| Group |
Iranian (with Persian,
Kurdish etc.), Southeast Iranian (with Pamir
languages, Khwaresmian, Pashto
etc.) |
| Geography & History |
Bactrian is a Middle Iranian language which used to be spoken in Central
Asia, in the region called Bactria or Tocharistan, along the upper Amudarya
river. In the 1-3rd centuries Bactrian was the official language of the
Kuchanian kingdom, and in the 5-6th centuries - of the Ephtalite kingdom.
In the 11th century Arabic sources mention Iranian dialects of Central
Asia which can be relics of Bactrian, which was assimilated by that time
by Persian. |
| Phonetics |
The phonetic system remains unclear, because not all the phonemes can
be identified from written documents because of the peculiar script. Supposedly,
there were 9 vowels (4 long and short parallels, and the short o),
which were often subject to reduction. The consonant mutations included
*d > l, *c > dj, -rs- > -s'- etc. In general, Bactrian phonetics
has features both seen in modern Pashto and in
Middle Iranian tongues like Parthian and Sogdian. |
| Morphology |
In morphology, Bactrian went rather far from the ancient Iranian languages
than other relative tongues. The gender disappeared, only 2 noun cases
were preserved (direct and indirect), the ancient inflected forms of the
past tense were replaced by analytical constructions. The language used
a definite article i which acted as a relative pronoun as
well. |
| Writing |
Aramaic alphabet (2nd century BC - 1st century AD), Greek
alphabet (since the 2nd century) |
| Close Contacts |
Turkish tongues of Central Asia, the Middle Persian language. |
| Sample |
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| Picture |
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| More info |
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