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Median language

December 02, 2023

For other uses, see Median (disambiguation).

The Median language (also Medean or Medic) was the language of the Medes.[2] It is an ancient Iranian language and classified as belonging to the Northwestern Iranian subfamily, which includes many other languages such as Kurdish, Old Azeri, Talysh, Gilaki, Mazandarani, Zaza–Gorani and Baluchi.[3]

Attestation edit

Median is attested only by numerous loanwords in Old Persian. Nothing is known of its grammar, "but it shares important phonological isoglosses with Avestan, rather than Old Persian. Under the Median rule . . . Median must to some extent have been the official Iranian language in western Iran".[4]

No documents dating to Median times have been preserved, and it is not known what script these texts might have been in. "So far only one inscription of pre-Achaemenid times (a bronze plaque) has been found on the territory of Media. This is a cuneiform inscription composed in Akkadian, perhaps in the 8th century BCE, but no Median names are mentioned in it."[5]

Words edit

Words of Median origin include:

 
The Ganj Nameh ("treasure epistle") in Ecbatana. The inscriptions are by Darius I and his son Xerxes I.
  • *čiθra-: "origin".[6] The word appears in *čiθrabṛzana- (med.) "exalting his linage", *čiθramiθra- (med.) "having mithraic origin", *čiθraspāta- (med.) "having a brilliant army", etc.[7]
  • Farnah: Divine glory (Avestan: khvarənah)
  • Paridaiza: Paradise
  • Spaka- : The word is Median and means "dog".[8] Herodotus identifies "Spaka-" (Gk. "σπάχα" – female dog) as Median rather than Persian.[9] The word is still used in modern Iranian languages including Talyshi, also suggested as a source to the Russian word for dog sobaka.[10][11][12]
  • vazṛka-: "great" (as Western Persian bozorg)[13]
  • vispa-: "all"[14] (as in Avestan). The component appears in such words as vispafryā (Med. fem.) "dear to all", vispatarva- (med.) "vanquishing all", vispavada- (Median-Old Persian) "leader of all", etc.[15]
  • xšayaθiya- (king)[citation needed]
  • xšaθra- (realm; kingship): This Median word (attested in *xšaθra-pā- and continued by Middle Persian šahr "land, country; city") is an example of words whose Greek form (known as romanized "satrap" from Gk. σατράπης satrápēs) mirrors, as opposed to the tradition,[N 1] a Median rather than an Old Persian form (also attested, as xšaça- and xšaçapāvā) of an Old Iranian word.[16]
  • zūra-: "evil" and zūrakara-: "evil-doer".[13]

Identity edit

A distinction from other ethnolinguistic groups such as the Persians is evident primarily in foreign sources, such as from mid-9th-century BCE Assyrian cuneiform sources[17] and from Herodotus' mid-5th-century BCE secondhand account of the Perso-Median conflict. It is not known what the native name of the Median language was (just like for all other Old Iranian languages) or whether the Medes themselves nominally distinguished it from the languages of other Iranian peoples.

Median is "presumably"[4] a substrate of Old Persian. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were particular to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names... and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan.... Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)."[4]

Using comparative phonology of proper names attested in Old Persian, Roland Kent[18] notes several other Old Persian words that appear to be borrowings from Median: for example, taxma, 'brave', as in the proper name Taxmaspada. Diakonoff[19] includes paridaiza, 'paradise'; vazraka, 'great' and xshayathiya, 'royal'. In the mid-5th century BCE, Herodotus (Histories 1.110[20]) noted that spaka is the Median word for a female dog. This term and meaning are preserved in living Iranian languages such as Talyshi.

In the 1st century BCE, Strabo (c. 64BCE–24CE) would note a relationship between the various Iranian peoples and their languages: "[From] beyond the Indus... Ariana is extended so as to include some part of Persia, Media, and the north of Bactria and Sogdiana; for these nations speak nearly the same language." (Geography, 15.2.1-15.2.8[21])

Traces of the (later) dialects of Media (not to be confused with the Median language) are preserved in the compositions of the fahlaviyat genre, verse composed in the old dialects of the Pahla/Fahla regions of Iran's northwest.[22] Consequently, these compositions have "certain linguistic affinities" with Parthian, but the surviving specimens (which are from the 9th to 18th centuries CE) are much influenced by Persian. For an enumeration of linguistic characteristics and vocabulary "deserving mention," see Tafazzoli 1999. The use of fahla (from Middle Persian pahlaw) to denote Media is attested from late Arsacid times so it reflects the pre-Sassanid use of the word to denote "Parthia", which, during Arsacid times, included most of Media.

