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93-524: Its Old Persian equivalent is arta- . In Middle Iranian languages the term appears as ard- . The word is also the proper name of the divinity Asha, the Amesha Spenta that is the hypostasis or "genius" of "Truth" or "Righteousness". In the Younger Avesta , this figure is more commonly referred to as Asha Vahishta ( Aṣ̌a Vahišta , Arta Vahišta ), "Best Truth". The Middle Persian descendant

186-690: A language family native to the overwhelming majority of Europe , the Iranian plateau , and the northern Indian subcontinent . Some European languages of this family— English , French , Portuguese , Russian , Dutch , and Spanish —have expanded through colonialism in the modern period and are now spoken across several continents. The Indo-European family is divided into several branches or sub-families, of which there are eight groups with languages still alive today: Albanian , Armenian , Balto-Slavic , Celtic , Germanic , Hellenic , Indo-Iranian , and Italic ; another nine subdivisions are now extinct . Today,

279-677: A voiceless r . Miller suggested that rt was restored when a scribe was aware of the morpheme boundary between the /r/ and /t/ (that is, whether the writer maintained the –ta suffix). Avestan druj , like its Vedic Sanskrit cousin druh , appears to derive from the PIE root * dhreugh , also continued in Persian دروغ / d[o]rūġ "lie", Welsh drwg "evil", and German Trug "fraud, deception". Old Norse draugr and Middle Irish airddrach mean "spectre, spook". The Sanskrit cognate druh means "affliction, afflicting demon". In Avestan, druj- has

372-663: A common ancestor, Proto-Indo-European . Membership in the various branches, groups, and subgroups of Indo-European is also genealogical, but here the defining factors are shared innovations among various languages, suggesting a common ancestor that split off from other Indo-European groups. For example, what makes the Germanic languages a branch of Indo-European is that much of their structure and phonology can be stated in rules that apply to all of them. Many of their common features are presumed innovations that took place in Proto-Germanic ,

465-551: A confirmation of de Saussure's theory. The various subgroups of the Indo-European language family include ten major branches, listed below in alphabetical order: In addition to the classical ten branches listed above, several extinct and little-known languages and language-groups have existed or are proposed to have existed: Membership of languages in the Indo-European language family is determined by genealogical relationships, meaning that all members are presumed descendants of

558-744: A diplomatic mission and noted a few similarities between words in German and in Persian. Gaston Coeurdoux and others made observations of the same type. Coeurdoux made a thorough comparison of Sanskrit, Latin, and Greek conjugations in the late 1760s to suggest a relationship among them. Meanwhile, Mikhail Lomonosov compared different language groups, including Slavic, Baltic (" Kurlandic "), Iranian (" Medic "), Finnish , Chinese , "Hottentot" ( Khoekhoe ), and others, noting that related languages (including Latin, Greek, German, and Russian) must have separated in antiquity from common ancestors. The hypothesis reappeared in 1786 when Sir William Jones first lectured on

651-468: A famous Iranologist and the author of the book Persian Grammar , states: 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

744-412: A linguistic area). In a similar vein, there are many similar innovations in Germanic and Balto-Slavic that are far more likely areal features than traceable to a common proto-language, such as the uniform development of a high vowel (* u in the case of Germanic, * i/u in the case of Baltic and Slavic) before the PIE syllabic resonants * ṛ, *ḷ, *ṃ, *ṇ , unique to these two groups among IE languages, which

837-480: A lost Avestan passage that is only preserved in a later (9th century) Pahlavi text, towards the end of time and the final renovation, Aṣ̌a and Airyaman will together come upon the earth to do battle with the Az, the daeva of greed ( Zatspram 34.38-39). The third Yasht , which is nominally addressed to Asha Vahishta, is in fact mostly devoted to the praise of the airyaman ishya ( airy ә mā īšyo , "Longed-for airyaman "),

930-565: A new "form of writing" being made by himself which is said to be "in Aryan ": King Darius says: By the grace of Ahuramazda this is the inscription which I have made. Besides, it was in Aryan (" ariyâ ") script, and it was composed on clay tablets and on parchment. Besides, a sculptured figure of myself I made. Also, the analysis of certain Old Persian inscriptions are "supposed or claimed" to predate Darius

1023-432: A secondary derivation, the adjective drəguuaṇt- ( Young Avestan druuaṇt- ), "partisan of deception, deceiver" for which the superlative draojišta- and perhaps the comparative draoj(ii)ah- are attested (Kellens, 2010, pp. 69 ff.). Aṣ̌a "cannot be precisely rendered by some single word in another tongue" but may be summarized as follows: It is, first of all, 'true statement'. This 'true statement', because it

