Old Persian

As a written language, Old Persian is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. It is an Iranian language and as such a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscriptions.{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|pp=80–81}} Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages which are attested in original texts.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006|loc=vi(2). Documentation. Old Persian.}}

The oldest date of use of Old Persian as a spoken language is not precisely known. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called {{transliteration|mis|Parsuwash}}, who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province. Their language, Old Persian, became the official language of the Achaemenid kings.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006|loc=vi(2). Documentation. Old Persian.}} Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, {{transliteration|mis|Parsuwash}} (along with {{transliteration|mis|Matai}}, presumably Medians) are first mentioned in the area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006|loc=vi(1). Earliest Evidence}} The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian {{transliteration|peo|pārsa}} itself coming directly from the older word {{transliteration|peo|*pārćwa}}.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006|loc=vi(1). Earliest Evidence}} Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median, according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before the formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006|loc=vi(2). Documentation. Old Persian.}}

{{Main|Iranian languages#Proto-Iranian and Old Iranian_languages|l1=Old Iranian languages}}

Old Persian belongs to the Iranian language family, a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, itself within the large family of Indo-European languages. The common ancestors of Indo-Iranians came from Central Asia sometime in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. The extinct and unattested Median language is another Old Iranian language related to Old Persian; both are classified as Western Iranian languages, and many Median names appear in Old Persian texts.{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|p=76}} The group of Old Iranian languages was presumably large; however, knowledge of it is restricted mainly to Old Persian, Avestan, and Median. The first two are the only languages in that group to have left written original texts, while Median is known mostly from loanwords in Old Persian.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006}}

By the 4th century BCE, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian".{{sfn|Skjærvø|2005}} Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the ancestor of New Persian.

Professor Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and the author of the book Persian Grammar, states:{{cite book|author=Lazard, Gilbert|year=1975|chapter=The Rise of the New Persian Language|editor=Frye, R. N.|title=The Cambridge History of Iran|volume=4|pages=595–632|place=Cambridge|publisher=Cambridge University Press}}

The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of 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 and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran.

Middle Persian, also sometimes called Pahlavi, is a direct continuation of Old Persian and was used as the written official language of the country.{{cite book|author1=Ulrich Ammon|author2=Norbert Dittmar|author3=Klaus J. Mattheier|author4=Peter Trudgill|series=Sociolinguistics|volume=3|title=An International Handbook of the Science of Language and Society|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|year=2006|edition=2nd|page=1912|quote=Middle Persian, also called Pahlavi is a direct continuation of old Persian, and was used as the written official language of the country." "However, after the Moslem conquest and the collapse of the Sassanids, Arabic became the dominant language of the country and Pahlavi lost its importance, and was gradually replaced by Dari, a variety of Middle Persian, with considerable loan elements from Arabic and Parthian.}}{{cite book|author=Bo Utas|chapter=Semitic on Iranian|title=Linguistic convergence and areal diffusion: case studies from Iranian, Semitic and Turkic|editor1=Éva Ágnes Csató|editor2=Bo Isaksson|editor3=Carina Jahani|publisher=Routledge|year=2005|page=71|quote=As already mentioned, it is not likely that the scribes of Sassanian chanceries had any idea about the Old Persian cuneiform writing and the language couched in it. Still, the Middle Persian language that appeared in the third century AD may be seen as a continuation of Old Persian}} Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. However, New Persian is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian.{{sfn|Skjærvø|2006}}

Old Persian "presumably"{{sfn|Skjærvø|2005}} 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 {{transliteration|peo|asa}} (OPers.) and {{transliteration|peo|aspa}} (Med.)."{{sfn|Skjærvø|2005}}

{{Main|Old Persian cuneiform}}

File:BehistunInscriptiondetail.jpg]]

File:Persépolis. Inscription.jpg]]

Old Persian texts were written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script and had 36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms. The usage of logograms is not obligatory.{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|p=78}} The script was surprisingly{{harvnb|Schmitt|2008|p=78}} Excerpt: "It remains unclear why the Persians did not take over the Mesopotamian system in earlier times, as the Elamites and other peoples

of the Near East had, and, for that matter, why the Persians did not adopt the Aramaic consonantal script.." not a result of evolution of the script used in the nearby civilisation of Mesopotamia.{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|p=77}} Despite the fact that Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, the script was not a direct continuation of Mesopotamian tradition and in fact, according to Schmitt, was a "deliberate creation of the sixth century BCE".{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|p=77}}

