Jump to content

Scythian languages: Difference between revisions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Browse history interactively
[pending revision][pending revision]
← Previous editNext edit →
Content deleted Content added
VisualWikitext
No edit summary
Tirgil34 (talk | contribs)
271 edits
No edit summary
Line 125: Line 125:
* Or the first part of the name may reflect something like Iranian ''raiwant-'' "rich", cf. Ossetic ''riwæ'' "rich".<ref>{{harvnb|Hinge|2005|pp=89–94}}</ref>
* Or the first part of the name may reflect something like Iranian ''raiwant-'' "rich", cf. Ossetic ''riwæ'' "rich".<ref>{{harvnb|Hinge|2005|pp=89–94}}</ref>


=== Herodotus' Scythian theonyms ===
=== Herodotus' Scythian theonyms ===


Herodotus also gives a list of Scythian theonyms (''Hist''. 4.59):
Herodotus also gives a list of Scythian theonyms (''Hist''. 4.59):
Line 154: Line 154:
</ref>
</ref>
*''Thagimasadas'' = [[Poseidon]].
*''Thagimasadas'' = [[Poseidon]].

== Various linguistic etymologies ==
There are only sparse written records about the Scythians, which makes statements about their language very difficult. Herodotus gives in his [[Histories_(Herodotus)#Book_IV_.28Melpomene.29|History Books]] several words about the Scythian language such as [[Etymology|etymologies]] like [[Arimaspi|''Arimaspoi'']] 'one-eyed' (4.27; their historicity is disputed) and ''Oiorpata'' 'men killer' (4.110). The identification of the components of those names is very complex. Most researchers suggest ΟΙΟΡ (oior) as iranian vīra- 'man, hero', while ΠΑΤΑ (Pata) is perhaps a prescription of ΜΑΤΑ, so Iranian ''mar'', 'kill'.

Herodotus also leads to a number of people-, gods- and peoples names. Furthermore there are known [[Cuneiform|cuneiform]] inscriptions dating from the [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Empire]] in the ancient Iranian city of [[Susa|Susa]]. [[Darius I|Darius I]], son of [[Hystaspes (father of Darius I)|Hystaspes]], left in it a Scythian language of a peculiar type.<ref>Niels Ludvig Westergaard: About the oldest period of Indian history with regard to the literature; About Buddha's year of death and other times in the earlier history of India: two treatises, 1862, p.2</ref><ref>A.D. Mordtmann, “About the cuneiform inscriptions of the second kind“, ZDMG XXIV, 1870, p. 50</ref>