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1116-707: A similar way. 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 ajīva tam 'both lived'. Indo-European languages Pontic Steppe Caucasus East Asia Eastern Europe Northern Europe Pontic Steppe Northern/Eastern Steppe Europe South Asia Steppe Europe Caucasus India Indo-Aryans Iranians East Asia Europe East Asia Europe Indo-Aryan Iranian Indo-Aryan Iranian Others European The Indo-European languages are

1209-772: Is Ashawahist or Ardwahisht ; New Persian Ardibehesht or Ordibehesht . In the Gathas —the oldest texts of Zoroastrianism, thought to have been composed by Zoroaster —it is seldom possible to distinguish between moral principle and the divinity. Later texts consistently use the 'Best' epithet when speaking of the Amesha Spenta; only once in the Gathas is 'best' an adjective of aṣ̌a/arta . Avestan aṣ̌a and its Vedic equivalent ṛtá both derive from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ṛtá- "truth", which in turn continues Proto-Indo-European * h 2 r-to- "properly joined, right, true", from

1302-702: Is aṣ̌aŋāč "having aṣ̌a following". One of Haoma 's stock epithets is aṣ̌avazah- "furthering aṣ̌a " ( Yasht 20.3; Yasna 8.9, 10.1.14, 11.10 et al.). Atar "possesses strength through aṣ̌a " ( aṣ̌a-ahojah , Yasna 43.4). In the Zoroastrian calendar , the third day of the month and the second month of the year are dedicated to and named after aṣ̌a and Asha Vahishta (calledارديبهشت Ordibehesht in Modern Persian both in Iranian Calendar and Yazdgerdi calendar). A special service to aṣ̌a and Aṣ̌a, known as

1395-545: Is haiθiia- "true". Similarly, the adjective corresponding to Vedic ŗtá- "truth" is sátya- "true". The opposite of both aṣ̌a/arta- and haithya- is druj- "lie" or "false". In contrast, in the Vedas the opposite of both ŗtá- and sátya- is druh- and ánŗta- , also "lie" or "false". However, while the Indo-Iranian concept of truth is attested throughout Zoroastrian tradition, ŗtá- disappears in post-Vedic literature and

1488-421: Is a direct continuation of Old Persian and was used as the written official language of the country. Comparison of the evolution at each stage of the language shows great simplification in grammar and syntax. However, New Persian is a direct descendant of Middle and Old Persian. Old Persian "presumably" has a Median language substrate . The Median element is readily identifiable because it did not share in

1581-460: Is a protector of aṣ̌a : "when the Evil Spirit assailed the creation of Good Truth, Good Thought and Fire intervened" ( Yasht 13.77) In later Zoroastrian tradition, Asha Vahishta is still at times identified with the fire of the household hearth. In addition to the role of fire as the agent of Truth , fire, among its various other manifestations, is also "the fire of judicial ordeal, prototype of

1674-401: Is active in good thoughts, Sraosha in good words and Aṣ̌a in good deeds. ( Denkard 3.13-14). Aṣ̌a is thus "represented as active and effective." Subject to context, aṣ̌a/arta- is also frequently translated as "right working" or "[that which is] right". The word then ( cf. Bartholomae's and Geldner 's translations as German language " Recht ") has the same range of meaning of "right" as in

1767-541: Is also what was commonly understood by the term as attested in Greek myth of Isis and Osiris 47, Plutarch calls the divinity Αλήθεια Aletheia , "Truth." The adjective corresponding to the noun aṣ̌a/arta , "truth", is Avestan haithya- ( haiθiia- ), "true", the opposite of which is also druj- . Avestan haithya- derives from Indo-Iranian *sātya that in turn derives from Indo-European *h 1 s-ṇt- "being, existing". The Sanskrit cognate sátya - means "true" in

1860-402: Is another Old Iranian language related to Old Persian; both are classified as Western Iranian languages , and many Median names appear in Old Persian texts. The group of Old Iranian languages was presumably large; however, knowledge of it is restricted mainly to Old Persian, Avestan , and Median. The first two are the only languages in that group to have left written original texts, while Median

1953-577: Is attested in royal Achaemenid inscriptions. It is an Iranian language and as such a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family . The oldest known text written in Old Persian is from the Behistun Inscriptions . Old Persian is one of the oldest Indo-European languages which are attested in original texts. The oldest date of use of Old Persian as a spoken language

