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Scythian
Spoken in:Scythia
Language extinction:mostly extinct by AD 1000, remnants evolved into Ossetic
Language family:Indo-European
 Indo-Iranian
  Iranian
   Eastern Iranian
    Northeastern Iranian
     Scythian
Language codes
ISO 639-1:none
ISO 639-2:ine
ISO 639-3:xsc

 

The Scythian languages form a North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family and comprise the distinctive languages[1] spoken by the Scythian (Sarmatian and Saka) tribes of nomadic pastoralists in Scythia (Central Asia, Pontic-Caspian steppe) between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD. In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th According to some definitions an extinct language is a Language which no longer has any speakers, whereas a dead language is a language which is no longer spoken Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian List of language familiesA language family is a group of Languages related by descent from a common ancestor called the Proto-language of that family The Indo-Iranian language group constitutes the easternmost extant branch of the Indo-European family of languages The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca ISO 639-1 is the first part of the ISO 639 international-standard language-code family ISO 639-2 is the second part of the ISO 639 standard, which lists codes for the representation of the names of languages ISO 639 -3 (ISO 639-32007 is an international standard for Language codes The standard describes three‐letter codes for identifying languages The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Scythians or Scyths (Σκύθες Σκύθοι were an Iranian speaking people of horse-riding Nomadic pastoralists who dominated the Pontic The Sarmatians, Sarmatae or Sauromatae ( Old Iranian Sarumatah 'archer' Σαρμάτες The Sakas ( English form of Old Iranian Sakā, Nominative plural masculine case; Ancient Greek Σάκαι, Nomadic pastoralism is a form of Agriculture where Livestock (such as cattle sheep goats and camels are taken to different locations in order to find fresh In Classical Antiquity, Scythia ( Greek Skuthia) was the area in Eurasia inhabited by the Scythians, from the 8th Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south The term Pontic-Caspian steppe summarizes the vast Steppelands stretching from north of the Black Sea as far as the east of the Caspian Sea, from central The 8th century BC started the first day of 800 BC and ended the last day of 701 BC. The 5th century is the period from 401 to 500 in accordance with the Julian calendar in Anno Domini / Common Era. Up to the 4th century AD we have only a few words from any of these languages[2], substantial evidence of Sogdian and Saka dating from a later period.

The Scythian languages may have formed a dialect continuum:

Contents

History

The approximate distribution of Eastern Iranian languages in 100 BC appears in orange.
The approximate distribution of Eastern Iranian languages in 100 BC appears in orange. The Eastern Iranian languages are a subgroup of the Iranian languages emerging in Middle Iranian times (from ca

The Scythians migrated from Central Asia toward Eastern Europe, occupying today's Southern Russia and Ukraine and the Carpathian Basin and parts of Moldova and Dobruja. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south Eastern Europe is a general term that refers to the Geopolitical region encompassing the easternmost part of the European continent. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending Ukraine (Україна Ukrayina, /ukrɑˈjinɑ/ is a country in Eastern Europe. The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe. Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova ( Republica Moldova) is a Landlocked country in Eastern Europe, located between Romania They disappeared from history after the Hunnish invasion of Europe in the 5th century AD, and Turkic (Avar, Batsange, etc. The Huns were an early confederation of Central Asian equestrian nomads or semi-nomads with a Turkic core of aristocracy The Caucasian Avars are a modern people of Caucasus, mainly of Dagestan. The Pechenegs or Patzinaks ( Turkish: Peçenekler, Hungarian: Besenyő, Greek: Patzinaki/Petsenegi or Πατζινάκοι/Πετσενέγοι/Πατζινακίται ) and Slavic peoples probably assimilated most people speaking Scythian. However, in the Caucasus, a dialect belonging to the Scythian-Sarmatian linguistic continuum remains in use today, namely Ossetic. The Caucasus ( also referred to as North Caucasus) is a geopolitical region located between Europe Asia & Middle East Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian

Classification

The vast majority of Scythological scholars agree that the Scythian-Sarmatian languages (and Ossetic) belong to the North Eastern branch of the Iranian language family — like the once widespread but now extinct Sogdian language. The Iranian languages are a branch of the Indo-European language family and its subfamily Indo-Iranian. The Sogdian language is a Middle Iranian language that was spoken in Sogdiana ( Zarafshan River Valley located in modern day Uzbekistan This Iranian hypothesis relies principally on the fact that the Greek inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea Coast contain several hundreds of Sarmatian names showing a close affinity to the Ossetic language. Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian [6]

Divisions

Historians normally divide the Scytho-Sarmatian group chronologically rather than geographically:

Some scholars [7] detect a division of Scytho-Sarmatian into two dialects: a western, more conservative dialect, and an eastern, more innovative one. The innovative dialect may correspond to Sarmatian, whereas the conservative dialect may continue the dialect spoken by the old Scythians before the invasion of the Sarmatians.

