Bactrian language

Bactrian
Αριαο
The Bactrian alphabet (block and cursive letters, here in black). The Bactrian script was directly adapted from theGreek script(here in grey), with the addition of the lettersho().
Pronunciation	[arjaː]
Native to	Bactria
Region	Central Asia
Era	300 BC – 1000 AD
Language family	Indo-European Indo-Iranian Iranian Eastern Iranian Bactrian
Writing system	Greek script Manichaean script
Official status
Official language in	Kushan Empire Hephthalite Empire
Language codes
ISO 639-3	xbc
Linguist List	xbc
Glottolog	bact1239

Bactrian(Bactrian:Αριαο,romanized:ariao,[arjaː],meaning "Iranian" )is an extinctEastern Iranian languageformerly spoken in theCentral Asianregion ofBactria(present-day Afghanistan)and used as the official language of theKushanand theHephthaliteempires.

Name

It was long thought thatAvestanrepresented "Old Bactrian", but this notion had "rightly fallen into discredit by the end of the 19th century".

Bactrian, which was written predominantly in an alphabet based on theGreek script,was known natively asαριαο[arjaː]( "Arya";anendonymcommon amongst Indo-Iranian peoples). It has also been known by names such as Greco-Bactrian or Kushan or Kushano-Bactrian.

Under Kushan rule, Bactria became known asTukharaorTokhara,and later asTokharistan.When texts in two extinct andpreviously unknown Indo-European languageswere discovered in theTarim Basinof China, during the early 20th century, they were linked circumstantially to Tokharistan, and Bactrian was sometimes referred to as "Eteo-Tocharian" (i.e. "true" or "original" Tocharian). By the 1970s, however, it became clear that there was little evidence for such a connection. For instance, the Tarim "Tocharian" languages were "centum"languages within the Indo-European family, whereas Bactrian was an Iranian, thus"satem"language.

Classification

Bactrian is a part of theEastern Iranian languagesand shares features with the extinct Middle Iranian languagesSogdianandKhwarezmian(Eastern) andParthian(Western), as well as sharing affinity with the modern Eastern Iranian languages such asPamirsubgroup of languages likeMunjiandYidghawhich are part of the same branch of the Pamir languages.Its genealogical position is unclear.According to another source, the present-day speakers of Munji, the modern Eastern Iranian language of the Munjan Valley in theKuran wa Munjan districtof theBadakhshan provincein northeastAfghanistan,display the closest possible linguistic affinity with the Bactrian language.

History

TheRabatak inscriptionis an inscription written on a rock in the Bactrian language and the Greek script, which was found in 1993 at the site ofRabatak,nearSurkh KotalinAfghanistan.The inscription relates to the rule of theKushanemperorKanishka,and gives remarkable clues on the genealogy of the Kushan dynasty.

Bactrian became thelingua francaof the Kushan Empire and the region of Bactria, replacing the Greek language. Bactrian was used by successive rulers in Bactria, until the arrival of theUmayyad Caliphate.

Historical development

Following the conquest of Bactria byAlexander the Greatin 323 BC, for about two centuriesGreekwas the administrative language of hisHellenisticsuccessors, that is, theSeleucidand theGreco-Bactrian kingdoms. EasternScythiantribes (theSaka,or Sacaraucae of Greek sources) invaded the territory around 140 BC, and at some time after 124 BC, Bactria was overrun by a confederation of tribes belonging to theGreat YuezhiandTokhari.In the 1st century AD, the Kushana, one of the Yuezhi tribes, founded the ruling dynasty of theKushan Empire.

The Kushan Empire initially retained theGreek languagefor administrative purposes but soon began to use Bactrian. The BactrianRabatak inscription(discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that the Kushan kingKanishka(c. 127 AD)discarded Greek ( "Ionian" ) as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ( "Arya language" ). The Greek language accordingly vanished from official use and only Bactrian was later attested. TheGreek script,however, remained and was used to write Bactrian. The territorial expansion of the Kushans helped propagate Bactrian in other parts ofCentral AsiaandNorth India.

In the 3rd century, the Kushan territories west of theIndus Riverfell to theSasanians,and Bactrian began to be influenced byMiddle Persian.The eastern extent of the Kushan Empire in Northwestern India, was conquered by theGupta Empire.Besides thePahlavi scriptand theBrahmi script,some coinage of this period is still in the Aryo (Bactrian) script.

From the mid-4th century, Bactria and northwestern India gradually fell under the control theHephthaliteand otherHuna tribes.The Hephthalite period is marked by linguistic diversity; in addition to Bactrian, Middle Persian,Indo-AryanandLatinvocabulary is also attested. The Hephthalites ruled these regions until the 7th century, when they were overrun by theUmayyad Caliphate,after which official use of Bactrian ceased. Although Bactrian briefly survived in other usage, that also eventually ceased, and the latest known examples of the Bactrian script, found in theTochi Valleyin Pakistan, date to the end of the 9th century.