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2046-510: Is cited to have been radically non-treelike. Specialists have postulated the existence of higher-order subgroups such as Italo-Celtic , Graeco-Armenian , Graeco-Aryan or Graeco-Armeno-Aryan, and Balto-Slavo-Germanic. However, unlike the ten traditional branches, these are all controversial to a greater or lesser degree. The Italo-Celtic subgroup was at one point uncontroversial, considered by Antoine Meillet to be even better established than Balto-Slavic. The main lines of evidence included

2139-595: Is close to both Avestan and the language of the Rig Veda , the oldest form of the Sanskrit language. All three languages are highly inflected . Old Persian appears primarily in the inscriptions, clay tablets and seals of the Achaemenid era ( c.  600 BCE to 300 BCE). Examples of Old Persian have been found in what is now Iran , Romania ( Gherla ), Armenia , Bahrain , Iraq , Turkey and Egypt , with

2232-467: Is established." The synonymy of aṣ̌a and "existence" overlaps with the stock identification of Ahura Mazda as the creator (of existence itself). Truth is existence (creation) inasmuch as falsehood is non-existence (uncreated, anti-created). Also, because aṣ̌a is everything that druj- is not (or vice versa), since aṣ̌a is, druj- is not. This notion is already expressed in the Avesta itself, such as in

2325-531: Is in agreement with the wave model. The Balkan sprachbund even features areal convergence among members of very different branches. An extension to the Ringe - Warnow model of language evolution suggests that early IE had featured limited contact between distinct lineages, with only the Germanic subfamily exhibiting a less treelike behaviour as it acquired some characteristics from neighbours early in its evolution. The internal diversification of especially West Germanic

2418-662: Is in conformity with the reality' or 'poetic (religious) formula with inherent fulfillment (realization)'". The kinship between Old Iranian aṣ̌a-/arta- and Vedic ŗtá- is evident in numerous formulaic phrases and expressions that appear in both the Avesta and in the RigVeda . For instance, the *ŗtásya path, "path of truth", is attested multiple times in both sources: Y 51.13, 72.11; RV 3.12.7, 7.66.3. Similarly "source of truth," Avestan aṣ̌a khá and Vedic khâm ṛtásya (Y 10.4; RV 2.28.5) The adjective corresponding to Avestan aṣ̌a/arta-

2511-414: Is known mostly from loanwords in Old Persian. By the 4th century BCE, 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." Old Persian subsequently evolved into Middle Persian , which is in turn the ancestor of New Persian . Professor Gilbert Lazard ,

2604-458: Is likewise preserver of ŗtá- . Asha Vahishta is closely associated with fire . Fire is "grandly conceived as a force informing all the other Amesha Spentas , giving them warmth and the spark of life." In Yasht 17.20, Angra Mainyu clamours that Zoroaster burns him with Asha Vahishta. In Vendidad 4.54-55, speaking against the truth and violating the sanctity of promise is detected by the consumption of "water, blazing, of golden color, having

2697-419: Is not far removed from Heraclitus' conception of Logos . Both Avestan aṣ̌a/arta and Vedic ŗtá- are commonly translated as "truth" as this best reflects both the original meaning of the term as well as the opposition to their respective antonyms . The opposite of Avestan aṣ̌a/arta is druj- , "lie." Similarly, the opposites of Vedic ṛtá- are ánṛta- and druh , likewise "lie". That "truth"

2790-539: Is not precisely known. According to certain historical assumptions about the early history and origin of ancient Persians in Southwestern Iran (where Achaemenids hailed from), Old Persian was originally spoken by a tribe called Parsuwash , who arrived in the Iranian Plateau early in the 1st millennium BCE and finally migrated down into the area of present-day Fārs province . Their language, Old Persian, became

2883-588: Is not preserved in post-Vedic texts. On the other hand, sátya- and ánrta- both survive in classical Sanskrit. The main theme of the Rig Veda, "the truth and the gods", is not evident in the Gathas. Thematic parallels between aṣ̌a/arta and ŗtá- , however, exist such as in Yasht 10, the Avestan hymn to Mithra . There, Mithra, who is the hypostasis and the preserver of covenant, is the protector of aṣ̌a/arta . RigVedic Mitra

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2976-663: Is repeated again in Yasna 43.4. In Yasna 43.9, Zoroaster, wishing to serve fire, gives his attention to aṣ̌a . In Yasna 37.1, in a list of what are otherwise all physical creations, aṣ̌a takes the place of fire. Asha Vahishta's association with atar is carried forward in the post-Gathic texts, and they are often mentioned together. In Zoroastrian cosmogony, each of the Amesha Spentas represents one aspect of creation and one of seven primordial elements that in Zoroastrian tradition are

