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Proto-Indo-Iranian was a satem language, likely removed less than a millennium from its ancestor, the late Proto-Indo-European language, and in turn removed less than a millennium from its descendants: Vedic Sanskrit (of the Rigveda) and Old Avestan (of the Gathas).
In addition to the vowels, *H, and *r̥ could function as the syllabic core. In many reconstructions, instances of *iH and *uH occur instead of *ī and *ū.
Two palatal series
Proto-Indo-Iranian is hypothesized to have contained two series of stops or affricates in the palatal to postalveolar region. The phonetic nature of this contrast is not clear, and hence they are usually referred to as the primary or first series (*ć *ȷ́ *ȷ́ʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European palatovelar *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ) and the second or secondary series (*č *ǰ *ǰʰ, continuing Proto-Indo-European plain and labialized velars, *k, *g, *gʰ and *kʷ, *gʷ, *gʷʰ, in palatalizing contexts). The following table shows the most common reflexes of the two series (Proto-Iranian is the hypothetical ancestor to the Iranian languages, including Avestan and Old Persian):
PII
Proto-Indo-Aryan
Sanskrit
Proto-Iranian
Avestan
Old Persian
Nuristani
*ć
*ś
ś ([ɕ]/[ç])
*ts
s
θ
ċ ([t͡s])
*ȷ́
*ź
j ([d͡ʑ]/[ɟ])
*dz
z
d
j̈ ([d͡z]) (> z)
*ȷ́ʰ
*źh
h ([ɦ])
*č
*c
c ([t͡ɕ/[c]])
*č
č
č
č
*ǰ
*j
j ([d͡ʑ]/[ɟ])
*ǰ
ǰ
ǰ
ǰ
*ǰʰ
*žh
h ([ɦ])
Laryngeal
Proto-Indo-European is usually hypothesized to have had three to four laryngeal consonants, each of which could occur in either syllabic or non-syllabic positions. In Proto-Indo-Iranian, the laryngeals merged as one phoneme /*H/. Beekes suggests that some instances of this /*H/ survived into Rigvedic Sanskrit and Avestan as unwritten glottal stops as evidenced by metrics.
Accent
Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit (and also Avestan, though it was not written down), Proto-Indo-Iranian had a pitch accent system similar to present-day Japanese, conventionally indicated by an acute accent over the accented vowel.
Historical phonology
The most distinctive phonological change separating Proto-Indo-Iranian from Proto-Indo-European is the collapse of the ablauting vowels *e, *o into a single vowel, Proto-Indo-Iranian *a (but see Brugmann's law). Grassmann's law, Bartholomae's law, and the ruki sound law were also complete in Proto-Indo-Iranian.
A fuller list of some of the hypothesized sound changes from Proto-Indo-European to Proto-Indo-Iranian follows:
The Satem shift, consisting of two sets of related changes. The PIE palatals *ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ are fronted or affricated, eventually resulting in PII *ć, *ȷ́, *ȷ́ʰ, while the PIE labiovelars *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ merge with the velars *k *g *gʰ.
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*ḱm̥tóm
*ćatám
śatám
satəm
centum
hund(red)
id
*ǵónu
*ȷ́ā́nu
jā́nu
zānu
Kt. SE j̈õ
genū
knee
id
*ǵʰimós
*ȷ́ʰimás
himá
ziiā̊
Kt. SE j̈im
hiems
'winter' / 'snow'
*kʷós
*kás
kás
ka
quis
who
id
*gʷṓws
*gā́wš
gaus
gao
Kt. go
bōs
cow
id
*gʷʰormós
*gʰarmás
gharmás
garəma
formus
warm
'warmth, heat'
The PIE liquids *l*r*l̥*r̥ merge as *r*r̥.