Writing system

Bactrian was predominantly written using theGreek scriptwith the addition of the lettersho(here in majuscule and minuscule) to represent the/ʃ/sound.

Among Indo-Iranian languages, the use of the Greek script is unique to Bactrian. Although ambiguities remain, some of the disadvantages were overcome by usingheta(Ͱ, ͱ) for/h/and by introducingsho(Ϸ, ϸ) to represent/ʃ/.Xi(Ξ, ξ) andpsi(Ψ, ψ) were not used for writing Bactrian as theksandpssequences did not occur in Bactrian. They were, however, probably used to represent numbers (just as other Greek letters were).

Records

The word "Alchono"(αλχοννο) in cursive Bactrian script, on a coin of theAlchon HunsrulerKhingila,5th century AD.

The Bactrian language is known from inscriptions, coins, seals, manuscripts, and other documents.

Sites at which Bactrian language inscriptions have been found are (in north–south order)AfrasiyabinUzbekistan;Kara-Tepe,Airtam,Delbarjin,Balkh,Kunduz,Baglan,Ratabak/Surkh Kotal,Oruzgan,Kabul,Dasht-e Navur,Ghazni,Jagatu inAfghanistan;andIslamabad,Shatial BridgeandTochi ValleyinPakistan. Of eight known manuscript fragments in Greco-Bactrian script, one is fromLou-lanand seven from Toyoq, where they were discovered by the second and thirdTurpanexpeditions underAlbert von Le Coq.One of these may be aBuddhisttext. One other manuscript, inManichaean script,was found atQočobyMary Boycein 1958.

Over 150 legal documents, accounts, letters and Buddhist texts have surfaced since the 1990s,the largest collection of which is theKhalili Collection of Aramaic Documents.These have greatly increased the detail in which Bactrian is currently known.

Phonology

TheSurkh Kotalinscription (SK4) is the first known substantial document written in Bactrian, an Iranian language. It uses theGreek script.It was written at the time of theKushanrulerHuvishka,2nd century CE.Kabul Museum.

The phonology of Bactrian is not known with certainty, owing to the limitations of the native scripts, and also its status as an extinct language.

Consonants

Consonants of Bactrian

Type		Labial	Dentalor alveolar	Palatalor postalveolar	Velar		Glottal
					plain	labialized
Stops	Voiceless	p	t		k
	Voiced	b(?)	d		ɡ
Affricates	Voiceless		t͡s
	Voiced		d͡z
Fricatives	Voiceless	f	θ(?);s	ʃ	x	xʷ	h
	Voiced	v	ð(?);z	ʒ(?)	ɣ
Nasals		m	n
Approximants			l	j		w
Rhotic			r

The Hephthalites used theBactrian script(top). Here, theirendonymEbodalo(ηβοδαλο), "Hephthalites".

A major difficulty in determining Bactrian phonology is that affricates and voiced stops were not consistently distinguished from the corresponding fricatives in the Greek script.

• Proto-Iranian*b, *d, *g have generally become spirants, as in most other Eastern Iranian languages. A distinctive feature of Bactrian, shared within the Iranian languages with Munji, Yidgha and Pashto, is the development of Proto-Iranian *d > *ð further to/l/,which may have been areal in nature.Original *d remains only in a few consonant clusters, e.g. *bandaka >βανδαγο'servant', *dugdā >λογδο'daughter'. The clusters/lr/and/rl/appear in earlier Bactrian, but revert to/dr/,/rd/later, e.g. *drauga >λρωγο(4th to 5th century) >δδρωρο(7th to 8th century) 'lie, falsehood'.
• Proto-Iranian *p, *t, *č, *k have become voiced between vowels, and after a nasal consonant or *r.
  • Inside a word, the digraphsββ,δδfor original voiceless *p, *t can be found, which probably represent[b],[d].The former is attested only in a single word,αββο'water'. Manichaean Bactrian appears to only have had/v/in native vocabulary. According to Gholami, instances of singleδmay indicate a fricative pronunciation,[ð].
  • γappears to stand for both the stop[ɡ]and the fricative[ɣ],but it is unclear if a contrast existed, and which instances are which. Evidence from the Manichaean script suggests thatγfrom *k may have been/ɡ/andγfrom *g may have been/ɣ/.According to Greek orthographic practices,γγrepresents[ŋɡ].
• σmay continue both Proto-Iranian *c > *s and *č, and the Manichaean script confirms that it represents two phonemes, likely/s/and/ts/.
• ζmay continue similarly on one hand Proto-Iranian *dz > *z, and on the other *ǰ and *č, and it represents at least/z/and/dz/.This distinction is again confirmed by the Manichaean script. Also a third counterpart ofζis found in Manichaean Bactrian, possibly representing/ʒ/.