3069-415: Is true, corresponds to an objective, material reality that embraces all of existence. Recognized in it is a great cosmic principle since all things happen according to it. "This cosmic [...] force is imbued also with morality, as verbal Truth, 'la parole conforme', and Righteousness, action conforming with the moral order." The correspondence between 'truth', reality and an all-encompassing cosmic principle

3162-432: The " wave model " is a more accurate representation. Most approaches to Indo-European subgrouping to date have assumed that the tree model is by-and-large valid for Indo-European; however, there is also a long tradition of wave-model approaches. In addition to genealogical changes, many of the early changes in Indo-European languages can be attributed to language contact . It has been asserted, for example, that many of

3255-512: The "perfect" time, at which instant the world was created and at which instant time will stop on the day of the final renovation of the world. Old Persian Old Persian is one of two directly attested Old Iranian languages (the other being Avestan ) and is the ancestor of Middle Persian (the language of the Sasanian Empire ). Like other Old Iranian languages, it was known to its native speakers as ariya (Iranian). Old Persian

3348-454: The ' Jashan of Ardavisht', is held on the day on which month-name and day-name dedications intersect. In the Fasli and Bastani variants of the Zoroastrian calendar , this falls on April 22. Rapithwin, one of the five gah s (watches) of the day, under the protection of Aṣ̌a. ( Bundahishn 3.22) This implies that all prayers recited between noon and three invoke Aṣ̌a. Noon is considered to be

3441-455: The 16th century, European visitors to the Indian subcontinent began to notice similarities among Indo-Aryan , Iranian , and European languages. In 1583, English Jesuit missionary and Konkani scholar Thomas Stephens wrote a letter from Goa to his brother (not published until the 20th century) in which he noted similarities between Indian languages and Greek and Latin . Another account

3534-411: The 1880s. Brugmann's neogrammarian reevaluation of the field and Ferdinand de Saussure 's development of the laryngeal theory may be considered the beginning of "modern" Indo-European studies. The generation of Indo-Europeanists active in the last third of the 20th century (such as Calvert Watkins , Jochem Schindler , and Helmut Rix ) developed a better understanding of morphology and of ablaut in

3627-528: The Anatolian and Tocharian language families, in that order. The " tree model " is considered an appropriate representation of the genealogical history of a language family if communities do not remain in contact after their languages have started to diverge. In this case, subgroups defined by shared innovations form a nested pattern. The tree model is not appropriate in cases where languages remain in contact as they diversify; in such cases subgroups may overlap, and

3720-448: The Anatolian subgroup left the Indo-European parent language comparatively late, approximately at the same time as Indo-Iranian and later than the Greek or Armenian divisions. A third view, especially prevalent in the so-called French school of Indo-European studies, holds that extant similarities in non- satem languages in general—including Anatolian—might be due to their peripheral location in

3813-558: The Bronze Age in the form of Mycenaean Greek and the Anatolian languages of Hittite and Luwian . The oldest records are isolated Hittite words and names—interspersed in texts that are otherwise in the unrelated Akkadian language , a Semitic language —found in texts of the Assyrian colony of Kültepe in eastern Anatolia dating to the 20th century BC. Although no older written records of

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3906-482: The English language: truth, righteousness, rightfulness, lawfullness, conformity, accord, order (cosmic order, social order, moral order). These various meanings of "right" are frequently combined, such as "the inexorable law of righteousness," or as "the eternal fitness of things that are in accord with the divine order." As (the hypostasis of) regularity and "right working", aṣ̌a/arta- is present when Ahura Mazda fixed

3999-537: The Gathas and is in turn reflected in Zoroastrian tradition. In Bundahishn 26.8, Vohu Manah stands at the left hand of God, while Aṣ̌a stands at the right. Yasht 1, the hymn dedicated to Ahura Mazda, provides a list of 74 "names" by which the Creator is invoked. In the numbered list of Yasht 1.7, 'Asha Vahishta' "Best Truth" is the fourth name. A later verse, Yasht 1.12, includes 'Aṣ̌avan' "Possessing Truth" and 'Aṣ̌avastəma' "Most Righteous". In Yasna 40.3, Ahura Mazda