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*ḱléwos
*ćráwas
śrávas
srauua
clueō
'fame, honour, word'
*wĺ̥kʷos
*wŕ̥kas
vŕ̥kas
vəhrka
lupus
wolf
id
*gʷʰormós
*gʰarmás
gharmás
garəma
formus
warm
'warmth, heat'
The PIE syllabic nasals *m̥*n̥ merge with *a.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*déḱm̥
*dáćm̥
*dáća
dáśa
dasā
Kt. duċ
decem
ten
id
*gʷm̥tós
*gm̥tás
*gatás
gatá
gata
Kt. gëvë́
ventus
come
'come, gone'
*n̥bʰrós
*n̥bʰrás
*abʰrás
abhrá
aβra
imber
'rain, cloud'
Bartholomae's law: an aspirate immediately followed by a voiceless consonant becomes voiced stop + voiced aspirate. In addition, dʰ + t > dᶻdʰ.
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
English
Glossary
*ubʰtós
*ubdʰás
sámubdha
ubdaēna
web, weave
'woven' / 'made of woven material'
*wr̥dʰtós
*wr̥dᶻdʰás
vr̥ddʰá
vərəzda
'grown, mature'
*dʰéwgʰti
*dáwgdʰi
dógdhi
*daogdi
Pr. lüšt 'daughter'
daugh(·ter)
'to milk'
The Ruki rule: *s is retracted to *š when immediately following a liquid (*r *r̥ *l *l̥), a high vowel (*i *u), a PIE velar (*ḱ *ǵ *ǵʰ *k *g *gʰ *kʷ *gʷ *gʷʰ) or the syllabic laryngeal *H̥. Its allophone *z likewise becomes *ž.
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*wisós
*wišás
víṣas
viša
Katë viš
vīrus
'poison, venom'
*ḱeHs-
*ćH̥šam
aśiṣam
sīšā
'teach!'
*ǵéwseti
*ȷ́áwšati
jóṣati
zaošō
gustus
'to like, taste'
*kʷsép-
*kšáp-
kṣáp-
xšap-
'darkness'
*plúsis
*plúšiš
plúṣi
*fruši
pūlex
'flea, noxious insect'
*nisdós
*niždás
nīḷá/nīḍá
*nižda
nīdus
nest
'nest'
Before a dental occlusive, *ć becomes *š and *ȷ́ becomes *ž. *ȷ́ʰ also becomes *ž, with aspiration of the occlusive.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*h₁oḱtṓ
*Haćtā́
*Haštā́
aṣṭá
ašta
octō
eight
'eight'
*dr̥ḱtós
*dr̥ćtás
*dr̥štás
dr̥ṣṭá
dərəšta
'seen, visible, apparent'
*mr̥ǵt-
*mr̥ȷ́d-
*mr̥žd-
mr̥ḷ-/mr̥ḍ-
mərəžd-
'to forgive, pardon'
*uǵʰtós
*uȷ́dʰás
*uždʰás
ūḍhá
*užda
Kt. SE ṓzë 'came'
vector
weight
'carried'
The sequence *ćš was simplified to *šš.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*h₂éḱs-
*Háćšas
*Háššas
ákṣa
aša
axis
axle
'axle, shoulder'
The "second palatalization" or "law of palatals": *k *g *gʰ develop palatal allophones *č *ǰ *ǰʰ before the front vowels *i, *e. through an intermediate *kʲ *gʲ *gʲʰ.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*-kʷe
*-kʲa
*-ča
-ca
-ča
-que
'and'
*gʷih₃wós
*gʲiHwás
*ǰiHwás
jīvás
juuō
Kt. ǰiv- 'to be alive'
vīvus
quick
'alive, living'
*gʷʰénti
*gʲʰánti
*ǰʰánti
hánti
jaiṇti
Kt. SE ǰaň-
-fendit
'slays'
Brugmann's law: *o or *ó in an open syllable lengthens to *ā.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
Glossary
*deh₃tórm̥
*daHtā́rm̥
*daHtā́ram
dātā́ram
dātārəm
datōrem
'giver' (accusative singular)
The vowels *e *o merge with *a. Similarly, *ē, *ō merge with *ā. This has the effect of giving full phonemic status to the second palatal series *č *ǰ *ǰʰ.
