Indo-Iranian languages

The term Indo-Iranian languages refers to the spectrum of Indo-European languages spoken in the Southern Asian region of Eurasia, spanning from the Indian subcontinent (where the Indo-Aryan branch is spoken, also called Indic) up to the Iranian Plateau (where the Iranian branch is spoken, also called Iranic). It was later discovered that the Nuristani languages are also spoken in the isolated region of Nuristan, roughly situated in the intersection of these regions.

This branch is also known as Aryan languages, referring to the languages spoken by Aryan peoples, where the term Aryan is considered as the ethnocultural self-designation of ancient Indo-Iranians. Today, the term Aryan is generally avoided, owing to the perceived negative connotation associated with Aryanism.

{{See also|List of Indo-European languages#Indo-Iranian languages}}

Below is an abridged classification scheme of the Indo-Iranian languages. The Badeshi language remains unclassified within the Indo-Iranian branch.

{{tree list}}

• Proto-Indo-European (reconstructed)
• Proto-Indo-Iranian (reconstructed)
• Proto-Iranian (reconstructed)
• Iranian languages
• Eastern
• Western
• Proto-Nuristani (reconstructed)
• Nuristani languages
• Proto-Indo-Aryan (reconstructed)
• Indo-Aryan languages
• Dardic
• Northwestern
• Northern
• Western
• Eastern
• Southern
• Chinali-Lahul (unclassified)
• Badeshi (unclassified)

{{tree list/end}}

{{See also|Proto-Indo-Iranian language}}

All Indo-Iranian languages can be traced back to a single hypothetical ancestral language: Proto-Indo-Iranian, which is the reconstructed proto-language to represent the latest point at which all modern-day Indo-Iranian languages were still unified. Proto-Indo-Iranian, in turn, is classified as belonging to the Indo-European language family, ultimately tracing back to the Proto-Indo-European language.

Historically, the Proto-Indo-Iranian speakers are thought to have originally referred to themselves using the reconstructed Proto-Indo-Iranian root {{lang|iir-x-proto|Áryas}}, from which it derives terms like Aryavarta ({{Langx|sa|आर्यावर्त}}, {{Literal translation|Land of the Aryans}}), Airyanem Vaejah ({{Langx|ae|𐬀𐬫𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬥𐬆𐬨 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬘𐬀𐬵}}, {{Literal translation|Expanse of the Arya}}), Alania ({{lang|iir-x-proto|Aryāna}}), Iran ({{lang|iir-x-proto|Aryānām}}),Mallory & Adams 1997, p. 213: "Iran Alani (< *aryana) (the name of an Iranian group whose descendants are the Ossetes, one of whose subdivisions is the Iron [< *aryana-)), *aryanam (pl.) 'of the Aryans' (> MPers Iran)." and "Aryan".{{harvnb|Schmitt|1987|ps=: "The name Aryan is the self designation of the peoples of Ancient India and Ancient Iran who spoke Aryan languages, in contrast to the 'non-Aryan' peoples of those 'Aryan' countries."}}{{Sfn|Anthony|2007|p=408}}

