sγwδyk
Sogdian
Indo-European (Iranian, Middle, Eastern) · historical / hidden variety
Sogdian was an Eastern Middle Iranian language of the Sogdians, the great Silk Road merchants whose city-states (Samarkand, Bukhara, Panjikent, Tashkent) controlled the Central Asian trade routes from the 4th to 9th centuries CE. Sogdian colonies along the Silk Road as far as Dunhuang and Turfan made it a lingua franca of Eurasian trade. Surviving texts include the Ancient Letters (313 CE) from Dunhuang, Manichaean and Buddhist literature, and Christian fragments. The Sogdian script (Aramaic-derived) is the direct ancestor of the Old Uyghur script and indirectly of Mongolian and Manchu scripts. Modern Yaghnobi (yai) is its sole surviving descendant in the Tajik Yaghnob valley.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Sogdian
Water
ʾāp
/aːp/
Fire
ʾātar
/aːtar/
Sun
xwr
/xwar/
Moon
mʾx
/maːx/
Star
stāre
/staːre/
Mother
mʾtr
/maːtar/
Father
ptr
/pitar/
I
azu
/azu/
You
tγu
/tɣu/
Name
nām
/naːm/
Eye
cšm
/tʃaʃm/
Hand
dst
/dast/
Heart
δrzy
/ðərʒeː/
Love
frytk
/friːtak/
Tree
drxt
/draxt/
House
kṯʾk
/kaθaːk/
Dog
ʾkw
/aːkuː/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
xwartan
/xwartan/
Drink
pi-
/pi/
One
yw
/jɛw/
Two
aδwa
/aðwa/
Hello
drwd
/druːd/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
nyk
/neːk/
Sources
- Gharib (1995) Sogdian Dictionary
- Sims-Williams — Sogdian Studies
- Glottolog: sogd1245
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Iranian, Middle, Eastern) languages
| Meaning | Sogdian | Parthian | Avestan | Scythian | Old Persian | Persian (Classical) | Middle Persian (Pahlavi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ʾāp /aːp/ | āb /aːb/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | ap /ap/ | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | آب /aːb/ | 𐭠𐭯 /aːb/ |
| Fire | ʾātar /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | ātar /aːtar/ | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | آتش /aːtaʃ/ | 𐭠𐭲𐭱 /aːtaʃ/ |
| Sun | xwr /xwar/ | xwar /xwar/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | hvar /xʷar/ | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | خورشید /xʷarʃeːd/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭱𐭩𐭲 /xwarʃeːd/ |
| Moon | mʾx /maːx/ | māh /maːh/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | māh /maːh/ | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | ماه /maːh/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭧 /maːh/ |
| Star | stāre /staːre/ | astārag /asˈtaːraɡ/ | 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭 /star/ | star /staːr/ | 𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎼 /staːra/ | ستاره /sitaːra/ | 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 /staːrag/ |
| Mother | mʾtr /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | mātar /maːtar/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | مادر /maːdar/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭫 /maːdar/ |
| Father | ptr /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | pitar /pitar/ | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | پدر /pidar/ | 𐭯𐭩𐭲𐭫 /pidar/ |
| I | azu /azu/ | az /az/ | 𐬀𐬰𐬆𐬨 /azəm/ | azu /azu/ | 𐎠𐎭𐎶 /adam/ | من /man/ | 𐭠𐭭 /an/ |
| You | tγu /tɣu/ | tu /tuː/ | 𐬙𐬏𐬨 /tuːm/ | tu /tuː/ | 𐎬𐎢𐎺𐎶 /tuvam/ | تو /toː/ | 𐭲𐭥 /toː/ |
| Name | nām /naːm/ | nām /naːm/ | 𐬥𐬁𐬨𐬀𐬥 /naːman/ | nama /naːma/ | 𐎴𐎠𐎶 /naːma/ | نام /naːm/ | 𐭭𐭠𐭬 /naːm/ |
| Eye | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | چشم /tʃaʃm/ | 𐭰𐭱𐭬 /tʃaʃm/ |
| Hand | dst /dast/ | dast /dast/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | zasta /zasta/ | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | دست /dast/ | 𐭣𐭮𐭲 /dast/ |
| Heart | δrzy /ðərʒeː/ | zyrd /zird/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | zard- /zard/ | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | دل /dil/ | 𐭣𐭩𐭫 /dil/ |
| Love | frytk /friːtak/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | — /—/ | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | عشق /ʔiʃq/ | 𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭩 /doːʃiː/ |
| Tree | drxt /draxt/ | dār /daːr/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | درخت /diraxt/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭧𐭲 /draxt/ |
| House | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | — /—/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | خانه /xaːna/ | 𐭧𐭠𐭭𐭪 /xaːnaɡ/ |
| Dog | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | spag /spaɡ/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | spaka /spaka/ | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | سگ /saɡ/ | 𐭮𐭢 /saɡ/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | گربه /ɡurba/ | 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭡𐭢 /ɡurbaɡ/ |
| Eat | xwartan /xwartan/ | xward- /xward/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | خوردن /xʷurdan/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭲𐭭 /xwardan/ |
| Drink | pi- /pi/ | pī- /piː/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | — /—/ | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | آشامیدن /aːʃaːmiːdan/ | 𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭩𐭲𐭭 /noːʃiːdan/ |
| One | yw /jɛw/ | ēw /eːw/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | aiwa /aiwa/ | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | یک /jak/ | 𐭠𐭩𐭪 /eːk/ |
| Two | aδwa /aðwa/ | dō /doː/ | 𐬛𐬬𐬀 /dva/ | duva /duva/ | 𐎯𐎢𐎺 /duva/ | دو /doː/ | 𐭣𐭥 /doː/ |
| Hello | drwd /druːd/ | drōd /droːd/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | درود /duruːd/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭲 /droːd/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | سپاس /sipaːs/ | 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮 /spaːs/ |
| Good | nyk /neːk/ | nēw /neːw/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | vohu /wohu/ | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | نیک /neːk/ | 𐭥𐭩𐭧 /weh/ |
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