Old Persian Totally Explained

Everything about Old Persian totally explained

Old Persian is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages. Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt.

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. Avestan, the only other attested Old Iranian language, doesn't belong to the same geographic division as Old Persian and is typologically distinct.

Language evolution

Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian.
By the late Achaemenid period (4th c. CE), the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius's inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian."

Substrates

Old Persian "presumably" has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it didn't share in the developments that were peculiar 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 [attestedin Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)."

Script

Old Persian was written from left to right the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script. The Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs representing vowels and consonants, 8 logograms, and 3 signs which can be combined to represent any numeral, although only a few numbers are actually attested in the inscriptions.

Phonology

The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
Vowels

Long: /aː/ /iː/ /uː/
Short: /a/ /i/ /u/

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'. Present, Active>

		Athematic	Thematic
		'be'	'bring'
Sg.	1.pers.	a^hmiy	barāmiy
Sg.	3.pers.	astiy	baratiy
Pl.	1.pers.	a^hmahiy	barāmahiy
Pl.	3.pers.	hatiy	baratiy

Imperfect, Active>

		Athematic	Thematic
		'do, make'	'be, become'
Sg.	1.pers.	akunavam	abavam
Sg.	3.pers.	akunauš	abava
Pl.	1.pers.	akumā	abavāmā
Pl.	3.pers.	akunava	abava

Present participle>

Active	Middle
-nt-	-amna-

Past participle>

-ta-

Infinitive>

-tanaiy

Lexicon

Proto-Indo-Iranian	Old Persian	Middle Persian	Modern Persian	meaning
*açva	aspa	asp	asp	horse
*kāma	kāma	kām	kām	desire
*daiva	daiva	div	div	devil
	drayah	drayā	daryā	sea
	dasta	dast	dast	hand
*bhāgī	bāji	bāj	bāj	tribute
*bhrātr-	brātar	brādar	barādar	brother
*bhūmī	būmi	būm	būm	region, land
*martya	martya	mard	mard	man
*māsa	māha	māh	māh	moon, month
*vāsara	vāhara	Bahār	bahār	spring
	stūnā	stūn	sotūn	column (related to stand)
	šiyāta	šād	šād	happy
*arta	arta	ard	ord	truth
*draugh-	drauga	drōgh	dorōgh	lie (maybe legendary related to drought)

Further Information

Get more info on 'Old Persian'.

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