The Proto-Indo-Iranian-speakers are generally associated with the Sintashta culture,{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2008|p=261}}{{Harvnb|Anthony|2007|pp=408–411}}{{sfn|Lubotsky|2023|p=259|loc="There is growing consensus among both archaeologists and linguists that the Sintashta–Petrovka culture (2100–1900 BCE) in the Southern Trans-Urals was inhabited by the speakers of Proto-Indo-Iranian"}} which is thought to represent an eastward migration of peoples from the Corded Ware culture,{{sfn|Allentoft|Sikora|Sjögren|Rasmussen|2015|loc="The close affinity we observe between peoples of Corded Ware and Sintashta cultures suggests similar genetic sources of the two. [...] Although we cannot formally test whether the Sintashta derives directly from an eastward migration of Corded Ware peoples or if they share common ancestry with an earlier steppe population, the presence of European Neolithic farmer ancestry in both the Corded Ware and the Sintashta, combined with the absence of Neolithic farmer ancestry in the earlier Yamnaya, would suggest the former being more probable. [...] The enigmatic Sintashta culture near the Urals bears genetic resemblance to Corded Ware and was therefore likely to be an eastward migration into Asia. As this culture spread towards Altai it evolved into the Andronovo culture"}}{{sfn|Mathieson|2015|loc=Supplementary material: "Sintashta and Andronovo populations had an affinity to more western populations from central and northern Europe like the Corded Ware and associated cultures. [...] the Srubnaya/Sintashta/Andronovo group resembled Late Neolithic/Bronze Age populations from mainland Europe."}}{{sfn|Narasimhan|Patterson|Moorjani|Rohland|2019|loc=Supplementary Materials: "We observed a main cluster of 41 Sintashta individuals that was genetically similar to Srubnaya, Potapovka, and Andronovo in being well modeled as a mixture of Yamnaya-related and Anatolia_N (European farmer-related) ancestry" (p.40) [...] "Additional work has documented genetic similarity of people of the Corded Ware Complex to those of both the Sintashta and Srubnaya archaeological cultures of the western Steppe" (p.243)}}{{sfn|Chintalapati|Patterson|Moorjani|2022|loc=p. 13: "[T]he CWC expanded to the east to form the archaeological complexes of Sintashta, Srubnaya, Andronovo, and the BA cultures of Kazakhstan."}} which, in turn, is believed to represent an earlier westward migration of Yamnaya-related people from the Pontic–Caspian steppe zone into the territory of late Neolithic European cultures, possibly bringing with them the Proto-Indo-European language.{{Cite journal|last1=Kristiansen|first1=Kristian|last2=Allentoft|first2=Morten E.|last3=Frei|first3=Karin M.|last4=Iversen|first4=Rune|last5=Johannsen|first5=Niels N.|last6=Kroonen|first6=Guus|last7=Pospieszny|first7=Łukasz|last8=Price|first8=T. Douglas|last9=Rasmussen|first9=Simon|last10=Sjögren|first10=Karl-Göran|last11=Sikora|first11=Martin|date=2017|title=Re-theorising mobility and the formation of culture and language among the Corded Ware Culture in Europe|journal=Antiquity|language=en|volume=91|issue=356|pages=334–347|doi=10.15184/aqy.2017.17|s2cid=15536709|issn=0003-598X|doi-access=free|hdl=1887/70150|hdl-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last1=Malmström|first1=Helena|last2=Günther|first2=Torsten|last3=Svensson|first3=Emma M.|last4=Juras|first4=Anna|last5=Fraser|first5=Magdalena|last6=Munters|first6=Arielle R.|last7=Pospieszny|first7=Łukasz|last8=Tõrv|first8=Mari|last9=Lindström|first9=Jonathan|last10=Götherström|first10=Anders|last11=Storå|first11=Jan|date=9 October 2019|title=The genomic ancestry of the Scandinavian Battle Axe Culture people and their relation to the broader Corded Ware horizon|journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|volume=286|issue=1912|pages=20191528|doi=10.1098/rspb.2019.1528|pmc=6790770|pmid=31594508}} However, the exact genetic relationship between the Yamnaya culture, Corded Ware culture and Sinthasta culture remains unclear.Pamjav H, Feher T, Nemeth E, Padar Z (2012). "Brief communication: new Y-chromosome binary markers improve phylogenetic resolution within haplogroup R1a1". American Journal of Physical Anthropology. 149 (4): 611–615. doi:10.1002/ajpa.22167. PMID 23115110. "However, with the discovery of the Z280 and Z93 substitutions within Phase 1 1000 Genomes Project data and subsequent genotyping of these SNPs in ~200 samples, a schism between European and Asian R1a chromosomes has emerged" {{cite book |last1=Kristiansen |first1=Kristian |last2=Kroonen |first2=Guus |last3=Willerslev |first3=Eske |title=The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |date=11 May 2023 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-26174-6 |pages=70–71 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VSysEAAAQBAJ&pg=PA70 |language=en}} "How exactly the emergence and expansion of the Corded Ware are linked to the emergence and expansion of the Yamnaya horizon remains unclear. However, the Y chromosome record of both groups indicates that Corded Ware cannot be derived directly from the Yamnaya or late eastern farming groups sampled thus far, and is therefore likely to constitute a parallel development in the forest steppe and temperate forest zones of Eastern Europe. Even in Central Europe, the formation of the earliest regional Corded Ware identities was the result of local and regional social practices that resulted in the typical Corded Ware rite of passage."