{| class="wikitable"
|- class="hintergrundfarbe5"
! Word
! Scythian Word
! Source
! Interpretation
! Derived from
! Comment<br />
|-
| anira || anira || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to repair || Turkish ''tamir'', to repair || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || earth godess || Iranian ''ab'', water || Hermann Parzinger 2004, 78
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || earth godess || Turkish ''Yer-Sub'', earth godess (Yer–>earth; Sub–>water) || Ocak 2002; Haussig 1999, 213
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || Pra-Mother || Turkish ''Api'', mother || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || earth godess || Turkish ''Ebi'', livebearing mother (fertility) || Zakiev, 1986, 27
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || earth godess || Turkish ''Abiasch'', rain spirit (spiritual character) || Ármin Vámbéry 1885, 119
|-
| Api || Api || Herodot, Hist. 4.59 || earth godess || Turkish ''Abis'', rain evocator/to summon rain (shaman) || Ármin Vámbéry 1885, 119
|-
| Arar || Arar || Herodot, Hist. 4.48 || river || Turkish ''aryk'', flowing waters (stream) || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Arimaspoi || arima || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || one || -
|-
| Arimaspoi || arima || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || – || Turkish ''yarım'', half || Zakiev/Latyshev 1947, 307
|-
| Arimaspoi || aspoi? || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || – || Turkish ''sepi'', eye || Zakiev/Latyshev 1947, 307
|-
| Arimaspoi || spu || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || – || Turkish ''spu'', eye || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Arimaspoi || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || one-eyed || Mongolian ''äräm däk'', one-eyed || Laufer 1908, 452
|-
| Arimaspoi || Arimaspoi || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || mountaineer || Mongolian mountaineer || Neumann 1856
|-
| Arimaspoi || Arimaspoi || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || – || Iranian ''aspa'', horse || Tomaschek 1888, 761
|-
| Arimaspoi || Arimaspoi || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || one-eyed horseman || Turkish ''spu/sepi'' „eye“ und iranian ''aspa'' „horse“ || Phillips 1955, 173-174.
|-
| Arimaspoi || spu || Herodot, Hist. 4.27 || eye || – ||
|-
| Arpo'''xai''', Kola'''xai''', Lipo'''xai''' || – || – || – || Iranian ''xšāy'', to reign || ?
|-
| Arpok'''sai''', Kolak'''sai''', Lipok'''sai''' || – || – || – || Turkish ''soy'', clan/ancestry || Gasanov 2002, 210
|-
| Arpoksai || Arpok || – || – || Turkish ''Arpağ'', priest; or ''Arpalyk'', landowner || Gasanov 2002, 210
|-
| arta || arta || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to sit || Turkish ''otur'', to sit || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| Aschy || Aschy || Herodot, Hist. 4.23 || juice of a tree fruit || Bashkir ''akhsha/aschi'', juice of a tree fruit || Karl Friedrich Merleker 1841, 14 (-> the way of handling the fruit is identical)
|-
| daldu || daldu || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to fill || Turkish ''doldur'', to fill || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| enarei || enarei || Ibis, 4, 67 || womanlike man || Iranian ''a'', without || Abaev 1949
|-
| enarei || enarei || Ibis, 4, 67 || womanlike man || Iranian ''nar'', man || Abaev 1949
|-
| enarei || enarei || Ibis, 4, 67 || womanlike man || Turkish ''anair'', virago || Latyshev 1893, 63
|-
| enarei || enarei || Ibis, 4, 67 || castrated || Turkish ''enar'', to castrate/to lose his manhood || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| gik || gik || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || sky || Turkish ''gök'', sky || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| irchigi || irchigi || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to increase || Turkish ''choğal'', to increase || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| Kolaksai || Kolak || – || – || Turkish ''Kola'', Bronze; or ''kylych'', sword || Gasanov 2002, 216
|-
| kutta || kutta || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to add || Turkish ''kat'', to add || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| kyrbasia || kyrbasia || Herodot, Hist. 7.64 || acuate headdress || Turkish ''kur/koy'', to straighten up/to put; and ''baş/başa'', head/to the head || Mlasowsky 2006, 33
|-
| Lipoksai || '''Lip'''ok || – || – || Turkish ''Alp'', miraculous patron || Gasanov 2002, 204 (Lipoksai is also known as [[Afrasiab|''Afrasiab'']] and as the son of [[Tur (son of Fereydun)|''Tur'']] in the iranian mythology)
|-
| Oiorpata || Oiorpata || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || man killer ||
|-
| Oiorpata || oior || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || man || Turkish ''er'', man || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Oiorpata || pata || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || to kill/beat || Turkish ''patak'', to kill/beat || Karl Steuerwald 1974, 268
|-
| Oiorpata || pata || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || to kill/beat || Turkish ''bat'', to kill/beat || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Oiorpata || oior || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || to beat || general Romance ''battre'', to beat || G.Dremin, 2006
|-
| Oiorpata || oior || Herodot, Hist. 4.110 || man || Iranian ''vira'', man || ?
|-
| sagaris || sagar || Herodot, Hist. 7.64 || battle axe || Mordwinian ''sügä'', axe || Albrecht Wirth 1905, 184
|-
| Targitai || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.5 || – || ''Targit'', Turkish-Mongolian name || Karatay 2003, 161
|-
| Targitai || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.5 || – || ''Tarkutay'', Mongolian chieftain || Karatay 2003, 161
|-
| '''Targi'''tai || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.5 || – || Iranian ''' ''darga'' ''', long || Abaev 1949
|-
| Targi'''tai''' || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.5 || – || Iranian ''' ''tava'' ''', strength || Abaev 1949
|-
| Tr'''aspier''' || – || Herodot, Hist. 4.6 || – || Iranian ''' ''aspa'' ''', horse || Hermann Parzinger 2004, 78
|-
| val || val || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || way || Turkish ''yol'', way || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| vita || vita || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || opposite || English ''oppo'''site''' '', opposite || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
| vurun || vurun || Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) || to chop || Turkish ''vuruş'', to chop || A. Chay 2002, 155
|-
|}

