Skuda
Scythian
Indo-European (Iranian, Eastern, Scythian) · historical / hidden variety
Scythian was the Eastern Iranian language of the Scythians (Skuda), Sarmatians, Massagetae and related steppe nomads who dominated the Pontic-Caspian steppe from the 7th century BCE to the 4th century CE. Its corpus is fragmentary, consisting mostly of personal and place names recorded by Herodotus, Ptolemy and other Greek-Roman authors plus Scythian-origin loanwords in surrounding languages. No native script existed; many entries here are necessarily Iranian-cognate proxies. The modern Ossetian language (oss) of the Caucasus is the only living descendant. Scythian funerary culture (kurgans) is famous for the Pazyryk burials with their preserved tattooed mummies and gold animal-style art.
Where it is spoken
31 core words in Scythian
Water
ap
/ap/
Fire
ātar
/aːtar/
Sun
hvar
/xʷar/
Moon
māh
/maːh/
Star
star
/staːr/
Mother
mātar
/maːtar/
Father
pitar
/pitar/
I
azu
/azu/
You
tu
/tuː/
Name
nama
/naːma/
Eye
čašm
/tʃaʃm/
Hand
zasta
/zasta/
Heart
zard-
/zard/
Love
—
/—/
Tree
—
/—/
House
—
/—/
Dog
spaka
/spaka/
Cat
—
/—/
Eat
xwartan
/xʷartan/
Drink
—
/—/
One
aiwa
/aiwa/
Two
duva
/duva/
Hello
—
/—/
Thank you
—
/—/
Good
vohu
/wohu/
Sources
- Glottolog: scyt1241
- Mayrhofer (2006) Einiges zu den Skythen
- Ethnologue: xsc
Words compared
Compared with related Indo-European (Iranian, Eastern, Scythian) languages
| Meaning | Scythian | Old Persian | Avestan | Sogdian | Parthian | Middle Persian (Pahlavi) | Khotanese |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Water | ap /ap/ | 𐎠𐎱 /aːpi/ | 𐬁𐬞 /aːp/ | ʾāp /aːp/ | āb /aːb/ | 𐭠𐭯 /aːb/ | 𑀊𑀤𑀸 /uːdaː/ |
| Fire | ātar /aːtar/ | 𐎠𐎫𐎼 /aːtar/ | 𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /aːtar/ | ʾātar /aːtar/ | ādar /aːdar/ | 𐭠𐭲𐭱 /aːtaʃ/ | 𑀆𑀢𑀭 /aːtar/ |
| Sun | hvar /xʷar/ | 𐏃𐎢𐎺𐎼 /huwar/ | 𐬵𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬆 /huwarə/ | xwr /xwar/ | xwar /xwar/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭱𐭩𐭲 /xwarʃeːd/ | 𑀉𑀭𑁆𑀫 /urma/ |
| Moon | māh /maːh/ | 𐎶𐎠𐏃 /maːha/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬵 /maːh/ | mʾx /maːx/ | māh /maːh/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭧 /maːh/ | 𑀫𑀸𑀲𑁆𑀢 /maːsta/ |
| Star | star /staːr/ | 𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎼 /staːra/ | 𐬯𐬙𐬀𐬭 /star/ | stāre /staːre/ | astārag /asˈtaːraɡ/ | 𐭮𐭲𐭠𐭫𐭪 /staːrag/ | 𑀲𑁆𑀢𑀸𑀭 /staːra/ |
| Mother | mātar /maːtar/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎫𐎼 /maːtar/ | 𐬨𐬁𐬙𐬀𐬭 /maːtar/ | mʾtr /maːtar/ | mād /maːd/ | 𐭬𐭠𐭲𐭫 /maːdar/ | 𑀫𑀸𑀢 /maːta/ |
