 October 2012). Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 255–. ISBN978-0-521-51441-5.
^Ira M. Lapidus (29 October 2012). Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century: A Global History. Cambridge University Press. pp. 256–. ISBN978-0-521-51441-5.
^Paul Bergne (15 June 2007). The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic. I.B.Tauris. pp. 5–. ISBN978-1-84511-283-7.
^Paul Bergne (15 June 2007). The Birth of Tajikistan: National Identity and the Origins of the Republic. I.B.Tauris. pp. 6–. ISBN978-1-84511-283-7.
^Antje Wendtland (2009), The position of the Pamir languages within East Iranian, Orientalia Suecana LVIII
^Gernot Windfuhr, 2009, "Dialectology and Topics", The Iranian Languages, Routledge
External links
Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, ed. Schmitt (1989), p. 100.
January 20, 2023
eastern, iranian, languages, subgroup, iranian, languages, emerging, middle, iranian, times, from, century, avestan, language, often, classified, early, eastern, iranian, opposed, middle, western, iranian, dialects, middle, eastern, iranian, preserves, word, f. The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times from c the 4th century BC The Avestan language is often classified as early Eastern Iranian As opposed to the Middle Western Iranian dialects the Middle Eastern Iranian preserves word final syllables Eastern IranianGeographicdistributionCentral Asia northwestern South Asia Caucasus Historically in Scythia and Sarmatia Linguistic classificationIndo EuropeanIndo IranianIranianEastern IranianSubdivisionsNortheastern SoutheasternGlottologeast2704Map of modern Iranian languages The Eastern Iranian languages are shaded red purple Pashto Ossetian Pamir Ormuri The largest living Eastern Iranian language is Pashto with some 40 60 million speakers between the Oxus River in Afghanistan and the Indus River in Pakistan The second largest language is Ossetic with roughly 600 000 speakers All other languages have fewer than 200 000 speakers combined Most living Eastern Iranian languages are spoken in a contiguous area in southern and eastern Afghanistan as well as the adjacent parts of western Pakistan Gorno Badakhshan Autonomous Province of eastern Tajikistan and the far west of Xinjiang region of China There are also two living members in widely separated areas the Yaghnobi language of northwestern Tajikistan descended from Sogdian and the Ossetic language of the Caucasus descended from Scytho Sarmatian These are remnants of a vast ethno linguistic continuum that stretched over most of Central Asia Eastern Europe and parts of the Caucasus and West Asia in the 1st millennium BC otherwise known as Scythia The large Eastern Iranian continuum in Eastern Europe would continue up to including the 4th century AD with the successors of the Scythians namely the Sarmatians 1 Contents 1 History 2 Classification 3 Characteristics 3 1 Lenition of voiced stops 3 2 External influences 4 Notes 5 See also 6 References 7 External linksHistory EditWestern Iranian is thought to have separated from Proto Iranian in the course of the later 2nd millennium BC not long after Avestan possibly occurring in the Yaz culture Eastern Iranian followed suit and developed in place of Proto Iranian spoken within the Andronovo horizon With Greek presence in Central Asia some of the easternmost of these languages were recorded in their Middle Iranian stage hence the Eastern classification while almost no records of the Scytho Sarmatian continuum stretching from Kazakhstan west across the Pontic steppe to Ukraine have survived Some authors find that the Eastern Iranian people had an influence on Russian folk culture 2 Scythia and other Eastern Iranian speaking lands shown in orange circa 170 BC Middle Persian Dari spread around the Oxus River region Afghanistan and Khorasan after the Arab conquests and during Islamic Arab rule 3 4 The replacement of the Pahlavi script with the Arabic script in order to write the Persian language was done by the Tahirids in 9th century Khorasan 5 The Persian Dari language spread and led to the extinction of Eastern Iranic languages like Bactrian and Khorezmian with only a tiny amount of Sogdian descended Yaghnobi speakers remaining among the now Persian speaking Tajik population of Central Asia due to the fact that the Arab Islamic army which invaded Central Asia also included some Persians who later governed the region like the Samanids 6 Persian was rooted into Central Asia by the Samanids 7 Classification EditEastern Iranian remains in large part a dialect continuum subject to common innovation Traditional branches such as Northeastern as well as Eastern Iranian itself are better considered language areas rather than genetic groups 8 9 The languages are as follows 10 Old Iranian periodNortheast Scythian Old Saka etc Central Iranian Avestan c 1000 7th century BC Avestan is sometimes classified as Eastern Iranian but is not assigned to a branch in recent classifications Middle Iranian periodBactrian c 4th century BC 9th