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
20 core words in Sogdian
Water
ʾāp
/aːp/
Fire
ʾātar
/aːtar/
Sun
xwr
/xwar/
Moon
mʾx
/maːx/
Mother
mʾtr
/maːtar/
Father
ptr
/pitar/
Eat
xwartan
/xwartan/
Drink
pi-
/pi/
Love
frytk
/friːtak/
Heart
dyl
/dil/
Tree
drxt
/draxt/
House
kṯʾk
/kaθaːk/
Dog
ʾkw
/aːkuː/
Cat
—
/—/
Hand
dst
/dast/
Eye
cšm
/tʃaʃm/
Hello
drwd
/druːd/
Thank you
—
/—/
One
yw
/jɛw/
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 | Persian (Classical) | Middle Persian (Pahlavi) | Avestan | Old Persian | Scythian |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ʾāp /aːp/ | āb /aːb/ | آب /aːb/ | 𐭠𐭯 /aːb/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | ap /ap/ |
| Fire | ʾātar /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | آتش /aːtaʃ/ | 𐭠𐭲𐭱 /aːtaʃ/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | ātar /aːtar/ |
| Sun | xwr /xwar/ | xwar /xwar/ | خورشید /xʷarʃeːd/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭱𐭩𐭲 /xwarʃeːd/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | hvar /xʷar/ |
| Moon | mʾx /maːx/ | māh /maːh/ | ماه /maːh/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭧 /maːh/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | māh /maːh/ |
| Mother | mʾtr /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | مادر /maːdar/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭫 /maːdar/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | mātar /maːtar/ |
| Father | ptr /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | پدر /pidar/ | 𐭯𐭩𐭲𐭫 /pidar/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | pitar /pitar/ |
| Eat | xwartan /xwartan/ | xward- /xward/ | خوردن /xʷurdan/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭲𐭭 /xwardan/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | xwartan /xʷartan/ |
| Drink | pi- /pi/ | pī- /piː/ | آشامیدن /aːʃaːmiːdan/ | 𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭩𐭲𐭭 /noːʃiːdan/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | — /—/ |
| Love | frytk /friːtak/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | عشق /ʔiʃq/ | 𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭩 /doːʃiː/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | — /—/ |
| Heart | dyl /dil/ | zyrd /zird/ | دل /dil/ | 𐭣𐭩𐭫 /dil/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | zard- /zard/ |
| Tree | drxt /draxt/ | dār /daːr/ | درخت /diraxt/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭧𐭲 /draxt/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| House | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | خانه /xaːna/ | 𐭧𐭠𐭭𐭪 /xaːnaɡ/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | — /—/ |
| Dog | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | spag /spaɡ/ | سگ /saɡ/ | 𐭮𐭢 /saɡ/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | spaka /spaka/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | گربه /ɡurba/ | 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭡𐭢 /ɡurbaɡ/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Hand | dst /dast/ | dast /dast/ | دست /dast/ | 𐭣𐭮𐭲 /dast/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | zasta /zasta/ |
| Eye | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | چشم /t͡ʃaʃm/ | 𐭰𐭱𐭬 /tʃaʃm/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ |
| Hello | drwd /druːd/ | drōd /droːd/ | درود /duruːd/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭲 /droːd/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | سپاس /sipaːs/ | 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮 /spaːs/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ |
| One | yw /jɛw/ | ēw /eːw/ | یک /jak/ | 𐭠𐭩𐭪 /eːk/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | aiwa /aiwa/ |
| Good | nyk /neːk/ | nēw /neːw/ | نیک /neːk/ | 𐭥𐭩𐭧 /weh/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | vohu /wohu/ |
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