| Father | pitar /pitar/ | 𐎱𐎡𐎫𐎠 /pitaː/ | 𐬞𐬌𐬙𐬀𐬭 /pitar/ | ptr /pitar/ | pid /pid/ | 𐭯𐭩𐭲𐭫 /pidar/ | 𑀧𑀺𑀢 /pita/ |
| I | azu /azu/ | 𐎠𐎭𐎶 /adam/ | 𐬀𐬰𐬆𐬨 /azəm/ | azu /azu/ | az /az/ | 𐭠𐭭 /an/ | aä /aːə/ |
| You | tu /tuː/ | 𐎬𐎢𐎺𐎶 /tuvam/ | 𐬙𐬏𐬨 /tuːm/ | tγu /tɣu/ | tu /tuː/ | 𐭲𐭥 /toː/ | 𑀢𑀽 /tuː/ |
| Name | nama /naːma/ | 𐎴𐎠𐎶 /naːma/ | 𐬥𐬁𐬨𐬀𐬥 /naːman/ | nām /naːm/ | nām /naːm/ | 𐭭𐭠𐭬 /naːm/ | 𑀦𑀸𑀫 /naːma/ |
| Eye | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐏂𐏁𐎶𐎴 /tʃaʃman/ | 𐬗𐬀𐬱𐬨𐬀𐬥 /tʃaʃman/ | cšm /tʃaʃm/ | čašm /tʃaʃm/ | 𐭰𐭱𐭬 /tʃaʃm/ | 𑀘𑁂𑀰𑁆𑀫𑀦𑁆 /tʃʰeʃman/ |
| Hand | zasta /zasta/ | 𐎭𐎿𐎫 /dasta/ | 𐬰𐬀𐬯𐬙𐬀 /zasta/ | dst /dast/ | dast /dast/ | 𐭣𐭮𐭲 /dast/ | 𑀤𑀲𑁆𑀢 /dasta/ |
| Heart | zard- /zard/ | 𐏀𐎼𐎭 /zard/ | 𐬰𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬛 /zərəd/ | δrzy /ðərʒeː/ | zyrd /zird/ | 𐭣𐭩𐭫 /dil/ | 𑀬𑀲𑀭 (ysära) /zəra/ |
| Love | — /—/ | 𐎳𐎼𐎡𐎹 /frija/ | 𐬟𐬭𐬌𐬌𐬀 /frija/ | frytk /friːtak/ | friyādan /frijaːdan/ | 𐭲𐭥𐭱𐭩 /doːʃiː/ | 𑀅𑀭𑁆𑀭𑀽 /arːuː/ |
| Tree | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐬬𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 /waesa/ | drxt /draxt/ | dār /daːr/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭧𐭲 /draxt/ | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀼 /drːu/ |
| House | — /—/ | 𐎶𐎠𐎴𐎡𐎹 /maːnija/ | 𐬥𐬨𐬁𐬥𐬀 /nmaːna/ | kṯʾk /kaθaːk/ | xānag /xaːnaɡ/ | 𐭧𐭠𐭭𐭪 /xaːnaɡ/ | 𑀩𑁆𑀬𑀸𑀳 /bjaːha/ |
| Dog | spaka /spaka/ | 𐎿𐎱𐎣 /spaka/ | 𐬯𐬞𐬁 /spaː/ | ʾkw /aːkuː/ | spag /spaɡ/ | 𐭮𐭢 /saɡ/ | 𑀰𑀼 /ʂu/ |
| Cat | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | 𐭢𐭥𐭫𐭡𐭢 /ɡurbaɡ/ | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑁆𑀭𑀅𑀼 /ʂʂarau/ |
| Eat | xwartan /xʷartan/ | 𐎧𐎼 /xar/ | 𐬑𐬬𐬀𐬭 /xwar/ | xwartan /xwartan/ | xward- /xward/ | 𐭧𐭥𐭫𐭲𐭭 /xwardan/ | 𑀧𑀭𑀢 /parætæ/ |
| Drink | — /—/ | 𐎱𐎠 /paː/ | 𐬞𐬁 /paː/ | pi- /pi/ | pī- /piː/ | 𐭭𐭥𐭱𐭩𐭲𐭭 /noːʃiːdan/ | 𑀧𑀻𑀅 /piːa/ |
| One | aiwa /aiwa/ | 𐎠𐎡𐎺 /aiwa/ | 𐬀𐬉𐬬𐬀 /aewa/ | yw /jɛw/ | ēw /eːw/ | 𐭠𐭩𐭪 /eːk/ | 𑀰𑁆𑀰𑀅𑀼 /ɕːau/ |
| Two | duva /duva/ | 𐎯𐎢𐎺 /duva/ | 𐬛𐬬𐬀 /dva/ | aδwa /aðwa/ | dō /doː/ | 𐭣𐭥 /doː/ | 𑀤𑀼𑀯 /duva/ |
| Hello | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | drwd /druːd/ | drōd /droːd/ | 𐭣𐭫𐭥𐭲 /droːd/ | 𑀤𑁆𑀭𑀽𑀤𑀻 /drːuːdiː/ |
| Thank you | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | — /—/ | spās /spaːs/ | 𐭮𐭯𐭠𐭮 /spaːs/ | 𑀧𑁆𑀬𑀰𑁆𑀢 /pjaʃta/ |
| Good | vohu /wohu/ | 𐎴𐎡𐎲 /naiba/ | 𐬬𐬊𐬵𐬎 /vohu/ | nyk /neːk/ | nēw /neːw/ | 𐭥𐭩𐭧 /weh/ | 𑀯𑀺𑀭𑀢𑁆𑀢 /viratːa/ |
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