Old Persian language

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The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan). 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^[1] the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun inscription (dated to 525 BCE).

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, does not belong to the same geographic division as Old Persian and is typologically distinct.

Language evolution

By the 4th. century, the late Achaemenid period, 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."^[2] Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian. Professor. Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and also the writer of the book Persian Grammar states: The language known as New Persian, which usually called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Dari or Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan, Parthian, Soghdian, Kurdish, Pashto, etc., Old Middle and New Persian represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars (the true Persian country from the historical point of view) and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran^[3]. Consequently, Modern Persian is one of the few Indo-European languages which has extant writing in its old, middle and modern form. Comparison at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax.

Substrates

Old Persian "presumably"^[2] has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not 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 [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)."^[2]

Script

Main article: Old Persian cuneiform 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

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)
  
  

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'.

Syntax and Word Order

                           needs editing!

Lexicon

See also

Ancient Near East portal

• Iranian languages
• Old Persian cuneiform script
• Iranian Languages vocabulary comparison table

References and Bibliography

Further reading

• Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard, http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/OldPersian/opcomplete.pdf 
• Peterson, Joseph H. (2006), Old Persian Texts, Herndon, VA: avesta.org, http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm 
• Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1995), "Cases in Iranian languages and dialects", Encyclopedia Iranica, 5, Costa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 25-37 
• Stolper, Matthew W. & Jan Tavernier (1995), "From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian Administrative Tablet from the Persepolis Fortification", Arta, 2007:1, Paris: Achemenet.com 
• University Of Chicago (2007, June 22). Everyday Text Shows That Old Persian Was Probably More Commonly Used Than Previously Thought.[2][3]

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