Introduction to Old Persian Morphology: By: Mehrnoush Ahmadi Historical and cultural contexts: 1. Members of that branch of the Indo-European language family called Indo-Iranian or Aryan. 2. The Iranian languages began to take shape when the ancestors of the Indo-Aryans left the common homeland in the steppes of Central Asia in the first half of the second millennium BC. 3. Old Persian cuneiform was used only by the Achaemenid Kings for two centuries and only for their own language – that is, the rather artificial literary language of their royal inscriptions. Morphological type: Typical of ancient Indo-European, Old Persian is an inflectional language with synthetic morphological patterns. Owing to lack of evidence, both the nominal and pronominal and, still more, the verbal paradigms are known only partially in most distances. Therefore it is not possible to give a fully formed account of the formation, function, and actual use of nominal, pronominal, and verbal forms. The same is true, by and large, with reg ard to nominal and verbal stem formation. 1. Nominal Morphology The grammatical categories marked on the Old Persian noun; I) Case (seven) II) Gender (three), (masculine, feminine, and neuter) III) Number (three), (singular, dual, and plural) Cases: The seven attested nominal cases are the followings: (i) nominative (for subject), (ii) vocative (for direct address), (iii) accusative (for direct object and direction), (iv) genitive (used as possessive, subjective, objective, and partitive genitive), (v) locative (for indication of place or goal), (vi) instrumental (for indication of means, cause, and (Extension), and (vii) ablative (only combined with prepositions). Noun and adjectives word formation Nouns and adjectives can be i) “underived” (from a historical perspective these are also sometimes derived, but there is no word in Old Iranian or Indo-Iranian from which they can be said to be derived), e.g., Ka:ra- “people, army,” puça-“son.” 1

ii) “Derived” by means of an ending -adraug-/drauj- (to lie) + -a- → drauga- (the Lie) -ana- draug-/drauj- (to lie) → draujana- (full of lies) -aina- kasaka- (glass) + -aina- → kasakaina- (made of glass) -iya- Aθura- (Assyria) + -iya- → Aθuriyan- (Assyrian) -ka- Vazar- + -ka- → vazarka-man- tau- (to be able) + -man- → Tauman- (strength) A special class of “derived” nouns are those that are identical with the word they are derived from, e.g., Parsa- “Persian” < Parsa- “Persia.” Iii) Compounds, e.g., A+N tigra-(pointed) + xauda-(hat) → tigraxauda (with pointed hat) N+V asa-(horse) + -bara-(carried) → asabara (on horseback) Prefix+Noun huv-(good)+ asa-(horse) → huvasa (having good horses) huv+asabara → good horseman Verb+Noun daraya- (to hold)+ vahu (sth. Good) → darayavahu Adjectival compounds Adjectival compounds, consisting of adjective + noun indicating possession are frequent in Old Persian, For instance; tigra-xauda- “he who has a pointed hat” and Ariyaciça“whose stock is Aryan.” Such compounds are called bahuvri:his, a Sanskrit word literally meaning “he who has much (bahu) rice (vi:hi).” Adjectives with the prefix hu- + noun, e.g., huv-asa- and humartiya-“he who has good horses, men” can also be bahuvri:his. The compounds hamarana-kara- and asa-baraare of a different kind. Here a kind of case relationship must be assumed between the two elements, such as, “he who does battle (accusative)” and “he who is carried or rides on a horse (instrumental).” Ablaut Plays an important role in Derivation; vriddhi is commonly used to derive nouns and adjectives from other nouns and adjectives. Compare: Vriddhi(long form of the vowel) + suffix -a-: Margu- “Margiana” Ma:rgava- “person from Margiana” vriddhi + suffix -i-: baga- “god” + *ya:da- “worshiping” Ba:gaya:di- month name *yauhman- (yaug “yoke, combine”?) ya:umani- (ya:umaini)*coordinated, controlled” vriddhi + suffix -iya- (< -i + a-): *xshayatha- “the wielding of power” xsha:yathiya- “king” 2