century AD Khwarezmian Chorasmian c 4th century BC 13th century AD Sogdian from c the 4th century AD Scytho Khotanese Saka c 5th century 10th century AD and Tumshuqese formerly Maralbashi 7th century AD Scytho Sarmatian from c the 8th century BCModern languages Neo Iranian Pashto dialects Northern Southern Central and others WanetsiPamir languages North Pamir Old Wanji Vanji Yazgulami Shughni Shughni proper Oroshori Roshani Khufi Bartangi Sarikoli Sanglechi Ishkashimi Sanglechi Ishkashimi WakhiMunji Yidgha Munji YidghaOrmuri Parachi Ormuri ParachiNorthern Yaghnobi Ossetian dialects Iron Digor Jassic Characteristics EditThe Eastern Iranian area has been affected by widespread sound changes e g t ʃ gt ts English Avestan Pashto Munji Sanglechi Wakhi Shughni Parachi Ormuri Yaghnobi Osseticone aeva yaw yu vak yi yiw zu sō i iufour t ʃa8warō tsalṓr t ʃfur tsefur tsibɨr tsavṓr t ʃōr tsar tafṓr 1 cypparseven hapta ōwe ōvda ōvd ɨb uvd hōt wō aft avdThe initial syllable was in this word lost entirely in Yaghnobi due to a stress shift Lenition of voiced stops Edit Common to most Eastern Iranian languages is a particularly widespread lenition of the voiced stops b d g Between vowels these have been lenited also in most Western Iranian languages but in Eastern Iranian spirantization also generally occurs in the word initial position This phenomenon is however not apparent in Avestan and remains absent from Ormuri Parachi A series of spirant consonants can be assumed to have been the first stage b gt b d gt d g gt ɣ The voiced velar fricative ɣ has mostly been preserved The labial member has been well preserved too but in most languages has shifted from a voiced bilabial fricative b to the voiced labiodental fricative v The dental member has proved the most unstable while a voiced dental fricative d is preserved in some Pamir languages it has in e g Pashto and Munji lenited further to l On the other hand in Yaghnobi and Ossetian the development appears to have been reversed leading to the reappearance of a voiced stop d Both languages have also shifted earlier 8 gt t English Avestan Pashto Munji Sanglechi Wakhi Shughni Parachi Ormuri Yaghnobi Osseticten dasa las los da1 dos das dis dōs das das daescow gav ɣwa ɣṓw uɣui ɣiw zōw gu gioe ɣōw qugbrother bratar wrōr veroy vrud virit virṓd bya marza2 virṓt aervad3The consonant clusters ft and xt have also been widely lenited though again excluding Ormuri Parachi and possibly Yaghnobi External influences Edit The neighboring Indo Aryan languages have exerted a pervasive external influence on the closest neighbouring Eastern Iranian as it is evident in the development in the retroflex consonants in Pashto Wakhi Sanglechi Khotanese etc and aspirates in Khotanese Parachi and Ormuri 8 A more localized sound change is the backing of the former retroflex fricative ṣ ʂ to x x or to x x found in the Shughni Yazgulyam branch and certain dialects of Pashto E g meat ɡuṣ t in Wakhi and gwaṣ a in Southern Pashto but changes to guxt in Shughni gwax a in Central and Northern Pashto Notes Edit 1 Munji da is a borrowing from Persian but Yidgha still uses los 2 Ormuri marza has a different etymological origin but generally Ormuri b is preserved unchanged e g bastra gt bes Ormuri for cord cf Avestan band to tie 3 Ossetic aervad means relative The word for brother aefsymaer is of a different etymological source See also EditWestern Iranian languages Dari Eastern Persian a dialect of a Western Iranian language despite the name Sakan languageReferences Edit J Harmatta Scythians in UNESCO Collection of History of Humanity Volume III From the Seventh Century BC to the Seventh Century AD Routledge UNESCO 1996 pg 182 Rast N A 1955 Russians in the Medieval Iranian Epos American Slavic and East European Review 14 2 260 264 doi 10 2307 3000746 ISSN 1049 7544 JSTOR 3000746 Ira M Lapidus 22 August 2002 A History of Islamic Societies Cambridge University Press pp 127 ISBN 978 0 521 77933 3 Ira M Lapidus 29 October 2012 Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century A Global History Cambridge University Press pp 255 ISBN 978 0 521 51441 5 Ira M Lapidus 29 October 2012 Islamic Societies to the Nineteenth Century A Global History Cambridge University Press pp 256 ISBN 978 0 521 51441 5 Paul Bergne 15 June 2007 The Birth of Tajikistan National Identity and the Origins of the Republic I B Tauris pp 5 ISBN 978 1 84511 283 7 Paul Bergne 15 June 2007 The Birth of Tajikistan National Identity and the Origins of the Republic I B Tauris pp 6 ISBN 978 1 84511 283 7 a b Nicholas Sims Williams Eastern Iranian languages in Encyclopaedia Iranica Online Edition 2008 Antje Wendtland 2009 The position of the Pamir languages within East Iranian Orientalia Suecana LVIII Gernot Windfuhr 2009 Dialectology and Topics The Iranian Languages RoutledgeExternal links EditCompendium Linguarum Iranicarum ed Schmitt 1989 p 100 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Eastern Iranian languages amp oldid 1130373279, wikipedia, 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