Predecessor of modern Iranian languages edit

A number of modern Iranian languages spoken today have had medieval stages with attestations found in Classical and Early Modern Persian sources. G. Windfuhr believes that the "modern [Iranian] languages of Azarbaijan and Central Iran, located in ancient Media and Atropatene, are 'Median' dialects" and that those languages "continue the lost local and regional language" of Old Median, and bear similarity to "Medisms in Old Persian".[23] The term Pahlav/Fahlav (see fahlaviyat) in traditional medieval Persian sources is also used to refer to regionalisms in Persian poetry from western Iran that reflect the period of Parthian rule of those regions, but Windfuhr also ascribes some of these to older Median influence.[23] and their languages "being survivals of the Median dialects have certain linguistic affinities with Parthian".[24] The most notable New Median languages and dialects are spoken in central Iran[25] especially around Kashan.[26]

See also edit

Notes and References edit

  1. ^ "..a great many Old Persian lexemes...are preserved in a borrowed form in non-Persian languages – the so-called "collateral" tradition of Old Persian (within or outside the Achaemenid Empire).... not every purported Old Iranian form attested in this manner is an actual lexeme of Old Persian."[16]
  1. ^ Median at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  2. ^ "Ancient Iran::Language". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 2007-03-09.
  3. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989). Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden: Reichert.
  4. ^ a b c Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005). An Introduction to Old Persian (PDF) (2nd ed.). Cambridge: Harvard.
  5. ^ Dandamayev, Muhammad & I. Medvedskaya (2006). "Media". Encyclopaedia Iranica (OT 10 ed.). Costa Mesa: Mazda.
  6. ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 619)
  7. ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 157–8)
  8. ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 312)
  9. ^ (Hawkins 2010, "Greek and the Languages of Asia Minor to the Classical Period", p. 226)
  10. ^ (Gamkrelidze - Ivanov, 1995, "Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans: A Reconstruction and Historical..", p. 505)
  11. ^ (Fortson, IV 2009, "Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction", p. 419)
  12. ^ (YarShater 2007, "Encyclopaedia Iranica", p. 96)
  13. ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, p. 98)
  14. ^ (Tavernier 2007, p. 627)
  15. ^ (Tavernier 2007, pp. 352–3)
  16. ^ a b (Schmitt 2008, p. 99)
  17. ^ "Ancient Iran::The coming of the Iranians". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 2007. Retrieved 2007-02-28.
  18. ^ Kent, Roland G. (1953). Old Persian. Grammar, Texts, Lexicon (2nd ed.). New Haven: American Oriental Society. pp. 8-9.
  19. ^ Diakonoff, Igor M. (1985). "Media". In Ilya Gershevitch (ed.). Cambridge History of Iran, Vol 2. London: Cambridge UP. pp. 36–148.
  20. ^ Godley, A. D., ed. (1920). Herodotus, with an English translation. Cambridge: Harvard UP. (Histories 1.110)
  21. ^ Hamilton, H. C. & W. Falconer (1903). The Geography of Strabo. Literally translated, with notes. Vol. 3. London: George Bell & Sons. p. 125. (Geography 15.2)
  22. ^ Tafazzoli, Ahmad (1999). "Fahlavīyāt". Encyclopaedia Iranica. Vol. 9. New York: iranicaonline.org.
  23. ^ a b Page 15 from Windfuhr, Gernot (2009), "Dialectology and Topics", in Windfuhr, Gernot (ed.), The Iranian Languages, London and New York: Routledge, pp. 5–42, ISBN 978-0-7007-1131-4
  24. ^ Tafazzoli 1999
  25. ^ Borjian, Habib, “Median Succumbs to Persian after Three Millennia of Coexistence: Language Shift in the Central Iranian Plateau,” Journal of Persianate Societies, volume 2, no. 1, 2009, pp. 62-87. [1].
  26. ^ Borjian, Habib, “Median Dialects of Kashan,” Encyclopaedia Iranica, vol. 16, fasc. 1, 2011, pp. 38-48. [2].