When the original first term already has a long a:, the vriddhi is not visible: 2. Pronominal morphology (i) personal pronouns (including the so-called anaphoric pronoun); (ii) several demonstrative pronouns; (iii) relative pronouns; (iv) interrogative-indefinite 2.1. Personal pronouns The personal pronouns are characterized (i) by an absence of grammatical gender; (ii) by a remarkable heteroclisis between the nominative and oblique cases; and (iii) by the existence of frequently used enclitic forms. A) Accent forms

First Nominative Accusative Genitive Ablative

adam mam mana: -ma

Accented forms Second First Plural tuvam vuvam ___ ___

vayam __ ama:xam ___

b) Enclitic forms Accusative Genitive

-ma: -mai

Enclitic forms ___ ___ -tai ___

Enclitic forms: Old Persian exhibits enclitic forms built from the stems –sha-/ -shi- and –di-: acc, sg. –shim “him” gen. –shai “his”, acc. pl. –shish “them”, gen. “their”; acc. sg. –dim “him” and acc. pl. –dish “them.” 2.2. i) ii)

Demonstrative pronouns Near-Deixis Far-Deixis

2.2.1. Near-Deixis The near-deictic pronoun ima- refers to what is near to the speaker in time and space,

Sing. Plur.

Masc. iyam imaiy

Fem. iyam imaa

Neut. ima imaa 3

Examples: Iyam asa naiba (This horse is good) Imaiy martiyaa shiyaataa (these men are happy) 2.2.2. Far-Deixis It is opposed to in heaven.

Sing. Nom. Acc. Plur. Nom.-acc. 2.3. i)

ii)

The nom. and acc. Masc.

Fem.

Neut.

hauv avam

hauv Ava:m

Ava, avashciy

avaiy

Ava:

Ava:

Relative and interrogative pronouns Relative pronoun: Its stems haya- (nom. sg. Masc./fem.) and taya- (elsewhere) “who, which” emerged from the fusion of the Proto-Aryan correlating demonstrative and relative pronouns sa:-/ta:- +ya- “the one, who“. Interrogative pronoun: It not attested in Old Persian texts and can be recovered only from the indefinite pronouns kash-ci (nom. sg. Masc.) “somebody”, cish-ci (neut.) “something”, which are derived by means of the generalizing particle –ci, as in ya-ci (nom.-acc. sg. Neut.) “whatever”.

2.4. Pronominal Adjectives Old Persian attests only aniya- “other” (e.g., nom. –acc. sg. Neut. Aniya, abl. Sg. Masc. aniyana); haruva- “all” (e.g., loc. Sg. Fem. Haruvahya:ya:) hama- “the same” (in gen. sg. Fem. Hamahya:ya:). 3. Verbal morphology Old Persian verbal forms are marked for tense (originally aspect), voice, mood, and the usual three persons and three numbers. 3.1. Voice There are two “voices”: active and middle. There is a passive formation in -iya-. Note that the word “active” is used in two different ways: “active” form or “active” meaning. “Active” form means that the verb takes “active” endings, rather than “middle” endings. A verb can have “middle” forms but still have “active” meaning, that is, take a direct object (transitive). Passive morphology is more innovative, which the following attested: (i) forms built from the passive stem in –ya- (e.g., imperfect a-thanh-ya “it has been said”), common to Indo-Iranian for