Most researchers believe that the Scythian language belongs to the [[List_of_Northeastern_Iranian_languages|(old-)northeast Iranian]] of [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] group.<ref>O. Szemerényi, "Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian - Skudra - Sogdian - Saka", Proceedings of the Austrian Academy of Sciences 371, Vienna, 1980, Scripta minora, Vol 4, pp. 2051-2093.</ref><ref>R. Grousset, „The empire of the Steppes“, Rutgers University Press, 1989, S. 19 ff.; E. Jacbonson, „The Art of Scythians“, Brill Academic Publishers, 1995, S. 63, [[Special:BookSources/0700708960|ISBN 90-04-09856-9]]; J. P. Mallory, „In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth“, Thames and Hudson, 1998, Kap. 2, S. 51-53; V. Abaev/H. W. Bailey, [http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/unicode/v1f8/v1f8a013.html „ALANS“], [[Encyclopædia Iranica|Encyclopaedia Iranica]], online ed., 2009; D. Sinor, „Inner Asia: History — Civilization — Languages“, Routledge, 1997, S. 82, [[Special:BookSources/0700708960|ISBN 0-7007-0896-0]]</ref>

That the Scythian language is belonging to the northeastern branch of the Iranian group is also indicated by the fact that the Sauromatians or [[Sarmatians|Sarmatians]], according to Herodotus, used a corrupt form (dialect) of the Scythian language, and they were without doubt [[Iranian peoples|Iranians]]: In the late Greek inscriptions of the colonies of the northern Black Sea Coast have been handed down about 300 Iranian names, which can be explained only by Sarmatian influence.<ref>See Ladislav Zgusta: The Greek personal name of Greek cities of the northern Black Sea Coast. Prague 1955</ref> These names show some geographical differences in the sound development, which presumably suggests the existence of an eastern (=Scythian?) And a western (=Sarmatian?) dialect.<ref>Janosz Harmatta: Studies in the History and Language of the Sarmatians. Szeged 1970</ref> In other words: In ancient times the Scythians, Sarmatians and [[Saka|Saka]] formed a linguistic continuum, from which the [[Sogdiana|Sogdian]] †, the [[Alans|Alan]] † and the [[Ossetians|Ossetic]] languages occured. However, some authors affirm that the explanation of the Scythian words by the Iranian would be often full of contradictions and would be greatly exaggerated.<ref>Karl Bouda, Contributions to the Caucasian and Siberian Linguistics, Volume 24, Kraus Reprint, 1966, p.66</ref>


== Alanic ==
== Alanic ==

Revision as of 22:00, 19 January 2012

Scythian
Ptolemy's Scythia
Native toScythia
Extinctmostly extinct by AD 1000, remnants evolved into Ossetic
Dialects
  • Scytho-Sarmatian
Language codes
ISO 639-3xsc
Linguasphere58 (Iranic in general)[1]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.

Scythian languages (/[invalid input: 'icon']ˈsɪθiən/ or /ˈsɪðiən/) refers to all the languages spoken by all the peoples of a vast region of Eurasia named Scythia extending from the Vistula river in East Europe to Sakastan and Mongolia in Central Asia during ancient times. Included also are some languages of eastern Iran and the Central Asian subcontinent. These peoples were at some time by some ancient authors designated as "Scythians" with the form of the name customarily known to them. Languages of many different groups and families must have been spoken by the Scythians. Their modes of subsistence varied from sedentary and agricultural to nomadic and pastoral. They were both warriors and merchants.

The dominant ethnic groups among the Scythians, however, were nomadic pastoralists of Central Asia and the Pontic-Caspian steppe. Fragments of their speech known from inscriptions and words quoted in ancient authors as well as analysis of their names indicate that it was of the Indo-European language family, was Indo-Iranian, Iranian and most specifically Eastern Iranian. Further classification is uncertain and elusive. Alexander Lubotsky summarizes the known linguistic landscape as follows:[2]

Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the Scythian of that period [Old Iranian] – we have only a couple of personal and tribal names in Greek and Persian sources at our disposal – and cannot even determine with any degree of certainty whether it was a single language.

Classification

The vast majority of Scythological scholars agree that the Scythian-Sarmatian languages (and Ossetic) belong to the Eastern Iranian language family — like the once widespread but now extinct Sogdian language. This Iranian hypothesis relies principally on the fact that the Greek inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea Coast contain several hundreds of Sarmatian names showing a close affinity to the Ossetic language. [3]

Historians normally divide the Scytho-Sarmatian group chronologically rather than geographically:[citation needed]

  • Scythian (ca. 800 - 300 BC), mainly evidenced in Classical Greek authors
  • Sarmatian (ca. 300 BC - AD 400), mainly evidenced in Hellenistic and Roman inscriptions
  • Alanic (ca. AD 400 - 1000), mainly evidenced in Byzantine Greek authors

Some scholars [4] detect a division of Scytho-Sarmatian into two dialects: a western, more conservative dialect, and an eastern, more innovative one. The innovative dialect may correspond to Sarmatian, whereas the conservative dialect may continue the dialect spoken by the old Scythians before the invasion of the Sarmatians.