Bibliography edit

  • Tavernier, Jan (2007), Iranica in the Achaemenid Period (ca. 550-330 B.C.): Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords, Attested in Non-Iranian Texts, Peeters Publishers, ISBN 978-90-429-1833-7
  • Schmitt, Rüdiger (2008), "Old Persian", in Woodard, Roger D. (ed.), The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas, Cambridge University Press, pp. 76–100, ISBN 978-0-521-68494-1

December 02, 2023
median, language, other, uses, median, disambiguation, also, medean, medic, language, medes, ancient, iranian, language, classified, belonging, northwestern, iranian, subfamily, which, includes, many, other, languages, such, kurdish, azeri, talysh, gilaki, maz. For other uses see Median disambiguation The Median language also Medean or Medic was the language of the Medes 2 It is an ancient Iranian language and classified as belonging to the Northwestern Iranian subfamily which includes many other languages such as Kurdish Old Azeri Talysh Gilaki Mazandarani Zaza Gorani and Baluchi 3 MedianRegionAncient IranEthnicityMedesEra500 BCE 500 CE 1 Language familyIndo European Indo IranianIranianWestern IranianNorthwesternMedianLanguage codesISO 639 3 a href https iso639 3 sil org code xme class extiw title iso639 3 xme xme a Linguist ListxmeGlottologNone Contents 1 Attestation 1 1 Words 2 Identity 3 Predecessor of modern Iranian languages 4 See also 5 Notes and References 5 1 BibliographyAttestation editMedian is attested only by numerous loanwords in Old Persian Nothing is known of its grammar but it shares important phonological isoglosses with Avestan rather than Old Persian Under the Median rule Median must to some extent have been the official Iranian language in western Iran 4 No documents dating to Median times have been preserved and it is not known what script these texts might have been in So far only one inscription of pre Achaemenid times a bronze plaque has been found on the territory of Media This is a cuneiform inscription composed in Akkadian perhaps in the 8th century BCE but no Median names are mentioned in it 5 Words edit Words of Median origin include nbsp The Ganj Nameh treasure epistle in Ecbatana The inscriptions are by Darius I and his son Xerxes I ci8ra origin 6 The word appears in ci8rabṛzana med exalting his linage ci8rami8ra med having mithraic origin ci8raspata med having a brilliant army etc 7 Farnah Divine glory Avestan khvarenah Paridaiza Paradise Spaka The word is Median and means dog 8 Herodotus identifies Spaka Gk spaxa female dog as Median rather than Persian 9 The word is still used in modern Iranian languages including Talyshi also suggested as a source to the Russian word for dog sobaka 10 11 12 vazṛka great as Western Persian bozorg 13 vispa all 14 as in Avestan The component appears in such words as vispafrya Med fem dear to all vispatarva med vanquishing all vispavada Median Old Persian leader of all etc 15 xsaya8iya king citation needed xsa8ra realm kingship This Median word attested in xsa8ra pa and continued by Middle Persian sahr land country city is an example of words whose Greek form known as romanized satrap from Gk satraphs satrapes mirrors as opposed to the tradition N 1 a Median rather than an Old Persian form also attested as xsaca and xsacapava of an Old Iranian word 16 zura evil and zurakara evil doer 13 Identity editA distinction from other ethnolinguistic groups such as the Persians is evident primarily in foreign sources such as from mid 9th century BCE Assyrian cuneiform sources 17 and from Herodotus mid 5th century BCE secondhand account of the Perso Median conflict It is not known what the native name of the Median language was just like for all other Old Iranian languages or whether the Medes themselves nominally distinguished it from the languages of other Iranian peoples Median is presumably 4 a substrate of Old Persian The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were particular to Old Persian Median forms are found only in personal or geographical names and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan Sometimes both Median and Old Persian forms are found which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look horse for instance is attested in Old Persian as both asa OPers and aspa Med 4 Using comparative phonology of proper names attested in Old Persian Roland Kent 18 notes several other Old Persian words that appear to be borrowings from Median for example taxma brave as in the proper name Taxmaspada Diakonoff 19 includes paridaiza paradise vazraka great and xshayathiya royal In the mid 5th century BCE Herodotus Histories 1 110 20 noted that spaka is the Median word for a female dog This term and meaning are preserved in living Iranian languages such as Talyshi In the 1st century BCE Strabo c 64BCE 24CE would note a relationship between the various Iranian peoples and their