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In addition to the vowels, *H, and *r̥ could function as the syllabic core.
Two palatal series
Proto-Indo-Iranian is hypothesized to have contained two series of stops or affricates in the palatal to postalveolar region.[3] 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):[4][5]
PII
Proto-Indo-Aryan
Sanskrit
Proto-Iranian
Avestan
Old Persian
Nuristani
*ć
ś ([ɕ])
ś ([ɕ])
*ts
s
θ
ċ ([ts]) / š
*ȷ́
j ([dʑ])
j ([dʑ])
*dz
z
d
j ([dz]) / z
*ȷ́ʰ
źh ([dʑʱ])
h ([ɦ])
*č
c ([tɕ])
c ([tɕ])
*č
č
č
č
*ǰ
j ([ɖʐ])
j ([dʑ])
*ǰ
ǰ
ǰ
ǰ / ž
*ǰʰ
źh ([ɖʐʱ])
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.[6]
Accent
Like Proto-Indo-European and Vedic Sanskrit (and also Avestan, though it was not written down[7]), 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.[8]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English
Glossary
*ḱm̥tóm
*ćatám
śatám
satəm
centum
hund(red)
id
*ǵónu
*ȷ́ā́nu
jā́nu
zānu
genū
'knee'
id
*ǵʰimós
*ȷ́ʰimás
himá
ziiā̊
hiems
'winter' / 'snow'
*kʷós
*kás
kás
ka
quis
who
id
*gʷṓws
*gā́wš
gaus
gao
bōs
'cow'
id
*gʷʰormós
*gʰarmás
gharmás
garəma
formus
warm
'warmth, heat'
The PIE liquids *l*r*l̥*r̥ merge as *r*r̥.[9]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
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.[9]
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English
Glossary
*déḱm̥
*dáćm̥
*dáća
dáśa
dasā
decem
ten
id
*gʷm̥tós
*gm̥tás
*gatás
gatá
gata
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.[10]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
English
Glossary
*ubʰtós
*ubdʰás
sámubdha
ubdaēna
(web, weave)
'woven' / 'made of woven material'
*wr̥dʰtós
*wr̥dᶻdʰás
vr̥ddʰá
vərəzda
'grown, mature'
*dʰéwgʰti
*dáwgdʰi
dógdhi
*daogdi
(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.[11] Its allophone *z likewise becomes *ž.[9]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English
Glossary
*wisós
*wišás
víṣas
viša
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.[12]
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
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
vector
weight
'carried'
The sequence *ćš was simplified to *šš.[13]
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
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.[10] through an intermediate *kʲ *gʲ *gʲʰ.
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English
Glossary
*-kʷe
*-kʲa
*-ča
-ca
-ča
-que
'and'
*gʷih₃wós
*gʲiHwás
*ǰiHwás
jīvás
juuō
vīvus
quick
'alive, living'
*gʷʰénti
*gʲʰánti
*ǰʰánti
hánti
jaiṇti
-fendit
'slays'
Brugmann's law: *o or *ó in an open syllable lengthens to *ā.[14]
PIE
pre-PII
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
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
Latin
English
Glossary
*dédeh₃ti
*dádaHti
dádāti
dadāiti
dat
'to give'
*h₃dónts
*Hdánts
dant
dantan
dēns
tooth
'tooth'
*bʰréh₂tēr
*bʰráHtā
bhrā́tr̥
brātar
frāter
brother
'brother'
*wṓkʷs
*wā́kš
vā́k
vāxš
vōx
'voice'
In certain positions, laryngeals were vocalized to *i. This preceded the second palatalization.[15][16]
Following a consonant, and preceding a consonant cluster
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English/Glossary
*ph₂tréy
*pitráy
pitré
piθrē
patrī
'father' (dative singular)
Following a consonant and word-final
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
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.[17]
PIE
PII
Sanskrit
Avestan
Latin
English
*ph₂tḗr
*pHtā́
pitā́
ptā
pater
'father'
According to Lubotsky's Law, *H disappeared when followed by a voiced nonaspirated stop and another consonant:[18]
Proto-Indo-Iranian has preserved much of the morphology of Proto-Indo-European: thematic and athematic inflection in both nouns and verbs, all three numbers of singular, dual and plural, all the tense, mood and voice categories in the verb, and the cases in the noun.
An important innovation in the noun is the creation of a genitive plural ending *-nām used with vowel stems. In verbs, the chief innovation is the creation of a passive conjugation with the suffix *-yá, with middle inflection.[20]
^Peter Bellwood; Immanuel Ness (10 November 2014). The Global Prehistory of Human Migration. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN978-1-118-97059-1.
^Hock, Hans Henrich (2015). "Proto-Indo-European verb-finality: Reconstruction, typology, validation". In Kulikov, Leonid; Lavidas, Nikolaos (eds.). Proto-Indo-European Syntax and its Development. John Benjamins.
^Burrow, pp. 78–79
^Ramat, Anna Giacalone (1998). The Indo-European Languages (illustrated ed.). London ; New York: Routledge. p. 134. ISBN0-415-06449-X.
^Cardona, George; Dhanesh Jain (2003). The Indo-Aryan Languages. London ; New York: Routledge. p. 24. ISBN0-7007-1130-9.
^Beekes (1988), p. 50
^Beekes, p. 55
^Burrow, pp. 74–75
^ a b cFortson, p. 182
^ a bFortson, p. 181
^F. B. J. Kuiper. 1976. "Old East Iranian dialects." Indo-Iranian Journal18, p. 242.
^Burrow, p. 91
^Burrow, pp. 92–94
^Fortson, p. 183
^Beekes, pp. 85–86
^Lubotsky, p. 53
^get ref
^Beekes, pp. 88–89
^"Indo-Iranian Languages." Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. Ed. J.P. Mallory and D.Q. Adams. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1997. pp. 305.
^Fortson p. 205
Bibliography
Beekes, Robert Stephen Paul (1988). A Grammar of Gatha-Avestan. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN90-04-08332-4.
Burrow, T. (1973). The Sanskrit Language (third ed.). London: Faber & Faber. ISBN0-571-04819-6.
Fortson, Benjamin W. (2004). Indo-European Language and Culture: An Introduction (illustrated ed.). Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN1-4051-0316-7.
Lubotsky, A. M. (1988). The System of Nominal Accentuation in Sanskrit and Proto-Indo-European. Leiden; New York: Brill. ISBN90-04-08835-0.
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).
External links
"Early Indo-Iranic loans in Uralic: Sounds and strata" (PDF). Martin Joachim Kümmel, University of Jena. Seminar for Indo-European Studies.