The Scytho-Khotanese group sub-divides into:

Sources of the Scythian language

Inscriptions

Some scholars ascribe certain inscribed objects found in the Carpathian Basin and in Central Asia to the Scythians, but the interpretation of these inscriptions remains disputed (given that nobody has definitively identified the alphabet or translated the content). Tumxuk or Tumushuke ( Chinese: 图木舒克 Pinyin: Túmùshūkè تۇمشۇق|Tumushuq|Tumxuk̡ also known as Tumushuk Tumshuq etc The Pannonian Basin or Carpathian Basin is a large basin in Central Europe. Central Asia is a region of Asia from the Caspian Sea in the west to central China in the east and from southern Russia in the north to northern Pakistan in the south

An inscription from Saqqez written in the Hieroglyphic Hittite script may represent Scythian: [8]

Transliteration:pa-tì-na-sa-nà tà-pá wa-s₆-na-m₅ XL was-was-ki XXX ár-s-tí-m₅ ś₃-kar-kar (HA) har-s₆-ta₅ LUGAL | par-tì-ta₅-wa₅ ki-ś₃-a₄-á KUR-u-pa-ti QU-wa-a₅ | i₅-pa-ś₂-a-m₂
Transcription:patinasana tapa. Saqqez or Saghez (in Persian: سقز in Kurdish: Seqiz is a city located at, in Kurdistan Province of Iran. Luwian (sometimes spelled Luvian) is an extinct language of the Anatolian branch of the vasnam: 40 vasaka 30 arzatam šikar. UTA harsta XŠAYAL. | Partitava xšaya DAHYUupati xva|ipašyam
Translation:"Delivered dish. Value: 40 calves 30 silver šiqlu. And it was presented to the king. | King Partitavas, the masters of the land property. "

King Partitava equates to the Scythian king called Prototyēs in Herodotus (1. 103) and known as Par-ta-tu-a in the Assyrian sources.

The Issyk inscription, found in a Scythian kurgan dating approximately to the 4th century BC, remains undeciphered, but some authorities assume that it represents Scythian. The Issyk Kurgan, in south-eastern Kazakhstan, less than 20 km east from the Talgar alluvial fan, near Issyk, is a burial mound discovered in Kurgan (курга́н is the Russian word (of Turkic origin for a Tumulus, a type of Burial mound or barrow heaped over a

Personal names

The primary sources for Scythian words remain the Scythian toponyms, tribal names, and numerous personal names in the ancient Greek texts and in the Greek inscriptions found in the Greek colonies on the Northern Black Sea Coast. The Black Sea is an inland Sea bounded by southeastern Europe, the Caucasus and the Anatolian peninsula ( Turkey These names suggest that the Scythian-Sarmatian language had close similarities to modern Ossetian.

Some scholars believe that many toponyms and hydronyms of the Russian and Ukrainian steppe have Scythian links. For example, Vasmer associates the name of the river Don with an assumed/reconstructed unattested Scythian word *dānu "water, river", and with Ossetic don and Avestan dānu-. The Don (Дон is one of the major rivers of Russia. It rises in the town of Novomoskovsk 60 Kilometres southeast from Tula, southeast [9] The river names Don, Dnieper, and Dniester may also belong with the same word-group. For the rocket see Dnepr rocket. For other uses see Dnieper (disambiguation. The Dniester (Дністер translit Dnister; Nistru is a river in Eastern Europe. [10]

Herodotus' Scythian etymologies

The Greek historian Herodotus provides another source of Scythian; he reports that the Scythians called the Amazons Oiorpata, and explains the name as a compound of oior, meaning "man", and pata, meaning "to kill" (Hist. Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash The Amazons (in Greek, grc Ἀμαζόνες are a nation of all-female warriors in Classical and Greek mythology, who were possibly historical 4,110).