The Scytho-Khotanese group sub-divides into:

The Scythian languages may have formed a dialect continuum:

  • Scytho-Sarmatian languages were spoken by people originally of Iranian stock[5] from the 8th and 7th century BC onwards in the area of Ukraine, Southern Russia and Kazakhstan. Modern Ossetic survives as a continuation of the language family possibly represented by Scytho-Sarmatian inscriptions, although the Scytho-Sarmatian language family "does not simply represent the same [Ossetic] language" at an earlier date.[6]
  • Saka language or Scytho-Khotanese in the east: spoken in the Kingdom of Khotan (located in present-day Xinjiang, China), and including the Khotanese of Khotan and Tumshuqese of Tumshuq. Scholars classify these languages as North-Eastern Iranian.[7]

History

The approximate distribution of Eastern Iranian languages in 100 BC appears in orange.[citation needed]

Early East Iranians originated in the Yaz culture (ca. 1500-1100 BC) in Central Asia.[citation needed] The Scythians migrated from Central Asia toward Eastern Europe in the 8th and 7th century BC,[8] occupying today's Southern Russia and Ukraine and the Carpathian Basin and parts of Moldova and Dobruja. They disappeared from history after the Hunnish invasion of Europe in the 5th century AD, and Turkic (Avar, Batsange, etc.) and Slavic peoples probably assimilated most people speaking Scythian.[citation needed] However, in the Caucasus, Ossetic language belonging to the Scythian-Sarmatian linguistic continuum remains in use today, while in Central Asia, some languages belonging to Eastern Iranian family are still spoken, namely Pashto, Pamir languages and Yaghnobi.

Corpus

Inscriptions

Some scholars ascribe certain inscribed objects found in the Carpathian Basin and in Central Asia to the Scythians, but the interpretation of these inscriptions remains disputed (given that nobody has definitively identified the alphabet or translated the content).

An inscription from Saqqez written in the Hieroglyphic Hittite script may represent Scythian: [9]

Transliteration:pa-tì-na-sa-nà tà-pá wa-s₆-na-m₅ XL was-was-ki XXX ár-s-tí-m₅ ś₃-kar-kar (HA) har-s₆-ta₅ LUGAL | par-tì-ta₅-wa₅ ki-ś₃-a₄-á KUR-u-pa-ti QU-wa-a₅ | i₅-pa-ś₂-a-m₂
Transcription:patinasana tapa. vasnam: 40 vasaka 30 arzatam šikar. UTA harsta XŠAYAL. | Partitava xšaya DAHYUupati xva|ipašyam
Translation:"Delivered dish. Value: 40 calves 30 silver šiqlu. And it was presented to the king. | King Partitavas, the masters of the land property."

King Partitava equates to the Scythian king called Prototyēs in Herodotus (1.103) and known as Par-ta-tu-a in the Assyrian sources. ("Partatua of Sakasene" married the daughter of Esarhaddon c. 675 BC)

The Issyk inscription, found in a Scythian kurgan dating approximately to the 4th century BC, remains undeciphered, but some authorities assume that it represents Scythian.

Personal names

The primary sources for Scythian words remain the Scythian toponyms, tribal names, and numerous personal names in the ancient Greek texts and in the Greek inscriptions found in the Greek colonies on the Northern Black Sea Coast. These names suggest that the Scythian-Sarmatian language had close similarities to modern Ossetian.

Some scholars believe that many toponyms and hydronyms of the Russian and Ukrainian steppe have Scythian links. For example, Vasmer associates the name of the river Don with an assumed/reconstructed unattested Scythian word *dānu "water, river", and with Avestan dānu-, Pashto dand and Ossetic don. [10] The river names Don, Donets, Dnieper, Danube, Dniester and lake Donuzlav (the deepest one in Crimea, Ukraine) may also belong with the same word-group. [11]

Herodotus' Scythian etymologies

The Greek historian Herodotus provides another source of Scythian; he reports that the Scythians called the Amazons Oiorpata, and explains the name as a compound of oior, meaning "man", and pata, meaning "to kill" (Hist. 4,110).