The earliest known chariots have been found in Sintashta burials, and the culture is considered a strong candidate for the origin of the technology, which spread throughout the Old World and played an important role in ancient warfare.{{cite journal |last1=Chechushkov |first1=I.V. |last2=Epimakhov |first2=A.V. |date=2018 |title=Eurasian Steppe Chariots and Social Complexity During the Bronze Age |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10963-018-9124-0 |journal=Journal of World Prehistory |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=435–483 |doi=10.1007/s10963-018-9124-0 |s2cid=254743380|url-access=subscription }}{{cite book |last=Raulwing |first=Peter |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cP9qQgAACAAJ |title=Horses, Chariots and Indo-Europeans – Foundations and Methods of Chariotry Research from the Viewpoint of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics |date=2000 |publisher=Archaeolingua Alapítvány, Budapest |isbn=9789638046260}}{{sfn|Anthony|2007|p=402|loc="Eight radiocarbon dates have been obtained from five Sintashta culture graves containing the impressions of spoked wheels, including three at Sintashta (SM cemetery, gr. 5, 19, 28), one at Krivoe Ozero (k. 9, gr. 1), and one at Kammeny Ambar 5 (k. 2, gr. 8). Three of these (3760 ± 120 BP, 3740 ± 50 BP, and 3700 ± 60 BP), with probability distributions that fall predominantly before 2000 BCE, suggest that the earliest chariots probably appeared in the steppes before 2000 BCE (table 15.1 [p. 376])."}}Holm, Hans J. J. G. (2019): The Earliest Wheel Finds, their Archeology and Indo-European Terminology in Time and Space, and Early Migrations around the Caucasus. Series Minor 43. Budapest: ARCHAEOLINGUA ALAPÍTVÁNY. {{ISBN|978-615-5766-30-5}} There is almost a general consensus among scholars that the Andronovo culture, the successor of Sintasha culture, was an Indo-Iranian culture.{{harvnb|Mallory|1997|pp=20–21}}{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2008|p=261}} Currently, only two sub-cultures are considered as part of Andronovo culture: Alakul and Fëdorovo cultures.Grigoriev, Stanislav, (2021). [https://www.degruyter.com/document/doi/10.1515/opar-2020-0123/html "Andronovo Problem: Studies of Cultural Genesis in the Eurasian Bronze Age"], in Open Archaeology 2021 (7), p.3: "...By Andronovo cultures we may understand only Fyodorovka and Alakul cultures..." The Andronovo culture is considered as an "Indo-Iranic dialect continuum", with a later split between Iranian and Indo-Aryan languages.{{cite journal |last=Bjørn |first=Rasmus G. |date=January 2022 |title=Indo-European loanwords and exchange in Bronze Age Central and East Asia: Six new perspectives on prehistoric exchange in the Eastern Steppe Zone |journal=Evolutionary Human Sciences |language=en |volume=4 |pages=e23 |doi=10.1017/ehs.2022.16 |issn=2513-843X |pmc=10432883 |pmid=37599704}} However, according to Hiebert, an expansion of the Bactria–Margiana Archaeological Complex (BMAC) into Iran and the margin of the Indus Valley is "the best candidate for an archaeological correlate of the introduction of Indo-Iranian speakers to Iran and South Asia",{{sfn|Parpola|2015|p=76}} despite the absence of the characteristic timber graves of the steppe in the Near East,{{sfn|Bryant|2001|p=206}} or south of the region between Kopet Dag and Pamir-Karakorum.Francfort, in {{Harv|Fussman et al.|2005|p=268}}; Fussman, in {{Harv|Fussman et al.|2005|p=220}}; Francfort (1989), Fouilles de Shortugai.{{Efn|Sarianidi states that "direct archaeological data from Bactria and Margiana show without any shade of doubt that Andronovo tribes penetrated to a minimum extent into Bactria and Margianian oases".{{sfn|Bryant|2001}}}} J. P. Mallory acknowledges the difficulties of making a case for expansions from Andronovo to northern India, and that attempts to link the Indo-Aryans to such sites as the Beshkent and Vakhsh cultures "only gets the Indo-Iranian to Central Asia, but not as far as the seats of the Medes, Persians or Indo-Aryans". He has developed the Kulturkugel ({{Literal translation|the culture bullet}}) model that has the Indo-Iranians taking over cultural traits of BMAC, but preserving their language and religion while moving into Iran and India.{{sfn|Bryant|2001|p=216}}{{sfn|Parpola|2015|p=76}}

