𐎠𐎼𐎹
Old Persian
Indo-European (Iranian, Old, Southwestern) · historical / hidden variety
Old Persian was the language of the Achaemenid Persian Empire (550-330 BCE) and the direct ancestor of Middle Persian (Pahlavi) and ultimately Modern Persian. It is attested in royal inscriptions of Darius I, Xerxes and successors (most famously the trilingual Behistun Inscription of c.520 BCE alongside Elamite and Akkadian, the key to deciphering cuneiform). Written in a unique semi-syllabic Old Persian cuneiform of ~36 signs, invented specifically for the script — distinct from the much older Sumerian-Akkadian cuneiform. The corpus is small but linguistically conservative, preserving Indo-European inflection.
Where it is spoken
20 core words in Old Persian
Water
𐎠𐎱
/aːpi/
Fire
𐎠𐎫𐎼
/aːtar/
Sun
𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼
/huwar/
Moon
𐎶𐎠𐏃
/maːha/
Mother
𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼
/maːtar/
Father
𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠
/pitaː/
Eat
𐎧𐎼
/xar/
Drink
𐎱𐎠
/paː/
Love
𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹
/frija/
Heart
𐏀𐎼𐎭
/zard/
Tree
—
/—/
House
𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹
/maːnija/
Dog
𐎿𐎱𐎣
/spaka/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
𐎭𐎿𐎫
/dasta/
Eye
𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴
/tʃaʃman/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
𐎠𐎡𐎺
/aiwa/
Good
𐎴𐎡𐎲
/naiba/
Sources
- Kent (1953) Old Persian: Grammar, Texts, Lexicon
- Schmitt (2014) Wörterbuch der altpersischen Königsinschriften
- Glottolog: oldp1254
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Iranian, Old, Southwestern) languages
| Meaning | Old Persian | Avestan | Scythian | Parthian | Sogdian | Luwian | Khotanese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | ap /ap/ | āb /aːb/ | ʾāp /aːp/ | 𔓷𔗬𔖻𔑯 /wadar/ | 𑀊𑀤𑀸 /uːdaː/ |
| Fire | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | ātar /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | ʾātar /aːtar/ | 𔑭𔖖𔖖𔗬 /paːhːur/ | 𑀆𑀢𑀭 /aːtar/ |
| Sun | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | hvar /xʷar/ | xwar /xwar/ | xwr /xwar/ | 𔖻𔗬𔑯 /tiwad/ | 𑀉𑀭𑁆𑀫 /urma/ |
| Moon | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | māh /maːh/ | māh /maːh/ | mʾx /maːx/ | 𔓯𔗬 /arma/ | 𑀫𑀸𑀲𑁆𑀢 /maːsta/ |
| Mother | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | mātar /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | mʾtr /maːtar/ | 𔑯𔑯 /anna/ | 𑀫𑀸𑀢 /maːta/ |
| Father | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | pitar /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | ptr /pitar/ | 𔑯𔑯𔗬 /tati/ | 𑀧𑀺𑀢 /pita/ |
| Eat | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ | xward- /xward/ | xwartan /xwartan/ | 𔑯𔗬 /ad/ | 𑀧𑀭𑀢 /parætæ/ |
| Drink | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | — /—/ | pī- /piː/ | pi- /pi/ | 𔑯𔓷 /aku/ | 𑀧𑀻𑀅 /piːa/ |
| Love | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | — /—/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | frytk /friːtak/ | 𔓷𔗬𔓯 /walaːhi/ | 𑀅𑀭𑁆𑀭𑀽 /arːuː/ |
| Heart | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | zard- /zard/ | zyrd /zird/ | dyl /dil/ | 𔓷𔗬𔖻 /kard/ | 𑀬𑀲𑀻 /jasiː/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | — /—/ | dār /daːr/ | drxt /draxt/ | 𔑯𔓯 /alana/ | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀼 /drːu/ |
| House | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | — /—/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | 𔑭𔗬𔑯 /parna/ | 𑀩𑁆𑀬𑀸𑀳 /bjaːha/ |
| Dog | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | spaka /spaka/ | spag /spaɡ/ | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | 𔖻𔓷𔑯 /zuwana/ | 𑀰𑀼 /ʂu/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑁆𑀭𑀅𑀼 /ʂʂarau/ |
| Hand | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | zasta /zasta/ | dast /dast/ | dst /dast/ | 𔖻𔑯 /iʃʃa/ | 𑀤𑀲𑁆𑀢 /dasta/ |
| Eye | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | 𔖖𔗬 /hidu/ | 𑀘𑁂𑀰𑁆𑀫𑀦𑁆 /tʃʰeʃman/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | drōd /droːd/ | drwd /druːd/ | — /—/ | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀽𑀤𑀻 /drːuːdiː/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𑀧𑁆𑀬𑀰𑁆𑀢 /pjaʃta/ |
| One | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | aiwa /aiwa/ | ēw /eːw/ | yw /jɛw/ | 𔑯 /as/ | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑀅𑀼 /ɕːau/ |
| Good | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | vohu /wohu/ | nēw /neːw/ | nyk /neːk/ | 𔓷𔓷 /walwa/ | 𑀯𑀺𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢 /viratːa/ |
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