  • Most scholars associate oior "man" with Avestan vīra- "man, hero", Sanskrit vīra-, PIE *u̯iHro-. Various explanations account for pata "kill":
    1. Avestan paiti- "lord", Sanskrit pati-, PIE *poti- (i.e. "man-ruler");[12]
    2. Ossetic maryn "kill", Pashto mrəl, Sanskrit mārayati, PIE *mer- "die" (confusion of Greek Μ and Π);[13]
    3. Ossetic fædyn "cleave", Sanskrit pātayati "fell", PIE *peth₂- "fall".[14]
  • Alternatively, one scholar suggests Iranian aiwa- "one" + warah- "breast",[15] the Amazons believed to have removed a breast to aid drawing a bow, according to some ancient folklorists, and as reflected in Greek folk-etymology: a- (privative) + mazos, "without breast".

Elsewhere Herodotus explains the name of the mythical one-eyed tribe Arimaspoi as a compound of the Scythian words arima, meaning "one", and spu, meaning "eye" (Hist. 4,27).

  • Some scholars connect arima "one" with Ossetic ærmæst "only", Avestic airime "quiet", Greek erēmos "empty", PIE *h₁(e)rh₁mo-?, and spu "eye" with Avestic spas- "foretell", Sanskrit spaś-, PIE *speḱ- "see".[16]
  • However, Iranian usually expresses "one" and "eye" with words like aiwa- and čašman- (Ossetic īw and cæst).
  • Other scholars reject Herodotus' etymology and derive the ethnonym Arimaspoi from Iranian aspa- "horse" instead.[17]
  • Or the first part of the name may reflect something like Iranian raiwant- "rich", cf. Ossetic riwæ "rich".[18]

Herodotus' Scythian theonyms

Herodotus also gives a list of Scythian theonyms (Hist. 4.59):

  • Tabiti = Hestia. Perhaps related to Sanskrit Tapatī, a heroine in the Mahābhārata, literally "the burning (one)".[19]
  • Papaios = Zeus. Either "father" (Herodotus) or "protector", Avestan, Sanskrit pā- "protect", PIE *peh₃-.[20]
  • Api = Gaia. Either "mother"[21] or "water", Avestan, Sanskrit āp-, PIE Hep-[22]
  • Goitosyros or Oitosyros = Apollo. Perhaps Avestan gaēθa- "animal" + sūra- "rich".[23]
  • Argimpasa or Artimpasa = Aphrodite Urania. To Ossetic art and Pashto or, "fire", Avestan āθra-.[24]
  • Thagimasadas = Poseidon.

Various linguistic etymologies

There are only sparse written records about the Scythians, which makes statements about their language very difficult. Herodotus gives in his History Books several words about the Scythian language such as etymologies like Arimaspoi 'one-eyed' (4.27; their historicity is disputed) and Oiorpata 'men killer' (4.110). The identification of the components of those names is very complex. Most researchers suggest ΟΙΟΡ (oior) as iranian vīra- 'man, hero', while ΠΑΤΑ (Pata) is perhaps a prescription of ΜΑΤΑ, so Iranian mar, 'kill'.

Herodotus also leads to a number of people-, gods- and peoples names. Furthermore there are known cuneiform inscriptions dating from the Achaemenid Empire in the ancient Iranian city of Susa. Darius I, son of Hystaspes, left in it a Scythian language of a peculiar type.[25][26]