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the present stem; (ii) middle forms like a-naya-ta “he was led”; and (iii) phrases consisting of a verbal adjective in –ta- plus the copula (which usually is omitted, however in the third person). 3.2. Mood The five moods attested in Old Persian are indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative and as an Indo-European relic, injunctive. The indicative is used to express factual statements-present indicative (formed with the primary endings) for those in present time and imperfect indicative (the augment a - and secondary endings being added to the present stem) for those in past time. The subjunctive expresses the eventual or potential realization of actions in the present stem enlarged by –a(e.g., ah-a-ti “it my be”). The optative is used for wishes and prayers and is formed with a stem in –iya- (in the athematic singular) or –i:- (otherwise). The optative takes secondary endings (e.g., 2nd sg. Mid. Yadaisha “you may worship”. The imperative is the mood of command and prayer and makes use of distinctive imperative endings which are added to the present or aoris t stem. The injunctive (with secondary endings) is found in Old Persian only in Prohibitive constructions introduced by the particle ma: “not”. 3.3.

Tense

It has three “tenses”: present, past, and perfect. The past tense is mostly expressed by the imperfect (English he was, he did, he went). The perfect is formed by the perfect participle in -ta plus the verb “to be” (similar to German Ich bin gewesen and French je suis allé). 3.4. i)

Verbal Stem Distinction between the thematic and the athematic stems marked by the presence or absence of the thematic vowel –a- preceding the personal endings. Example: athematic as-ti “he is”, but thematic bav-a-ti “he becomes” ii)

The present and aorist stems (and likewise the only perfect stem attested) are formed either from the verbal root to which one of a set of suffixes is attached, or from the unsuffixed root itself (root presents and root aorists). Example: present stems in –aya- like ta:vaya- “to be able”, ma:naya:- “to wait, expect” Ancestral formations of Proto-Indo-European origin are the stems in –sa- (=Avestan –sa-), trsa“to be afraid” (=Avestan tarsa-), xshna:sa- “to know”. 4. Clitics i) Two common examples; the copulative and disjunctive conjunctions (-ca: “and”, -va: “or”); and (iii) various emphatic particles Example: Example: pasa:va-mai Aura mazda: upasta:m abara 5

Afterwards-me Auramazda: aid he braught Example: A B-ca: Vashna: Auramazda:ha: manaca: D˝rayavahauπ xsha:yathiyahaya: “by the greatness of Auramazda: and me, King Darius” A B-va:martiya haya draujana ahatiy hayava: zu:rakara ahatiy avaiy ma: daushta: biya: “A man who is a liar or does crooked deeds—those you shall not befriend!” 5. Coordination and subordination Like; i)

ii)

iii)

Connector (a coordinating conjunction like uta: “and” or a temporal adverb like pasa:va “afterwards, then”, or without such (asyndeton). Most conjunctions used in Old Persian are derived from the (original) stem of the relative pronoun (as is the case in the cognate languages, too): for example, yatha: (often correlated with avatha: “thus”) “when, after, so that” (introducing temporal, modal and consecutive clauses); yadi “if” (normally with a subjunctive verb), “when” (with an indicative; introducing temporal and conditional clauses). While both of these are inherited, ya:ta: “until, when, as long as” is a new formation, as is taya “that, so that” There are also main clause containing verbs like “to order” , “to be able”, “to dare” (e.g., adam nishta:yam ima:m dipim nipaishtanai” I ordered to engrave this inscription”); another likewise typical use of an infinitive construction is that expressing purpose after verbs like “to go”, “to send” (e.g., paraita patish Darlim hamaranam cartanai” went forth against Da:drshi to fight a battle”).

6. Relative constructions The relative pronoun haya-/taya- functions as a definite article in expressions indicating various attributive complements to nouns, with case attraction if appropriate; for example: A. Gauma:ta haya magush (nominative) Gauma:tam tayam maguam (accusative) “Gaumata the magus” B. Ka:ram tayam Ma:dam (accusative) “The Median army” C. Vitham taya:m ama:xam (genitive plural) “Our *royal+ house” D. Xshacam taya Ba:birau (locative) “The kingship in Babylonia”

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Appendix:

Nouns Old Persian stems:    

a-stems (-a, -am, -ā) i-stems (-iš, iy) u- (and au-) stems (-uš, -uv) consonantal stems (n, r, h)

