| Group |
Iranian (with Kurdish,
Talysh etc.), Northwest Iranian (with Parthian,
Baluchi etc.) |
| Geography & History |
Median tribes inhabited northwestern Iran obviously since the early
1st millennium BC. In 672,
Media is an independent kingdom which began to develop very quickly in
the Middle East. After in 550
it was conquered by Persians, another Iranian stock, the language fell
out of use. The only source of knowledge about Median is a number Median
loanwords in the Old Persian language, and glosses
recorded in the ancient Akkadian, Aramaic, Greek and other texts: numerous
place and personal names, appellatives and tribe names. An attempt to reconstruct
Median phonetics and morphology was made by M.Mayrhofer (Die Rekonstruktion
des Medischen, 1968). |
| Phonetics |
Median phonetics is studied much better than its morphology which remains
practically unknown. Median sounds look much like Old Persian, except the
relfex of the Indo-European palatal stops: IE *k' gave Iranian
*s' which is seen as q in
Old Persian and s in Median; IE *g' turns into
Old Persian ð, but Median z (Old Pers.
ðaraniya- vs. Median *zari- 'gold'). |
| Morphology |
Though almost no morphological elements are known from Median, we can
suppose it was a typical Old Iranian language with a complex system of
nominal and verbal inflections, the same as Avestan
and Old Persian. |
| Writing |
No writing |
| Close Contacts |
Persian, Scythian, Akkadian, Urartian and
maybe other languages of the ancient Mesopotamia. |
| Picture |
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| More info |
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