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*dédeh₃ti
*dádaHti
dádāti
dadāiti
Kt. pře-
dat
'to give'
*h₃dónts
*Hdánts
dant
dantan
Kt. dut
dēns
tooth
'tooth'
*bʰréh₂tēr
*bʰráHtā
bhrā́tr̥
brātar
Kt. břo
frāter
brother
'brother'
*wṓkʷs
*wā́kš
vā́k
vāxš
vōx
'voice'
In certain positions, laryngeals were vocalized to *i. This preceded the second palatalization.
Following a consonant, and preceding a consonant cluster
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
Glossary
*ph₂tréy
*pitráy
pitré
piθrē
patrī
'father' (dative singular)
Following a consonant and word-final
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Glossary
*-medʰh₂
*-madʰHi
-mahi
-maidī/-maiδi
(1st person plural middle ending)
The Indo-European laryngeals all merged into one phoneme *H, which may have been a glottal stop. This was probably contemporary with the merging of *e and *o with *a.[citation needed]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Latin
English
Glossary
*ph₂tḗr
*pHtā́
pitā́
ptā
pater
father
id
According to Lubotsky's Law, *H disappeared when followed by a voiced nonaspirated stop and another consonant:
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Nuristani
Glossary
*bʰéh₂geti
*bʰáǰati
bhájati
bažat̰
'to divide, distribute'
Subsequent sound changes
Among the sound changes from Proto-Indo-Iranian to Indo-Aryan is the loss of the voiced sibilants *z, *ẓ, *ź; among those to Proto-Iranian is the de-aspiration of the PIE voiced aspirates.
Proto-Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Phonological Correspondences
Proto-Indo-Iranian has preserved much of the morphology of Proto-Indo-European (PIE): thematic and athematic inflection in both nouns and verbs, all three numbers (singular, dual and plural), all the tense, mood and voice categories in the verb, and the cases in the noun.
Personal pronouns (nominative case)
Pronouns, nouns and adjectives are inflected into the eight cases of PIE: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, vocative, ablative, locative and instrumental (with also a comitative/sociative meaning).
Pronoun
PIE
PII
I
*éǵ > *eǵHóm
*aȷ́Hám > *aȷ́ʰám
You
*túh₂
*túH
He
*ey- (*eyóm?)
*só
*ayám
*sá
She
*séh₂
*sáH
It
*tód
*tád
We
*wéy > *weyóm
*wayám
You (all)
*yū́
*yúH
They (m.)
*tóy
*táy
They (f.)
*téh₂es
*tā́s (or *táHas?)
They (n.)
*téh₂
*táH
Three examples of verbs
In verbs, the chief innovation is the creation of a passive conjugation with the suffix *-yá, with middle inflection.
The following examples lack the dual plural and are conjugated in the present tense.
"To bear/carry"
Pronoun
PIE
PII
I
*bʰéroh₂ > *bʰéroh₂mi
*bʰáraHmi
You
*bʰéresi
*bʰárasi
He, she, it
*bʰéreti
*bʰárati
We
*bʰéromos > *bʰéroh₂mos?
*bʰáraHmas
You (all)
*bʰérete
*bʰáratʰa
They
*bʰéronti
*bʰáranti
"To call/summon"
Pronoun
PIE
PII
I
(*ǵʰéwyemi >) *ǵʰwéyoh₂mi?
*ȷ́ʰwáyaHmi
You
*ǵʰwéyesi
*ȷ́ʰwayasi
He, she, it
*ǵʰwéyeti
*ȷ́ʰwáyati
We
*ǵʰwéyomos > *ǵʰwéyoh₂mos?