Word Scythian Word Source Interpretation Derived from Comment
anira anira Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to repair Turkish tamir, to repair A. Chay 2002, 155
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 earth godess Iranian ab, water Hermann Parzinger 2004, 78
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 earth godess Turkish Yer-Sub, earth godess (Yer–>earth; Sub–>water) Ocak 2002; Haussig 1999, 213
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 Pra-Mother Turkish Api, mother G.Dremin, 2006
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 earth godess Turkish Ebi, livebearing mother (fertility) Zakiev, 1986, 27
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 earth godess Turkish Abiasch, rain spirit (spiritual character) Ármin Vámbéry 1885, 119
Api Api Herodot, Hist. 4.59 earth godess Turkish Abis, rain evocator/to summon rain (shaman) Ármin Vámbéry 1885, 119
Arar Arar Herodot, Hist. 4.48 river Turkish aryk, flowing waters (stream) G.Dremin, 2006
Arimaspoi arima Herodot, Hist. 4.27 one -
Arimaspoi arima Herodot, Hist. 4.27 – Turkish yarım, half Zakiev/Latyshev 1947, 307
Arimaspoi aspoi? Herodot, Hist. 4.27 – Turkish sepi, eye Zakiev/Latyshev 1947, 307
Arimaspoi spu Herodot, Hist. 4.27 – Turkish spu, eye G.Dremin, 2006
Arimaspoi – Herodot, Hist. 4.27 one-eyed Mongolian äräm däk, one-eyed Laufer 1908, 452
Arimaspoi Arimaspoi Herodot, Hist. 4.27 mountaineer Mongolian mountaineer Neumann 1856
Arimaspoi Arimaspoi Herodot, Hist. 4.27 – Iranian aspa, horse Tomaschek 1888, 761
Arimaspoi Arimaspoi Herodot, Hist. 4.27 one-eyed horseman Turkish spu/sepi „eye“ und iranian aspa „horse“ Phillips 1955, 173-174.
Arimaspoi spu Herodot, Hist. 4.27 eye –
Arpoxai, Kolaxai, Lipoxai – – – Iranian xšāy, to reign ?
Arpoksai, Kolaksai, Lipoksai – – – Turkish soy, clan/ancestry Gasanov 2002, 210
Arpoksai Arpok – – Turkish Arpağ, priest; or Arpalyk, landowner Gasanov 2002, 210
arta arta Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to sit Turkish otur, to sit A. Chay 2002, 155
Aschy Aschy Herodot, Hist. 4.23 juice of a tree fruit Bashkir akhsha/aschi, juice of a tree fruit Karl Friedrich Merleker 1841, 14 (-> the way of handling the fruit is identical)
daldu daldu Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to fill Turkish doldur, to fill A. Chay 2002, 155
enarei enarei Ibis, 4, 67 womanlike man Iranian a, without Abaev 1949
enarei enarei Ibis, 4, 67 womanlike man Iranian nar, man Abaev 1949
enarei enarei Ibis, 4, 67 womanlike man Turkish anair, virago Latyshev 1893, 63
enarei enarei Ibis, 4, 67 castrated Turkish enar, to castrate/to lose his manhood G.Dremin, 2006
gik gik Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) sky Turkish gök, sky A. Chay 2002, 155
irchigi irchigi Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to increase Turkish choğal, to increase A. Chay 2002, 155
Kolaksai Kolak – – Turkish Kola, Bronze; or kylych, sword Gasanov 2002, 216
kutta kutta Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to add Turkish kat, to add A. Chay 2002, 155
kyrbasia kyrbasia Herodot, Hist. 7.64 acuate headdress Turkish kur/koy, to straighten up/to put; and baş/başa, head/to the head Mlasowsky 2006, 33
Lipoksai Lipok – – Turkish Alp, miraculous patron Gasanov 2002, 204 (Lipoksai is also known as Afrasiab and as the son of Tur in the iranian mythology)
Oiorpata Oiorpata Herodot, Hist. 4.110 man killer
Oiorpata oior Herodot, Hist. 4.110 man Turkish er, man G.Dremin, 2006
Oiorpata pata Herodot, Hist. 4.110 to kill/beat Turkish patak, to kill/beat Karl Steuerwald 1974, 268
Oiorpata pata Herodot, Hist. 4.110 to kill/beat Turkish bat, to kill/beat G.Dremin, 2006
Oiorpata oior Herodot, Hist. 4.110 to beat general Romance battre, to beat G.Dremin, 2006
Oiorpata oior Herodot, Hist. 4.110 man Iranian vira, man ?
sagaris sagar Herodot, Hist. 7.64 battle axe Mordwinian sügä, axe Albrecht Wirth 1905, 184
Targitai – Herodot, Hist. 4.5 – Targit, Turkish-Mongolian name Karatay 2003, 161
Targitai – Herodot, Hist. 4.5 – Tarkutay, Mongolian chieftain Karatay 2003, 161
Targitai – Herodot, Hist. 4.5 – Iranian darga , long Abaev 1949
Targitai – Herodot, Hist. 4.5 – Iranian tava , strength Abaev 1949
Traspier – Herodot, Hist. 4.6 – Iranian aspa , horse Hermann Parzinger 2004, 78
val val Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) way Turkish yol, way A. Chay 2002, 155
vita vita Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) opposite English opposite , opposite A. Chay 2002, 155
vurun vurun Cuneiform Inscriptions from Susa, Iran (A.D. Mordtmann, 1870, 50) to chop Turkish vuruş, to chop A. Chay 2002, 155