The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction are a matter of debate among Iranian scholars with no general agreement having been reached. The factors making the consensus difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of a new "form of writing" being made by himself which is said to be "in Aryan":

{{blockquote|King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda this is the inscription which I have made. Besides, it was in Aryan ("{{transliteration|peo|italic=no|ariyâ}}") script, and it was composed on clay tablets and on parchment. Besides, a sculptured figure of myself I made.|Behistun Inscription (IV lines 88–92){{cite book|title=Behistun T 42 – Livius|url=https://www.livius.org/sources/content/behistun-persian-text/behistun-t-42/}}}}

Also, the analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius the Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested Old Persian inscriptions are found on the Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" seems, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great".{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|pp=80–81}}

The script shows a few changes in the shape of characters during the period it was used. This can be seen as a standardization of the heights of wedges, which in the beginning (i.e. in DB) took only half the height of a line.{{sfn|Schmitt|2008|p=79}}

The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:

Most phonemes are conventionally transcribed with the corresponding IPA symbols shown on this table, including {{Transliteration|peo|θ, x}} for {{IPA|/θ, x/}}. The exceptions are {{Transliteration|peo|c, j, y, ç}}, as the first three letters are used for {{IPA|/t͡ʃ d͡ʒ j/}}, and {{Transliteration|peo|ç}} is used for the remaining phoneme ({{Script|Xpeo|𐏂}} in the native script, of uncertain pronunciation but perhaps an affricate or sibilant of some kind).

Lycian {{lang|xlc|𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀}} {{transliteration|xlc|Kizzaprñna}} ~ {{lang|xlc|𐊈𐊆𐊖𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀}} {{transliteration|xlc|Zisaprñna}} for (genuine) Old Persian {{transliteration|peo|*Ciçafarnā}} (besides the Median form {{Transliteration|peo|*Ciθrafarnah}}) = Tissaphernes suggests {{IPA|/t͡s/}} as the pronunciation of {{transliteration|peo|ç}} (compare [https://web.archive.org/web/20121117015833/http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/cirafarnah-elamite-zi-ut-ra-bar-na-assyrian-si-dir-pa-ar-na-ni-gk] and Kloekhorst 2008, p. 125 in [https://www.academia.edu/345130/Studies_in_Lycian_and_Carian_phonology_and_morphology] for this example, who, however, mistakenly writes {{transliteration|peo|Çiçafarnā}}, which contradicts the etymology [PIIr. {{transliteration|peo|*Čitra-swarnas-}}] and the Middle Persian form {{Transliteration|pal|Čehrfar}} [{{Transliteration|peo|ç}} gives Middle Persian {{Transliteration|pal|s}}]).{{original research inline|date=August 2023}}

The phoneme {{IPA|/l/}} does not occur in native Iranian vocabulary, only in borrowings from Akkadian (a new {{IPA|/l/}} develops in Middle Persian from Old Persian {{IPA|/rd/}} and the change of {{IPA|/rθ/}} to {{IPA|/hl/}}). The phoneme {{IPA|/r/}} can also form a syllable peak; both the way Persian names with syllabic {{IPA|/r/}} (such as Brdiya) are rendered in Elamite and its further development in Middle Persian suggest that before the syllabic {{IPA|/r/}}, an epenthetic vowel {{IPA|[i]}} had developed already in the Old Persian period, which later became {{IPA|[u]}} after labials. For example, Old Persian {{transliteration|peo|Vᵃ-rᵃ-kᵃ-a-nᵃ}} {{IPA|/wr̩kaːna/}} is rendered in Elamite as {{transliteration|elx|Mirkānu-}},{{cite book|title=Reallexikon der Assyriologie und vorderasiatischen Archäologie|series=Volume 8: Meek – Mythologie|year=1997|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|location=Berlin and New York|isbn=978-3-11-014809-1|page=221|contribution-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=O1yFrzi-MgYC&q=vrkana+elamite&pg=PA221|editor1-last=Ebeling|editor1-first=Erich|editor2-last=Meissner|editor2-first=Bruno|editor3-last=Edzard|editor3-first=Dietz Otto|access-date=15 August 2013|contribution=Mirkānu|last=Stolper|first=M. W.}} rendering transcriptions such as {{Transliteration|peo|V(a)rakāna}}, {{Transliteration|peo|Varkāna}} or even {{Transliteration|peo|Vurkāna}} questionable and making {{Transliteration|peo|Vrkāna}} or {{Transliteration|peo|Virkāna}} much more realistic (and equally for {{Transliteration|peo|vrka-}} "wolf", {{Transliteration|peo|Brdiya}} and other Old Persian words and names with syllabic {{IPA|/r/}}).

