𑀳𑁆𑀯𑀢𑀦𑀽
Khotanese
Indo-European (Iranian, Middle, Eastern, Saka) · historical / hidden variety
Khotanese (also Khotanese Saka) is a Middle Iranian language of the Eastern (Saka) group, attested in extensive Buddhist manuscripts from the kingdom of Khotan on the southern Silk Road (5th-10th c. CE). It is closely related to Tumshuqese (also Saka, attested at nearby Tumshuq) and more distantly to Sogdian and other Eastern Iranian languages. Texts include translations of Mahayana sutras (Suvarṇabhāsa, Saṅghāṭa), the indigenous Book of Zambasta, medical treatises, and Khotan-Tibetan-Khotan glossaries. Like Tocharian, Khotanese disappeared as Turkic peoples (Karakhanids, then Uyghurs) occupied the Tarim Basin from the 11th century, with the Khotanese converting to Islam.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Khotanese
Water
𑀊𑀤𑀸
/uːdaː/
Fire
𑀆𑀢𑀭
/aːtar/
Sun
𑀉𑀭𑁆𑀫
/urma/
Moon
𑀫𑀸𑀲𑁆𑀢
/maːsta/
Star
𑀲𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭
/staːra/
Mother
𑀫𑀸𑀢
/maːta/
Father
𑀧𑀺𑀢
/pita/
I
aä
/aːə/
You
𑀢𑀽
/tuː/
Name
𑀦𑀸𑀫
/naːma/
Eye
𑀘𑁂𑀰𑁆𑀫𑀦𑁆
/tʃʰeʃman/
Hand
𑀤𑀲𑁆𑀢
/dasta/
Heart
𑀬𑀲𑀭 (ysära)
/zəra/
Love
𑀅𑀭𑁆𑀭𑀽
/arːuː/
Tree
𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀼
/drːu/
House
𑀩𑁆𑀬𑀸𑀳
/bjaːha/
Dog
𑀰𑀼
/ʂu/
Cat
𑀰𑁆𑀰𑁆𑀭𑀅𑀼
/ʂʂarau/
Eat
𑀧𑀭𑀢
/parætæ/
Drink
𑀧𑀻𑀅
/piːa/
One
𑀰𑁆𑀰𑀅𑀼
/ɕːau/
Two
𑀤𑀼𑀯
/duva/
Hello
𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀽𑀤𑀻
/drːuːdiː/
Thank you
𑀧𑁆𑀬𑀰𑁆𑀢
/pjaʃta/
Good
𑀯𑀺𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢
/viratːa/
Sources
- Bailey (1979) Dictionary of Khotan Saka
- Emmerick (1992) A Guide to the Literature of Khotan
- Glottolog: khot1251
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Iranian, Middle, Eastern, Saka) languages
| Meaning | Khotanese | Old Persian | Avestan | Parthian | Sogdian | Middle Persian (Pahlavi) | Scythian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 𑀊𑀤𑀸 /uːdaː/ | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | āb /aːb/ | ʾāp /aːp/ | 𐭠𐭯 /aːb/ | ap /ap/ |
| Fire | 𑀆𑀢𑀭 /aːtar/ | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | ʾātar /aːtar/ | 𐭠𐭲𐭱 /aːtaʃ/ | ātar /aːtar/ |
| Sun | 𑀉𑀭𑁆𑀫 /urma/ | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | xwar /xwar/ | xwr /xwar/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭱𐭩𐭲 /xwarʃeːd/ | hvar /xʷar/ |
| Moon | 𑀫𑀸𑀲𑁆𑀢 /maːsta/ | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | māh /maːh/ | mʾx /maːx/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭧 /maːh/ | māh /maːh/ |
| Star | 𑀲𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭 /staːra/ | 𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎼 /staːra/ | 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭 /star/ | astārag /asˈtaːraɡ/ | stāre /staːre/ | 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 /staːrag/ | star /staːr/ |
| Mother | 𑀫𑀸𑀢 /maːta/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | mʾtr /maːtar/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭫 /maːdar/ | mātar /maːtar/ |