Most researchers believe that the Scythian language belongs to the (old-)northeast Iranian of Indo-European group.[27][28]

That the Scythian language is belonging to the northeastern branch of the Iranian group is also indicated by the fact that the Sauromatians or Sarmatians, according to Herodotus, used a corrupt form (dialect) of the Scythian language, and they were without doubt Iranians: In the late Greek inscriptions of the colonies of the northern Black Sea Coast have been handed down about 300 Iranian names, which can be explained only by Sarmatian influence.[29] These names show some geographical differences in the sound development, which presumably suggests the existence of an eastern (=Scythian?) And a western (=Sarmatian?) dialect.[30] In other words: In ancient times the Scythians, Sarmatians and Saka formed a linguistic continuum, from which the Sogdian †, the Alan † and the Ossetic languages occured. However, some authors affirm that the explanation of the Scythian words by the Iranian would be often full of contradictions and would be greatly exaggerated.[31]

Alanic

The Alanic language as spoken by the Alans from about the 5th to the 11th centuries AD formed a dialect directly descended from the earlier Scytho-Sarmatian languages, and forming in its turn the ancestor of the Ossetic language. Byzantine Greek authors recorded only a few fragments of this language.[32]

Substratum theories

Divergent views, have proposed that the Scythian languages may have become a substratum to the Hungarian[33] or Proto-Slavic languages.[34] Another proposal by Boris Rybakov suggests a Proto-Slavic substrate. [35]

