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The Old Persian language is one of the two attested Old Iranian languages (besides Avestan). Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets, seals of the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now present-day Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt^[1] the most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun inscription (dated to 525 BCE).

Classification

Old Persian is an Old Iranian language and a member of the Southwestern Iranian language group. As an Iranian language, Old Persian is also a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family. Avestan, the only other attested Old Iranian language, does not belong to the same geographic division as Old Persian and is typologically distinct.

Language evolution

By the 4th century, the late Achaemenid period, the inscriptions of Artaxerxes II and Artaxerxes III differ enough from the language of Darius' inscriptions to be called a "pre-Middle Persian," or "post-Old Persian."^[2] Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian. Professor Gilbert Lazard, a famous Iranologist and the author of the book Persian Grammar states:^[3]

The language known as New Persian, which usually is called at this period (early Islamic times) by the name of Parsi-Dari, can be classified linguistically as a continuation of Middle Persian, the official religious and literary language of Sassanian Iran, itself a continuation of Old Persian, the language of the Achaemenids. Unlike the other languages and dialects, ancient and modern, of the Iranian group such as Avestan, Parthian, Soghdian, Kurdish, Pashto, etc., Old Middle and New Persian represent one and the same language at three states of its history. It had its origin in Fars and is differentiated by dialectical features, still easily recognizable from the dialect prevailing in north-western and eastern Iran.

Middle Persian, also sometimes called Pahlavi is a direct continuation of old Persian, and was used as the written official language of the country^[4][5]. Consequently, Modern Persian is one of the few Indo-European languages which has extant writing in its old, middle and modern form. Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. In fact according to available documents, Persian language is an Iranian language all whose three Old, Middle, and New stages are known to represent one and the same language; in other words New Persian is a direct descendent of Middle and Old Persian.^[6]

Substrates

Old Persian "presumably"^[2] has a Median language substrate. The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in the developments that were peculiar to Old Persian. Median forms "are found only in personal or geographical names [...] and some are typically from religious vocabulary and so could in principle also be influenced by Avestan." "Sometimes, both Median and Old Persian forms are found, which gave Old Persian a somewhat confusing and inconsistent look: 'horse,' for instance, is [attested in Old Persian as] both asa (OPers.) and aspa (Med.)."^[2]

Script

Old Persian was written from left to right in the syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script. The Old Persian cuneiform contains 36 signs representing vowels and consonants, 8 logograms, and 3 signs which can be combined to represent any numeral, although only a few numbers are actually attested in the inscriptions.

The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction is a matter of discussion among Iranian scholars without general agreement being reached. The factors making the decision difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of a new “form of writing” being made by himself which is said to be “in Aryan”, and analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions that are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius the Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested OP inscriptions are from Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" is seemingly, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great".^[7]

Phonology

The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:

Vowels

• Long: /aː/ /iː/ /uː/
• Short: /a/ /i/ /u/

Consonants

Grammar

Nouns

Old Persian stems:

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

Adjectives are declinable in similar way.

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'.

Lexicon

See also

Ancient Near East portal

• Iranian languages
• Old Persian cuneiform script
• Iranian Languages vocabulary comparison table

References and Bibliography

Further reading

• Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (2005), An Introduction to Old Persian (2nd ed.), Cambridge: Harvard, http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~iranian/OldPersian/opcomplete.pdf  
• Peterson, Joseph H. (2006), Old Persian Texts, Herndon, VA: avesta.org, http://www.avesta.org/op/op.htm  
• Windfuhr, Gernot L. (1995), "Cases in Iranian languages and dialects", Encyclopedia Iranica, 5, Costa Mesa: Mazda, pp. 25–37, http://www.iranica.com/newsite/articles/v5f1/v5f1a008.html  
• Stolper, Matthew W. & Jan Tavernier (1995), "From the Persepolis Fortification Archive Project, 1: An Old Persian Administrative Tablet from the Persepolis Fortification", Arta, 2007:1, Paris: Achemenet.com, http://persepolistablets.blogspot.com/2007/06/old-persian-text-in-persepolis.html  
• University Of Chicago (2007, June 22). Everyday Text Shows That Old Persian Was Probably More Commonly Used Than Previously Thought.[1][2]
• Schmitt, R. (2008), "Old Persian", in Roger D. Woodard, The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas (illustrated ed.), Cambridge University Press, pp. 76-100, ISBN 0521684943  

Length 264 pages

External links

• "Old Persian Master Glossary" by Jonathan Slocum and Scott L. Harvey