| Father | 𑀧𑀺𑀢 /pita/ | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | ptr /pitar/ | 𐭯𐭩𐭲𐭫 /pidar/ | pitar /pitar/ |
| I | aä /aːə/ | 𐎠𐎭𐎶 /adam/ | 𐬀𐬰𐬆𐬨 /azəm/ | az /az/ | azu /azu/ | 𐭠𐭭 /an/ | azu /azu/ |
| You | 𑀢𑀽 /tuː/ | 𐎬𐎢𐎺𐎶 /tuvam/ | 𐬙𐬏𐬨 /tuːm/ | tu /tuː/ | tγu /tɣu/ | 𐭲𐭥 /toː/ | tu /tuː/ |
| Name | 𑀦𑀸𑀫 /naːma/ | 𐎴𐎠𐎶 /naːma/ | 𐬥𐬁𐬨𐬀𐬥 /naːman/ | nām /naːm/ | nām /naːm/ | 𐭭𐭠𐭬 /naːm/ | nama /naːma/ |
| Eye | 𑀘𑁂𑀰𑁆𑀫𑀦𑁆 /tʃʰeʃman/ | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐭰𐭱𐭬 /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ |
| Hand | 𑀤𑀲𑁆𑀢 /dasta/ | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | dast /dast/ | dst /dast/ | 𐭣𐭮𐭲 /dast/ | zasta /zasta/ |
| Heart | 𑀬𑀲𑀭 (ysära) /zəra/ | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | zyrd /zird/ | δrzy /ðərʒeː/ | 𐭣𐭩𐭫 /dil/ | zard- /zard/ |
| Love | 𑀅𑀭𑁆𑀭𑀽 /arːuː/ | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | frytk /friːtak/ | 𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭩 /doːʃiː/ | — /—/ |
| Tree | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀼 /drːu/ | — /—/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | dār /daːr/ | drxt /draxt/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭧𐭲 /draxt/ | — /—/ |
| House | 𑀩𑁆𑀬𑀸𑀳 /bjaːha/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | 𐭧𐭠𐭭𐭪 /xaːnaɡ/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | 𑀰𑀼 /ʂu/ | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | spag /spaɡ/ | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | 𐭮𐭢 /saɡ/ | spaka /spaka/ |
| Cat | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑁆𑀭𑀅𑀼 /ʂʂarau/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭡𐭢 /ɡurbaɡ/ | — /—/ |
| Eat | 𑀧𑀭𑀢 /parætæ/ | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | xward- /xward/ | xwartan /xwartan/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭲𐭭 /xwardan/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ |
| Drink | 𑀧𑀻𑀅 /piːa/ | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | pī- /piː/ | pi- /pi/ | 𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭩𐭲𐭭 /noːʃiːdan/ | — /—/ |
| One | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑀅𑀼 /ɕːau/ | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | ēw /eːw/ | yw /jɛw/ | 𐭠𐭩𐭪 /eːk/ | aiwa /aiwa/ |
| Two | 𑀤𑀼𑀯 /duva/ | 𐎯𐎢𐎺 /duva/ | 𐬛𐬬𐬀 /dva/ | dō /doː/ | aδwa /aðwa/ | 𐭣𐭥 /doː/ | duva /duva/ |
| Hello | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀽𑀤𑀻 /drːuːdiː/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | drōd /droːd/ | drwd /druːd/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭲 /droːd/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | 𑀧𑁆𑀬𑀰𑁆𑀢 /pjaʃta/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | — /—/ | 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮 /spaːs/ | — /—/ |
| Good | 𑀯𑀺𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢 /viratːa/ | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | nēw /neːw/ | nyk /neːk/ | 𐭥𐭩𐭧 /weh/ | vohu /wohu/ |
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