However, Iranian and specifically Scythian(-Sarmatian) influence, most palpably in the form of various loanwords, is generally accepted by linguists, historians and ethnologists for the Ugric and Slavic languages. To the Scytho-Sarmatian loanwords belongs the Ukrainian and Russian word "khoroshyi" (good) which has Iranian root "khur" (good) and is not found in the other Slavic languages but in Ossetian (northeastern Iranian) instead.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ "Synopsis" (PDF). Linguasphere Register. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 5, 2006. The code stands for Indo-European, phylosector 5; Iranic, phylozone 8, where Iranic is the same as the Linguist List's Iranian. The Register does not include extinct languages.
  2. ^ Lubotsky 2002, p. 190.
  3. ^ Compare L. Zgusta, Die griechischen Personennamen griechischer Städte der nördlichen Schwarzmeerküste [The Greek personal names of the Greek cities of the northern Black Sea coast], 1955.
  4. ^ E.g. Harmatta 1970.[page needed]
  5. ^ Scythian, member of a normadic people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC - Encyclopædia Britannica 15th edition - Micropaedia on "Scythian"
  6. ^ The languages of the Scytho-Sarmatian inscription may represent dialects of a language family of which Modern Ossetic is a continuation, but does not simply represent the same language at an earlier time - Encyclopædia Britannica 15th edition - Macropedia on Languages of the World
  7. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Reichert, 1989.[page needed]
  8. ^ Scythian, member of a nomadic people originally of Iranian people who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC—The New Encyclopædia Britannica, 15th edition—Micropædia on "Scythian", 10:576
  9. ^ Text and translation in J. Harmatta, "Herodotus, historian of the Cimmerians and the Scythians", in: Hérodote et les peuples non grecs, Vandœuvres-Genève 1990, pp. 115-130.
  10. ^ M. Vasmer, Untersuchungen über die ältesten Wohnsitze der Slaven. Die Iranier in Südrußland, Leipzig 1923, 74.
  11. ^ P. Kretschmer, "Zum Balkan-Skythischen", Glotta 24 (1935), 1-56, here: 7ff.
  12. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 15.
  13. ^ V.I. Abaev, Osetinskij jazyk i fol’klor, Moscow / Leningrad 1949, vol. 1, 172, 176, 188.
  14. ^ L. Zgusta, "Skythisch οἰόρπατα «ἀνδροκτόνοι»", Annali dell’Istituto Universario Orientale di Napoli 1 (1959) pp. 151-156.
  15. ^ Hinge 2005, pp. 94–98
  16. ^ J. Marquart, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Eran, Göttingen 1905, 90-92; Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 12; H.H. Schaeder, Iranica. I: Das Auge des Königs, Berlin 1934, 16-19.
  17. ^ W. Tomaschek, "Kritik der ältesten Nachrichten über den skythischen Norden", Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 116 (1888), 715-780, here: 761; K. Müllenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde, Berlin 1893, vol. 3, 305-306; R. Grousset, L’empire des steppes, Paris 1941, 37 n. 3; I. Lebedensky, Les Scythes. La civilisation des steppes (VIIe-IIIe siècles av. J.-C.), Paris 2001, 93.
  18. ^ Hinge 2005, pp. 89–94
  19. ^ W. Brandenstein, "Die Abstammungssagen der Skythen", Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 52 (1953) 183-211, here: 191; Ė.A. Grantovskij & D.S. Raevskij, "Ob iranojazyčnom i «indoarijskom» naselenii Severnogo Pričernomor’ja v antičnuju ėpochu", in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja. Lingvistika, istorija, archeologija, Moscow 1984, 47-66, here: 53-55; G. Dumézil, Romans de Scythie et d’alentour, Paris 1978, 125-145; Dumézil offers a different interpretation in La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés. Esquisses de mythologie, Paris 1983, 124-125.
  20. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 15; L. Zgusta, "Zwei skythische Götternamen", Archiv orientální 21 (1953), pp. 270-271; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54.
  21. ^ L. Zgusta, "Zwei skythische Götternamen", Archiv orientální 21 (1953), pp. 270-271.
  22. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 11; Brandenstein, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 52 (1953) 190-191; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54.
  23. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 13; other interpretations in Dumézil, La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés, 1983, 121-122; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54-55.
  24. ^ Dumézil, La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés, 1983.
  25. ^ Niels Ludvig Westergaard: About the oldest period of Indian history with regard to the literature; About Buddha's year of death and other times in the earlier history of India: two treatises, 1862, p.2
  26. ^ A.D. Mordtmann, “About the cuneiform inscriptions of the second kind“, ZDMG XXIV, 1870, p. 50
  27. ^ O. Szemerényi, "Four old Iranian ethnic names: Scythian - Skudra - Sogdian - Saka", Proceedings of the Austrian Academy of Sciences 371, Vienna, 1980, Scripta minora, Vol 4, pp. 2051-2093.
  28. ^ R. Grousset, „The empire of the Steppes“, Rutgers University Press, 1989, S. 19 ff.; E. Jacbonson, „The Art of Scythians“, Brill Academic Publishers, 1995, S. 63, ISBN 90-04-09856-9; J. P. Mallory, „In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language Archeology and Myth“, Thames and Hudson, 1998, Kap. 2, S. 51-53; V. Abaev/H. W. Bailey, „ALANS“, Encyclopaedia Iranica, online ed., 2009; D. Sinor, „Inner Asia: History — Civilization — Languages“, Routledge, 1997, S. 82, ISBN 0-7007-0896-0
  29. ^ See Ladislav Zgusta: The Greek personal name of Greek cities of the northern Black Sea Coast. Prague 1955
  30. ^ Janosz Harmatta: Studies in the History and Language of the Sarmatians. Szeged 1970
  31. ^ Karl Bouda, Contributions to the Caucasian and Siberian Linguistics, Volume 24, Kraus Reprint, 1966, p.66
  32. ^ Ladislav Zgusta, "The old Ossetic Inscription from the River Zelenčuk" (Veröffentlichungen der Iranischen Kommission = Sitzungsberichte der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse 486) Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1987. ISBN 3-7001-0994-6 in Kim, op.cit., 54.
  33. ^ "The script of Eden"
  34. ^ S.V. Rjabčikov, Drevnie texty slavjan i adygov [Ancient texts of the Slavs and the Adyghe], Krasnodar 1998; Skifo-sarmatskie istoki slavjanskoj kul’tury: Materialy Južnorossijskoj fol’klorno-ėtnografičeskoj ekspedicii [Scytho-Sarmatian sources of Slavic culture: Materials of the South-Russian folkloric-ethnographic expedition], Krasnodar 2002; see also the homepage of Rjabčikov on the Slavonic Antiquity.
  35. ^ B.A. Rybakov, Gerodotova Skifija. Istoriko-geografičeskij analiz [Herodotian Scythia:a historical-geographic analysis], Moscow 1979.

Bibliography

Additional literature

  • Harmatta, J.: Studies in the History and Language of the Sarmatians, Szeged 1970.
  • Mayrhofer, M.: Einiges zu den Skythen, ihrer Sprache, ihrem Nachleben. Vienna 2006.
  • Zgusta, L.: Die griechischen Personennamen griechischer Städte der nördlichen Schwarzmeerküste. Die ethnischen Verhältnisse, namentlich das Verhältnis der Skythen und Sarmaten, im Lichte der Namenforschung, Prague 1955.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Scythian_languages&oldid=472135253"