Elsewhere Herodotus explains the name of the mythical one-eyed tribe Arimaspoi as a compound of the Scythian words arima, meaning "one", and spu, meaning "eye" (Hist. The Arimaspi were a legendary people of northern Scythia who lived in the foothills of the Riphean Mountains, variously identified with the Ural Mountains 4,27).

Herodotus' Scythian theonyms

Herodotus also gives a list of Scythian theonyms (Hist. 4. 59):

Alanic

The Alanic language as spoken by the Alans from about the 5th to the 11th centuries AD formed a dialect directly descended from the earlier Scytho-Sarmatian languages, and forming in its turn the ancestor of the Ossetic language. The Alans or Alani (occasionally but more rarely termed Alauni or Halani) were an Iranian nomadic group among the Sarmatian people A dialect (from the Greek word διάλεκτος dialektos) is a variety of a Language that is characteristic of a particular group of Ossetic or Ossetian (Ирон ӕвзаг Iron ævzag or Иронау Ironau) also sometimes called Ossete, is an Iranian Byzantine Greek authors recorded only a few fragments of this language. Medieval Greek (Μεσαιωνική Ελληνική is a linguistic term that describes the fourth period in the history of the Greek language. [24]


Alternate nationalist theories

Divergent views fueled by ethnic nationalism, have proposed affiliation with Turkic [25], Ugric or Proto-Slavic. Ethnic nationalism is a form of Nationalism wherein the " Nation " is defined in terms of Ethnicity. The Turkic languages constitute a Language family of some thirty languages spoken by Turkic peoples across a vast area from Eastern Europe and the Ugric or Ugrian languages ˈjuːɡrɨk ˈjuːɡriən are a branch of the Finno-Ugric Language family. Proto-Slavic is the Proto-language from which Slavic languages later emerged [26] A more moderate proposal by Boris Rybakov suggests a Proto-Slavic substrate. Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov ( Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в June 3 1908 — December 27 2001 [27]