-a

Singular

Dual

-am

Plural

Singular

Dual

-ā

Plural Singular Dual Plural

Nominative -a

-ā

-ā, -āha -am

-ā

-ā

-ā

-ā

-ā

Vocative

-ā

-ā

-ā

-am

-ā

-ā

-ā

-ā

-ā

Accusative

-am

-ā

-ā

-am

-ā

-ā

-ām

-ā

-ā

-ā

-aibiyā -aibiš

-āyā

-ābiyā -ābiš

Instrumental -ā

-aibiyā -aibiš

Dative

-ahyā, -ahya -aibiyā -aibiš

-ahyā, -ahya -aibiyā -aibiš

-āyā

-ābiyā -ābiš

Ablative

-ā

-ā

-āyā

-ābiyā -ābiš

Genitive

-ahyā, -ahya -āyā

-ānām -ahyā, -ahya -āyā

-ānām -āyā

-āyā

-ānām

Locative

-aiy

-aišuvā -aiy

-aišuvā -āyā

-āyā

-āšuvā

-aibiyā -aibiš

-āyā

-aibiyā -aibiš

-āyā 7

-iš

-iy

-uš

-uv

Singula Dua Plura Singula Dua Plura Singula Plura Singula Plura Dual Dual r l l r l l r l r l

Nominative -iš

-īy

-iya

-iy

-in

-īn

-uš

-ūv

-uva -uv

-un

-ūn

Vocative

-īy

-iya

-iy

-in

-īn

-u

-ūv

-uva -uv

-un

-ūn

Accusative -im

-īy

-iš

-iy

-in

-īn

-um

-ūv

-ūn

-un

-ūn

Instrument -auš al

ībiy -ībiš -auš ā

ībiy -ībiš -auv ā

ūbiy -ūbiš -auv ā

ūbiy -ūbiš ā

Dative

-aiš

ībiy -ībiš -aiš ā

ībiy -ībiš -auš ā

ūbiy -ūbiš -auš ā

ūbiy -ūbiš ā

-auš

ībiy -ībiš -auš ā

ībiy -ībiš -auv ā

ūbiy -ūbiš -auv ā

ūbiy -ūbiš ā

Genitive

-aiš

-īyā -aiš īnām

-īyā -auš īnām

-ūvā ūnā m

-ūvā ūnā m

Locative

-auv

-īyā

Ablative

-i

-auv išuvā

-īyā

-āvā išuvā

Adjectives are declinable in similar way. 8

-uv

-auš

-ūvā ušuv -āvā ā

-ūvā ušuv ā

Verbs Voices Active, Middle (them. pres. -aiy-, -ataiy-), Passive (-ya-). Mostly the forms of first and third persons are attested. The only preserved Dual form is ajīvatam 'both lived'.

Present, Active

Athematic Thematic

'be'

'bring'

1.pers. aʰmiy

barāmiy

3.pers. astiy

baratiy

1.pers. aʰmahiy

barāmahiy

3.pers. hatiy

baratiy

Sg.

Pl.

Imperfect, Active

Athematic

Thematic

'do, make' 'be, become'

Sg. 1.pers. akunavam abavam

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3.pers. akunauš

abava

1.pers. akumā

abavāmā

3.pers. akunava

abava

Pl.

Present participle

Active

-nt-

Middle

-amna-

Past participle

-ta-

Infinitive

-tanaiy

Lexicon: Proto-Indo-Iranian Bhra:trmartya Ata

Old Persian Bra:tar martya arta

Middle Persian Bra:dar mard ard

Modern Persian Bara:dar ‫برادر‬ Mard ‫مرد‬ Ord ‫ارد‬

meaning brother man order

Reference: Roger D. Woodard, 2008, the Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas, Cambridge University Press. Oktor Skjærvø, 2002, an Introduction to Old Persian. 10

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