{{notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite journal |last1=Allentoft |first1=Morten E. |last2=Sikora |first2=Martin |last3=Sjögren |first3=Karl G. |last4=Rasmussen |first4=Simon |display-authors=1 |date=11 June 2015 |title=Population genomics of Bronze Age Eurasia |journal=Nature |publisher=Nature Research |volume=522 |issue=7555 |pages=167–172 |doi=10.1038/nature14507 |pmid=26062507 |bibcode=2015Natur.522..167A |s2cid=4399103 |url=https://depot.ceon.pl/handle/123456789/13155}}
• {{cite book |last=Anthony |first=David W. |title=The Horse, the Wheel, and Language |year=2007 |publisher=Princeton University Press |location=Princeton, NJ |isbn=978-0-691-05887-0}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Chintalapati |first1=Manjusha |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Moorjani |first3=Priya |date=18 July 2022 |title=The spatiotemporal patterns of major human admixture events during the European Holocene |journal=eLife |volume=11 |issue=11 |pages=e77625 |doi=10.7554/eLife.77625 |pmid=35635751 |pmc=9293011 |doi-access=free}}
• {{Cite book |last=Lubotsky |first=Alexander |chapter=Indo-European and Indo-Iranian Wagon Terminology and the Date of the Indo-Iranian Split |date=2023 |chapter-url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/indoeuropean-puzzle-revisited/indoeuropean-and-indoiranian-wagon-terminology-and-the-date-of-the-indoiranian-split/ADBF07BCD6447A00E1B5E3EE4E128FA7 |title=The Indo-European Puzzle Revisited: Integrating Archaeology, Genetics, and Linguistics |pages=257–262 |editor-last=Willerslev |editor-first=Eske |access-date=16 November 2023 |place=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-26175-3 |editor2-last=Kroonen |editor2-first=Guus |editor3-last=Kristiansen |editor3-first=Kristian}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Narasimhan |first1=Vagheesh M. |last2=Patterson |first2=Nick |last3=Moorjani |first3=Priya |last4=Rohland |first4=Nadin| display-authors=1 |date=6 September 2019 |title=The formation of human populations in South and Central Asia |journal=Science |publisher=American Association for the Advancement of Science |volume=365 |issue=6457 |page=eaat7487 |biorxiv=10.1101/292581 |doi=10.1126/science.aat7487 |pmc=6822619 |pmid=31488661 }}
• {{Citation |last=Bryant |first=Edwin |author-link=Edwin Bryant (author) |year=2001 |title=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-513777-4 |title-link=The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture}}.
• {{cite book |last1=Fussman |first1=G. |last2=Kellens |first2=J. |last3=Francfort |first3=H. P. |last4=Tremblay |first4=X. |title=Āryas, aryens et iraniens en Asie centrale |date=2005 |publisher=Collège de France |location=Paris |isbn=2-86803-072-6 |ref={{sfnref|Fussman et al.|2005}}}}
• {{cite book |last=Mallory |first=J. P. |author-link=J. P. Mallory |date=1997 |title=Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tzU3RIV2BWIC |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1884964985 |access-date=15 February 2015}}
• {{cite book |last1=Mallory |first1=J. P. |author-link1=J. P. Mallory |last2=Mair |first2=Victor H. |author-link2=Victor H. Mair |year=2008 |title=The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lr62GwAACAAJ |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=9780500283721}}
• {{cite journal |last1=Mathieson |first1=Iain |date=23 November 2015 |title=Genome-wide patterns of selection in 230 ancient Eurasians |journal=Nature |volume=528 |issue=7583 |pages=499–503 |bibcode=2015Natur.528..499M |doi=10.1038/nature16152 |pmc=4918750 |pmid=26595274}}

• {{Citation |last=Parpola |first=Asko |year=2015 |title=The Roots of Hinduism. The Early Aryans and the Indus Civilization |publisher=Oxford University Press}}