The status ofθis unclear; it only appears in the wordιθαο'thus, also', which may be a loanword from another Iranian language. In most positions Proto-Iranian *θ becomes/h/(writtenυ), or is lost, e.g. *puθra- >πουρο'son'.The cluster *θw, however, appears to become/lf/,e.g. *wikāθwan >οιγαλφο'witness'.

ϸcontinues, in addition to Proto-Iranian *š, also Proto-Iranian *s in the clusters *sr, *str, *rst. In several cases, however, Proto-Iranian *š becomes/h/or is lost; the distribution is unclear. E.g. *snušā >ασνωυο'daughter-in-law', *aštā >αταο'eight', *xšāθriya >χαρο'ruler', *pašman- >παμανο'wool'.

Vowels

Vowels of Bactrian

Type Short Front Central Back Close i u Mid e ə o? Open a

Type Long Front Back Close iː uː Mid eː oː Open aː

Silver drachm ofAlchon HunsrulerKhingila.Bactrian script legend: χιγγιλο αλχοννο"Khiggilo Alchono",with Alchontamghasymbol.

The Greek script does not consistently represent vowel length. Fewer vowel contrasts yet are found in the Manichaean script, but short/a/and long/aː/are distinguished in it, suggesting that Bactrian generally retains the Proto-Iranian vowel length contrast.

It is not clear ifοmight represent short[o]in addition to[u],and if any contrast existed. Short[o]may have occurred at least as a reflex of *a followed by a lost *u in the next syllable, e.g. *madu >μολο'wine', *pasu >ποσο'sheep'. Short[e]is also rare. By contrast, long/eː/,/oː/are well established as reflexes of Proto-Iranian diphthongs and certain vowel-semivowel sequences:η< *ai, *aya, *iya;ω< *au, *awa.

An epenthetic vowel[ə](writtenα) is inserted before word-initialconsonant clusters.

Original word-final vowels and word-initial vowels in open syllables were generally lost. A word-finalοis normally written, but this was probably silent, and it is appended even after retained word-final vowels: e.g. *aštā >αταο'eight', likely pronounced/ataː/.

The Proto-Iranian syllabic rhotic *r̥ is lost in Bactrian, and is reflected asορadjacent to labial consonants,ιρelsewhere; this agrees with the development in the western Iranian languagesParthianandMiddle Persian.

Orthography

Variations of theGreek alphabet(narrow columns) in theKushanscript (wide columns).

Letter correspondence

Greek Letter	IPA	Greek Letter	IPA	Greek Letter	IPA
α	a,aː	η	eː	ρ	r
α/ο	ə	θ	θ	σ	s,t͡s
β	v	ι	i,j	τ	t
β/ββ	b	κ	k	υ	h
γ	ɣ,ɡ	λ	l	φ	f
δ	ð	μ	m	χ	x
δ/δδ	d	ν	n	χο	xʷ
ε	e	ο	o,u,w	ω	oː
ζ	z,ʒ,d͡z	π	p	ϸ	ʃ

Examples

• 
  Surkh Kotalinscription in Bactrian,National Museum of Afghanistan

See also

• Kidarites

References

• This article incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain:Chisholm, Hugh,ed. (1911). "Tochi Valley".Encyclopædia Britannica(11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
• Falk, Harry."The yuga of Sphujiddhvaja and the era of the Kuṣâṇas".Silk Road Art and Archaeology.Vol. VII. pp. 121–136.
• Gershevitch, Ilya (1983). "Bactrian Literature". In Yarshater, Ehsan (ed.).Cambridge History of Iran.Vol. 3. Cambridge: Cambridge UP. pp. 1250–1258.ISBN0-511-46773-7.
• Gholami, Saloumeh (2010).Selected Features of Bactrian Grammar(PhD thesis). University of Göttingen.doi:10.53846/goediss-1495.hdl:11858/00-1735-0000-000D-EF94-2.S2CID247020656.
• Henning, W. B. (1960). "The Bactrian Inscription".Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London.23(1): 47–55.
• Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1989a)."Bactrian Language".Encyclopedia Iranica.Vol. 3. New York: Routledge & Kegan Paul. pp. 344–349.
• Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1989b). "Bactrian". In Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.).Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum.Wiesbaden: Reichert. pp. 230–235.
• Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1997)."New Findings in Ancient Afghanistan: the Bactrian documents discovered from the Northern Hindu-Kush".[lecture transcript]. Tokyo: Department of Linguistics, University of Tokyo. Archived fromthe originalon 2007-06-10.

External links

• Bactrian languageat britannica.com