*ȷ́ʰwáyaHmas
You (all)
*ǵʰwéyete
*ȷ́ʰwayatʰa
They
*ǵʰwéyonti
*ȷ́ʰwáyanti
"To be" (athematic)
Pronoun
PIE
PII
I
*h₁ésmi
*Hásmi
You
*h₁ési
*Hási
He, she, it
*h₁ésti
*Hásti
We
*h₁smós
*Hsmás
You (all)
*h₁sté
*Hstʰá
They
*h₁sénti
*Hsánti
Examples of noun declension
Despite Proto-Indo-Iranian preserving much of the original morphology of Proto-Indo-European, an important innovation in the noun is the creation of a genitive plural ending *-nām used with vowel stems.
Beekes, Robert Stephen Paul (1988). A Grammar of Gatha-Avestan. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN 90-04-08332-4.
Burrow, T. (1973). The Sanskrit Language (third ed.). London: Faber & Faber. ISBN 0-571-04819-6.
Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction (illustrated ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 1-4051-0316-7.
Lubotsky, A. M. (1988). The System of Nominal Accentuation in Sanskrit and Proto-Indo-European. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN 90-04-08835-0.
Alexander Lubotsky, "The Indo-Iranian substratum" in Early Contacts between Uralic and Indo-European, ed. Carpelan et al., Helsinki (2001).
Asko Parpola, 'The formation of the Aryan branch of Indo-European', in Blench and Spriggs (eds), Archaeology and Language III, London and New York (1999).
Further reading
Contacts between Indo-Iranian and Uralic
Kuz’Mina, E.E. (2007). "Indo-Iranian contacts with other linguistic groups". In J.P. Mallory (ed.). The Origin of the Indo-Iranians. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill. pp. 199–204. doi:10.1163/ej.9789004160545.i-763.53.
Carpelan, Christian; Parpola, Asko (2017). "On the emergence, contacts and dispersal of Proto-Indo-European, Proto-Uralic and Proto-Aryan in an archaeological perspective". In Adam Hyllested; Benedicte Nielsen Whitehead; Thomas Olander; Birgit Anette Olsen (eds.). Language and Prehistory of the Indo-European Peoples: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective. Copenhagen Studies in Indo-European. Vol. 7. Copenhagen: Museum Tusculanums Forlag. pp. 77–87. ISBN 9788763545310.
Parpola, Asko (2017a). "Finnish vatsa ~ Sanskrit vatsá and the formation of Indo-Iranian and Uralic languages" (PDF). Suomalais-Ugrilaisen Seuran Aikakauskirja. 2017 (96): 245–286. doi:10.33340/susa.70229.
Holopainen, Sampsa (2019). Indo-Iranian borrowings in Uralic: Critical overview of sound substitutions and distribution criterion. Helsinki: University of Helsinki. PhD thesis.
Holopainen, Sampsa (2020). "Indo-Iranian loanwords in Finnic - A critical overview". Acta Linguistica Petropolitana. Труды института лингвистических исследований. XVI (3): 613–668. doi:10.30842/alp2306573716319. Access date: 11.05.2024.
Bjørn, RG (2022). "Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia: Six new perspectives on prehistoric exchange in the Eastern Steppe Zone". Evol Hum Sci. 4: e23. doi:10.1017/ehs.2022.16. PMC 10432883. PMID 37599704.
Sámmol Ánte, Luobbal Sámmol (2022). "Proto-Uralic". In Marianne Bakró-Nagy; Johanna Laakso; Elena Skribnik (eds.). The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford: Oxford University Press. pp. 3–27 [25–26]. doi:10.1093/oso/9780198767664.003.0001. ISBN 978-0-19-876766-4. Accessed 10 May 2024.
Holopainen, S. (2023). "The RUKI Rule in Indo-Iranian and the Early Contacts with Uralic". In Nikolaos Lavidas; Alexander Bergs; Elly van Gelderen; Ioanna Sitaridou (eds.). Internal and External Causes of Language Change: The Naxos Papers. Springer Nature. pp. 315–346. doi:10.1007/978-3-031-30976-2_11. ISBN 9783031309762.
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