𐬀𐬬𐬈𐬯𐬙𐬁
Avestan
Indo-European (Iranian, Old, Eastern) · historical / hidden variety
Avestan is the eastern Old Iranian language of the Avesta, the sacred scripture of Zoroastrianism, attributed to the prophet Zarathushtra (c. 1000 BCE) and his successors. Two stages: Old Avestan (Gathic Avestan, ~10th c. BCE — the Gathas, Zarathushtra's own hymns) and Younger Avestan (~7th-6th c. BCE — the bulk of the Avesta corpus including the Yasna, Yashts, and Vendidad). Closely related to Vedic Sanskrit (sister languages within Indo-Iranian); the parallels between the Gathas and the Rigveda (~1500 BCE) are striking. The dedicated Avestan alphabet was created in the Sasanian period (~4-6th c. CE) from Pahlavi script. Still used liturgically by Zoroastrian Parsis in India and Iranian Zoroastrians.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Avestan
Water
𐬁𐬞
/aːp/
Fire
𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭
/aːtar/
Sun
𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆
/huwarə/
Moon
𐬨𐬁𐬵
/maːh/
Mother
𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭
/maːtar/
Father
𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭
/pitar/
Eat
𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭
/xwar/
Drink
𐬞𐬁
/paː/
Love
𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀
/frija/
Heart
𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛
/zərəd/
Tree
𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀
/waesa/
House
𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀
/nmaːna/
Dog
𐬯𐬞𐬁
/spaː/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀
/zasta/
Eye
𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥
/tʃaʃman/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀
/aewa/
Good
𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎
/vohu/
Sources
- Hoffmann & Forssman (1996) Avestische Laut- und Flexionslehre
- Beekes (1988) A Grammar of Gatha-Avestan
- Glottolog: aves1237
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Iranian, Old, Eastern) languages
| Meaning | Avestan | Old Persian | Scythian | Sogdian | Parthian | Middle Persian (Pahlavi) | Persian (Classical) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | ap /ap/ | ʾāp /aːp/ | āb /aːb/ | 𐭠𐭯 /aːb/ | آب /aːb/ |
| Fire | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | ātar /aːtar/ | ʾātar /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | 𐭠𐭲𐭱 /aːtaʃ/ | آتش /aːtaʃ/ |
| Sun | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | hvar /xʷar/ | xwr /xwar/ | xwar /xwar/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭱𐭩𐭲 /xwarʃeːd/ | خورشید /xʷarʃeːd/ |
| Moon | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | māh /maːh/ | mʾx /maːx/ | māh /maːh/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭧 /maːh/ | ماه /maːh/ |
| Mother | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | mātar /maːtar/ | mʾtr /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭫 /maːdar/ | مادر /maːdar/ |
| Father | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | pitar /pitar/ | ptr /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | 𐭯𐭩𐭲𐭫 /pidar/ | پدر /pidar/ |
| Eat | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ | xwartan /xwartan/ | xward- /xward/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭲𐭭 /xwardan/ | خوردن /xʷurdan/ |
| Drink | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | — /—/ | pi- /pi/ | pī- /piː/ | 𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭩𐭲𐭭 /noːʃiːdan/ | آشامیدن /aːʃaːmiːdan/ |
| Love | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | — /—/ | frytk /friːtak/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | 𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭩 /doːʃiː/ | عشق /ʔiʃq/ |
| Heart | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | zard- /zard/ | dyl /dil/ | zyrd /zird/ | 𐭣𐭩𐭫 /dil/ | دل /dil/ |
| Tree | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | drxt /draxt/ | dār /daːr/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭧𐭲 /draxt/ | درخت /diraxt/ |
| House | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | — /—/ | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | 𐭧𐭠𐭭𐭪 /xaːnaɡ/ | خانه /xaːna/ |
| Dog | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | spaka /spaka/ | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | spag /spaɡ/ | 𐭮𐭢 /saɡ/ | سگ /saɡ/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭡𐭢 /ɡurbaɡ/ | گربه /ɡurba/ |
| Hand | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | zasta /zasta/ | dst /dast/ | dast /dast/ | 𐭣𐭮𐭲 /dast/ | دست /dast/ |
| Eye | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐭰𐭱𐭬 /tʃaʃm/ | چشم /t͡ʃaʃm/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | drwd /druːd/ | drōd /droːd/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭲 /droːd/ | درود /duruːd/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮 /spaːs/ | سپاس /sipaːs/ |
| One | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | aiwa /aiwa/ | yw /jɛw/ | ēw /eːw/ | 𐭠𐭩𐭪 /eːk/ | یک /jak/ |
| Good | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | vohu /wohu/ | nyk /neːk/ | nēw /neːw/ | 𐭥𐭩𐭧 /weh/ | نیک /neːk/ |
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