While {{Transliteration|peo|v}} usually became {{IPA|/v/}} in Middle Persian, it became {{IPA|/b/}} word-initially in New Persian, except before {{IPA|[u]}} (including the epenthetic vowel mentioned above), where it became {{IPA|/ɡ/}}. This suggests that it was really pronounced as {{IPA|[w]}}.

Old Persian has 3 types of grammatical number: singular, dual and plural.

Old Persian has three grammatical genders: masculine, feminine and neuter. In contrast, Modern Persian (as well as Middle Persian) is a genderless language.

Old Persian stems:

• a-stems ({{Transliteration|peo|italic=no|-a, -am, -ā}})
• i-stems ({{Transliteration|peo|italic=no|-iš, iy}})
• u- (and au-) stems ({{Transliteration|peo|italic=no|-uš, -uv}})
• consonantal stems ({{Transliteration|peo|italic=no|n, r, h}})

Adjectives are declined in a similar way.

Voices

Active, Middle (them. pres. {{Transliteration|peo|-aiy-}}, {{Transliteration|peo|-ataiy-}}), Passive ({{Transliteration|peo|-ya-}}).

Mostly the forms of first and third persons are attested. The only preserved Dual form is {{Transliteration|peo|ajīvatam}} 'both lived'.

Here's the opening line of the Darius Naqsh-e Rostam inscription "a".

Old Persian

{{lang|peo|𐎲𐎥 𐏐 𐎺𐏀𐎼𐎣 𐏐 𐎠𐎢𐎼𐎶𐏀𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎹 𐏐 𐎡𐎶𐎠𐎶 𐏐 𐎲𐎢𐎷𐎡𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎹 𐏐 𐎠𐎺𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎿𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎹 𐏐 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎹 𐏐 𐏁𐎡𐎹𐎠𐎫𐎡𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐎶𐎼𐎫𐎡𐎹𐏃𐎹𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎹 𐏐 𐎭𐎠𐎼𐎹𐎺𐎢𐎶 𐏐 𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎤𐎢𐎴𐎢𐏁 𐏐 𐎠𐎡𐎺𐎶 𐏐 𐎱𐎽𐎢𐎺𐎴𐎠𐎶 𐏐 𐎧𐏁𐎠𐎹𐎰𐎡𐎹𐎶 𐏐 𐎠𐎡𐎺𐎶 𐏐 𐎱𐎽𐎢𐎺𐎴𐎠𐎶 𐏐 𐎳𐎼𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎠𐎼𐎶}}

Transliteration

{{Transliteration|peo|baga vazraka Auramazdā hya imām būmim adā hya avam asmānam adā hya martiyam adā hya šiyātim adā martiyahyā hya Dārayavaum xšāyaθiyam akunauš aivam parūvnām xšāyaθiyam aivam parūvnām framātāram}}

English translation

A great god is Ahura Mazda, who created this earth, who created yonder sky, who created man, who created happiness for man, who made Darius king, one king of many, one lord of many.

{{Portal|Asia}}

• :Category:Old Persian language
• Middle Persian
• New Persian

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{{Refend}}

{{Achaemenid Empire}}

{{Persian language}}

{{Iranian languages}}

{{Ancient Mesopotamia}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Old Persian Language}}

Category:History of the Persian language

Category:Languages attested from the 6th century BC

Persian

Category:Cuneiform