• {{cite book|last=Schmitt|first=Rüdiger|title=Encyclopædia Iranica|publisher=Iranica Foundation|year=1987|volume=2|chapter=Aryans|author-link=Rüdiger Schmitt|chapter-url=http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/aryans}}

• {{cite web|url=https://imprs.shh.mpg.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/04-Contact-and-change-in-the-diversification-of-the-Indo-Iranic-languages.pdf|title=Contact and change in the diversification of the Indo-Iranic languages|work=Dr. Russell Gray, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Department of Linguistic and Cultural Evolution}}
• {{cite book |last=Matras |first=Yaron |url=https://theswissbay.ch/pdf/Books/Linguistics/Mega%20linguistics%20pack/Indo-European/Indo-Aryan/Domari%2C%20A%20Grammar%20of%20%28Matras%29.pdf |title=A grammar of Domari |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2012 |series=Mouton Grammar Library |location=Berlin |doi=10.1515/9783110291421}}
• {{cite book |last=Baly |first=Joseph |url=https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.459583 |title=Eur-Aryan roots: With their English derivatives and the corresponding words in the cognate languages compared and systematically arranged |volume=1 |location=London |publisher=Keegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company |year=1897}}
• {{cite book |last=Chakrabarti |first=Byomkes |author-link=Byomkes Chakrabarti |year=1994 |title=A comparative study of Santali and Bengali |location=Calcutta |publisher=K.P. Bagchi & Co.|isbn=81-7074-128-9}}
• {{cite book |last=Kümmel |first=Martin Joachim |chapter=The morphology of Indo-Iranian |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |volume=3 |editor-first=Jared |editor-last=Klein |editor-first2=Brian |editor-last2=Joseph |editor-first3=Matthias |editor-last3=Fritz |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2018 |pages=1888–1924 |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-032|s2cid=135347276 }}
• {{cite book |last=Kümmel |first=Martin Joachim |year=2020 |chapter=Substrata of Indo-Iranic and related questions |editor-last=Garnier |editor-first=Romain |title=Loanwords and substrata: Proceedings of the colloquium held in Limoges (5th-7th June, 2018) |pages=237–277 |location=Innsbruck |publisher=Institut für Sprachwissenschaft der Universität Innsbruck |isbn=978-3-85124-751-0}}
• {{cite book |last=Kümmel |first=Martin Joachim |chapter=Indo-Iranian |title=The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective |editor-first=Thomas |editor-last=Olander |location=Cambridge |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |pages=246–268 |doi=10.1017/9781108758666.014|isbn=978-1-108-75866-6 }}
• {{cite book |author-link=Alexander Lubotsky |last=Lubotsky |first=Alexander |chapter=The phonology of Proto-Indo-Iranian |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |volume=3 |editor-first1=Jared |editor-last1=Klein |editor-first2=Brian |editor-last2=Joseph |editor-first3=Matthias |editor-last3=Fritz |publisher=De Gruyter Mouton |year=2018 |pages=1875–1888 |doi=10.1515/9783110542431-031|hdl=1887/63480 |s2cid=165490459 }}
• {{cite journal |last=Pinault |first=Georges-Jean |title=Contacts religieux et culturels des Indo-Iraniens avec la civilisation de l'Oxus |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |volume=149 |number=1 |year=2005 |pages=213–257 |doi=10.3406/crai.2005.22848 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2005_num_149_1_22848 |lang=fr}}
• {{cite journal |last=Pinault |first=Georges-Jean |title=La langue des Scythes et le nom des Arimaspes |journal=Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres |volume=152 |number=1 |year=2008 |pages=105–138 |doi=10.3406/crai.2008.92104 |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2008_num_152_1_92104 |lang=fr}}
• {{cite book |title=Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples |editor-first=Nicholas |editor-last=Sims-Williams |year=2002 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-726285-6}}
• Kümmel, Martin. "Substrata of Indo-Iranic and related questions." Loanwords and substrata: Proceedings of the Colloquium held in Limoges (5th–7 June 2018). 2020.

{{wiktionary|Appendix:Indo-Iranian Swadesh lists}}

{{Commons category}}

• [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Indo-Iranian_Swadesh_lists Swadesh lists of Indo-Iranian basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])

{{Indo-European languages}}

{{Indo-Iranian languages}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Indo-Iranian Languages}}

Category:Indo-European languages