Proto-Iranian
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Proto-Iranian, is the reconstructed proto-language of the Iranian languages branch of Indo-European language family. Its speakers, the hypothetical Proto-Iranians, are assumed to have lived in the early 2rd millennium BC, and are usually connected with the Proto-Indo-Iranians and early Andronovo archaeological horizon.
Proto-Iranian was a Satem language, likely removed less than two millennium from the late Proto-Indo-European language, and in turn removed less than a millennium from the Avestalanguage. It is the ancestor of the Iranian languages such as Persian, Sogdian, Zazaki, Mazandarani, Kurdish and others.
[edit] Proto-Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Phonological Correspondences
| PIE | Av | PIE | Av | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *p | > | p | *ph̥atēr "father" | pitar- "father" |
| *bh | > | b | *bhréhatēr "brother" | brātar- "brother |
| *t | > | t | *tuhxóm "thou" | tvəm "thou" |
| *d | > | d | *doru "wood" | dār- "wood" |
| *dh | > | d | *dhohxneha- "grain" | dāna- "grain" |
| *k̂ | > | s | *dék̂m̥ "ten" | dasa "ten" |
| *ĝ | > | z | *ĝónu "knee" | zānu- "knee" |
| *ĝh | > | z | *ĝhimós "cold" | zəmaka- "winterstorm" |
| *k | > | x ~ č | *kruharós "bloody" | xrūra- "bloody" |
| *g | > | g ~ z | *haéuges- "strength" | aoǰah "strength" |
| *gh | > | g ~ z | *dl̥hxghós "long" | darəga- "long" |
| *kw | > | k ~ c | *kwós "who" | kō "who" |
| *gw | > | g ~ ǰ | *gwou- "cow" | gau- "cow" |
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Iranian (OP, Av) | Vedic Sanskrit |
|---|---|---|
| *açva ("horse") | Av, OP aspa | aśva |
| *bhag- | OP baj- (bāji; "tribute") | bhag- (bhaga) |
| *bhrātr- ("brother") | OP brātar | bhrātṛ |
| *bhūmī ("earth", "land") | OP būmi | bhūmī |
| *martya ("mortal, "man") | OP martya | martya |
| *māsa ("moon") | OP māha | māsa |
| *vāsara ("early") | OP vāhara ("spring") | vāsara ("morning") |
| *arta ("truth") | Av aša, OP arta | ṛta |
| *draugh- ("falsehood") | Av druj, OP draug- | druh- |
| *sauma "pressed (juice)" | Av haoma | soma |