Notes

  1. ^ "The languages of the eastern group, moreover, cannot have been themselves mutually intelligible. The main known languages of this group are Chorasmian, Sogdian and Saka. Less well-known are Old Ossetic (Scytho-Sarmatian) and Bactrian, but from what is known it would seem likely that these languages were equally distinctive" - Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition - Macropedia on Languages of the World
  2. ^ Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition - Macropedia on Languages of the World, "The Iranian Languages"
  3. ^ Scythian, member of a normadic people originally of Iranian stock who migrated from Central Asia to southern Russia in the 8th and 7th centuries BC - Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition - Micropaedia on "Scythian"
  4. ^ The languages of the Scytho-Sarmatian inscription may represent dialects of a language family of which Modern Ossetic is a continuation, but does not simply represent the same language at an earlier time - Encyclopedia Britannica 15th edition - Macropedia on Languages of the World
  5. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed. The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc The Encyclopædia Britannica is a general English-language encyclopaedia published by Encyclopædia Britannica Inc ), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Reichert, 1989.
  6. ^ Compare L. Zgusta, Die griechischen Personennamen griechischer Städte der nördlichen Schwarzmeerküste [The Greek personal names of the Greek cities of the northern Black Sea coast], 1955.
  7. ^ E. g. Harmatta 1970.
  8. ^ Text and translation in J. Harmatta, "Herodotus, historian of the Cimmerians and the Scythians", in: Hérodote et les peuples non grecs, Vandœuvres-Genève 1990, pp. 115-130.
  9. ^ M. Vasmer, Untersuchungen über die ältesten Wohnsitze der Slaven. Max Vasmer ( February 28, 1886 &mdash November 30, 1962) was a Russian born German linguist who studied problems Die Iranier in Südrußland, Leipzig 1923, 74.
  10. ^ P. Kretschmer, "Zum Balkan-Skythischen", Glotta 24 (1935), 1-56, here: 7ff. Paul Kretschmer ( May 2 1866 – March 9 1956) was a German linguist who studied the earliest history and interrelations of the
  11. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 15.
  12. ^ V.I. Abaev, Osetinskij jazyk i fol’klor, Moscow / Leningrad 1949, vol. Vaso (Vasily Ivanovich Abaev (Ossetian Абайты Васо, Russian Василий Иванович Абаев, also transilterated as Abaity and 1, 172, 176, 188.
  13. ^ L. Zgusta, "Skythisch οἰόρπατα «ἀνδροκτόνοι»", Annali dell’Istituto Universario Orientale di Napoli 1 (1959) pp. Ladislav Zgusta (20 March 1924 - 27 April 2007 was an historical linguist and lexicographer of Czech origins 151-156.
  14. ^ Hinge, Glotta 81 (2005) 94-98.
  15. ^ J. Marquart, Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Eran, Göttingen 1905, 90-92; Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 12; H. H. Schaeder, Iranica. I: Das Auge des Königs, Berlin 1934, 16-19.
  16. ^ W. Tomaschek, "Kritik der ältesten Nachrichten über den skythischen Norden", Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften 116 (1888), 715-780, here: 761; K. Müllenhoff, Deutsche Altertumskunde, Berlin 1893, vol. Karl Viktor Mullenhoff ( September 8 1818 &ndash February 19 1884) was a German philologist. 3, 305-306; R. Grousset, L’empire des steppes, Paris 1941, 37 n. René Grousset ( September 5, 1885 - September 12, 1952) was a French Historian specializing in Asiatic and 3; I. Lebedensky, Les Scythes. La civilisation des steppes (VIIe-IIIe siècles av. J. -C. ), Paris 2001, 93.
  17. ^ Hinge, Glotta 81 (2005) 89-94.
  18. ^ W. Brandenstein, "Die Abstammungssagen der Skythen", Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 52 (1953) 183-211, here: 191; Ė. A. Grantovskij & D. S. Raevskij, "Ob iranojazyčnom i «indoarijskom» naselenii Severnogo Pričernomor’ja v antičnuju ėpochu", in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja. Lingvistika, istorija, archeologija, Moscow 1984, 47-66, here: 53-55; G. Dumézil, Romans de Scythie et d’alentour, Paris 1978, 125-145; Dumézil offers a different interpretation in La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés. Georges Dumézil ( March 4, 1898 – October 11, 1986) was a French comparative Philologist best known for his analysis of Sovereignty Esquisses de mythologie, Paris 1983, 124-125.
  19. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 15; L. Zgusta, "Zwei skythische Götternamen", Archiv orientální 21 (1953), pp. Ladislav Zgusta (20 March 1924 - 27 April 2007 was an historical linguist and lexicographer of Czech origins 270-271; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54.
  20. ^ L. Zgusta, "Zwei skythische Götternamen", Archiv orientální 21 (1953), pp. Ladislav Zgusta (20 March 1924 - 27 April 2007 was an historical linguist and lexicographer of Czech origins 270-271.
  21. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 11; Brandenstein, Wiener Zeitschrift für die Kunde des Morgenlandes 52 (1953) 190-191; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54.
  22. ^ Vasmer, Die Iranier in Südrußland, 1923, 13; other interpretations in Dumézil, La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés, 1983, 121-122; Grantovskij and Raevskij, in: Ėtnogenez narodov Balkan i Severnogo Pričernomor’ja, 1984, 54-55.
  23. ^ Dumézil, La courtisane et les seigneurs colorés, 1983.
  24. ^ Ladislav Zgusta, "The old Ossetic Inscription from the River Zelenčuk" (Veröffentlichungen der Iranischen Kommission = Sitzungsberichte der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-historische Klasse 486) Wien: Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 1987. ISBN 3-7001-0994-6 in Kim, op. cit. , 54.
  25. ^ Zakiev, Mirfatykh Z. 1995. Ethnic roots of the Tatar people. A chapter from "Tatars: problems of the history and language", Kazan, 1995.
  26. ^ S. V. Rjabčikov, Drevnie texty slavjan i adygov [Ancient texts of the Slavs and the Adyghe], Krasnodar 1998; Skifo-sarmatskie istoki slavjanskoj kul’tury: Materialy Južnorossijskoj fol’klorno-ėtnografičeskoj ekspedicii [Scytho-Sarmatian sources of Slavic culture: Materials of the South-Russian folkloric-ethnographic expedition], Krasnodar 2002; see also the homepage of Rjabčikov on the Slavonic Antiquity.
  27. ^ B.A. Rybakov, Gerodotova Skifija. Boris Alexandrovich Rybakov ( Russian: Бори́с Алекса́ндрович Рыбако́в June 3 1908 — December 27 2001 Istoriko-geografičeskij analiz [Herodotian Scythia:a historical-geographic analysis], Moscow 1979.

Literature

Links

Herodotus of Halicarnassus ( Greek: Hēródotos Halikarnāsseús) was a Greek Historian who lived in the 5th century BC ( 484 BC&ndash
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