languages From beyond the Indus Ariana is extended so as to include some part of Persia Media and the north of Bactria and Sogdiana for these nations speak nearly the same language Geography 15 2 1 15 2 8 21 Traces of the later dialects of Media not to be confused with the Median language are preserved in the compositions of the fahlaviyat genre verse composed in the old dialects of the Pahla Fahla regions of Iran s northwest 22 Consequently these compositions have certain linguistic affinities with Parthian but the surviving specimens which are from the 9th to 18th centuries CE are much influenced by Persian For an enumeration of linguistic characteristics and vocabulary deserving mention see Tafazzoli 1999 The use of fahla from Middle Persian pahlaw to denote Media is attested from late Arsacid times so it reflects the pre Sassanid use of the word to denote Parthia which during Arsacid times included most of Media Predecessor of modern Iranian languages editA number of modern Iranian languages spoken today have had medieval stages with attestations found in Classical and Early Modern Persian sources G Windfuhr believes that the modern Iranian languages of Azarbaijan and Central Iran located in ancient Media and Atropatene are Median dialects and that those languages continue the lost local and regional language of Old Median and bear similarity to Medisms in Old Persian 23 The term Pahlav Fahlav see fahlaviyat in traditional medieval Persian sources is also used to refer to regionalisms in Persian poetry from western Iran that reflect the period of Parthian rule of those regions but Windfuhr also ascribes some of these to older Median influence 23 and their languages being survivals of the Median dialects have certain linguistic affinities with Parthian 24 The most notable New Median languages and dialects are spoken in central Iran 25 especially around Kashan 26 See also editLinear Elamite a script possibly used to write Median language Madai nbsp Languages portal nbsp Asia portalNotes and References edit a great many Old Persian lexemes are preserved in a borrowed form in non Persian languages the so called collateral tradition of Old Persian within or outside the Achaemenid Empire not every purported Old Iranian form attested in this manner is an actual lexeme of Old Persian 16 Median at MultiTree on the Linguist List Ancient Iran Language Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 2007 Retrieved 2007 03 09 Schmitt Rudiger 1989 Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum Wiesbaden Reichert a b c Skjaervo Prods Oktor 2005 An Introduction to Old Persian PDF 2nd ed Cambridge Harvard Dandamayev Muhammad amp I Medvedskaya 2006 Media Encyclopaedia Iranica OT 10 ed Costa Mesa Mazda Tavernier 2007 p 619 Tavernier 2007 pp 157 8 Tavernier 2007 p 312 Hawkins 2010 Greek and the Languages of Asia Minor to the Classical Period p 226 Gamkrelidze Ivanov 1995 Indo European and the Indo Europeans A Reconstruction and Historical p 505 Fortson IV 2009 Indo European Language and Culture An Introduction p 419 YarShater 2007 Encyclopaedia Iranica p 96 a b Schmitt 2008 p 98 Tavernier 2007 p 627 Tavernier 2007 pp 352 3 a b Schmitt 2008 p 99 Ancient Iran The coming of the Iranians Encyclopaedia Britannica Online 2007 Retrieved 2007 02 28 Kent Roland G 1953 Old Persian Grammar Texts Lexicon 2nd ed New Haven American Oriental Society pp 8 9 Diakonoff Igor M 1985 Media In Ilya Gershevitch ed Cambridge History of Iran Vol 2 London Cambridge UP pp 36 148 Godley A D ed 1920 Herodotus with an English translation Cambridge Harvard UP Histories 1 110 Hamilton H C amp W Falconer 1903 The Geography of Strabo Literally translated with notes Vol 3 London George Bell amp Sons p 125 Geography 15 2 Tafazzoli Ahmad 1999 Fahlaviyat Encyclopaedia Iranica Vol 9 New York iranicaonline org a b Page 15 from Windfuhr Gernot 2009 Dialectology and Topics in Windfuhr Gernot ed The Iranian Languages London and New York Routledge pp 5 42 ISBN 978 0 7007 1131 4 Tafazzoli 1999 Borjian Habib Median Succumbs to Persian after Three Millennia of Coexistence Language Shift in the Central Iranian Plateau Journal of Persianate Societies volume 2 no 1 2009 pp 62 87 1 Borjian Habib Median Dialects of Kashan Encyclopaedia Iranica vol 16 fasc 1 2011 pp 38 48 2 Bibliography edit Tavernier Jan 2007 Iranica in the Achaemenid Period ca 550 330 B C Linguistic Study of Old Iranian Proper Names and Loanwords Attested in Non Iranian Texts Peeters Publishers ISBN 978 90 429 1833 7 Schmitt Rudiger 2008 Old Persian in Woodard Roger D ed The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas Cambridge University Press pp 76 100 ISBN 978 0 521 68494 1 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Median language amp oldid 1184523240, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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