4092-550: The Gathas—is only systematically described in Zoroastrian tradition (e.g. Bundahishn 3.12), aṣ̌a is the second (cf. Yasna 47.1) of the six primeval creations realized ("created by His thought") by Ahura Mazda. It is through these six, the Amesha Spentas that all subsequent creation was accomplished. In addition to Asha Vahishta's role as an Amesha Spenta and hence one of the primordial creations through which all other creation

4185-513: The Great. Although it is true that the oldest attested Old Persian inscriptions are found on the Behistun monument from Darius, the creation of this "new type of writing" seems, according to Schmitt, "to have begun already under Cyrus the Great ". The script shows a few changes in the shape of characters during the period it was used. This can be seen as a standardization of the heights of wedges, which in

4278-587: The Indo-Iranian branch. All Indo-European languages are descended from a single prehistoric language, linguistically reconstructed as Proto-Indo-European , spoken sometime during the Neolithic or early Bronze Age . The geographical location where it was spoken, the Proto-Indo-European homeland , has been the object of many competing hypotheses; the academic consensus supports the Kurgan hypothesis , which posits

4371-498: The Zoroastrian calendar , below. Although there are numerous eschatological parallels between Aṣ̌a and Aši "recompense, reward" (most notably their respective associations with Sraosha and Vohu Manah), and are on occasion even mentioned together ( Yasna 51.10), the two are not etymologically related. The feminine abstract noun aši/arti derives from ar- , "to allot, to grant." Aši also has no Vedic equivalent. In Zoroastrian cosmogony and cosmology , which—though alluded to in

4464-490: The area of Lake Urmia in the records of Shalmaneser III . The exact identity of the Parsuwash is not known for certain, but from a linguistic viewpoint the word matches Old Persian pārsa itself coming directly from the older word *pārćwa . Also, as Old Persian contains many words from another extinct Iranian language, Median , according to P. O. Skjærvø it is probable that Old Persian had already been spoken before

4557-412: The basis of that creation. In this matrix, aṣ̌a/arta is the origin of fire, Avestan atar , which permeates through all Creation. The correspondence then is that aṣ̌a/arta "penetrates all ethical life, as fire penetrates all physical being." In the liturgy Asha Vahishta is frequently invoked together with fire. ( Yasna l.4, 2.4, 3.6, 4.9, 6.3, 7.6, 17.3, 22.6, 59.3, 62.3 etc.). In one passage, fire

4650-615: The beginning (i.e. in DB ) took only half the height of a line. The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script: Notes: Lycian 𐊋𐊆𐊈𐊈𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Kizzaprñna ~ 𐊈𐊆𐊖𐊀𐊓𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 Zisaprñna for (genuine) Old Persian *Ciçafarnā (besides the Median form *Ciθrafarnah ) = Tissaphernes suggests /t͡s/ as the pronunciation of ç (compare [1] and Kloekhorst 2008, p. 125 in [2] for this example, who, however, mistakenly writes Çiçafarnā , which contradicts

4743-630: The course of the sun, the moon and the stars ( Yasna 44.3), and it is through aṣ̌a that plants grow ( Yasna 48.6). "Right working" also overlaps with both Indo-European *ár- "to (properly) join together" and with the notion of existence and realization (to make real). The word for "established", ar ə ta- , also means "proper". The antonymic anar ə ta- (or anar ə θa- ) means "improper". In Zoroastrian tradition, prayers must be enunciated with care for them to be effective. The Indo-Iranian formula *sātyas mantras ( Yasna 31.6: haiθīm mathrem ) "does not simply mean 'true Word' but formulated thought which

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4836-510: 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.)." Old Persian texts were written from left to right in

4929-408: The epenthetic vowel mentioned above), where it became /ɡ/ . This suggests that it was really pronounced as [w] . Old Persian has 3 types of grammatical number: singular, dual and plural. Old Persian has three grammatical genders : masculine, feminine and neuter. In contrast, Modern Persian (as well as Middle Persian ) is a genderless language . Old Persian stems: Adjectives are declined in

5022-641: The etymology [ PIIr. *Čitra-swarnas- ] and the Middle Persian form Čehrfar [ ç gives Middle Persian s ]). The phoneme /l/ does not occur in native Iranian vocabulary, only in borrowings from Akkadian (a new /l/ develops in Middle Persian from Old Persian /rd/ and the change of /rθ/ to /hl/ ). The phoneme /r/ can also form a syllable peak; both the way Persian names with syllabic /r/ (such as Brdiya ) are rendered in Elamite and its further development in Middle Persian suggest that before

5115-698: The existence of an earlier ancestor language, which he called "a common source" but did not name: The Sanscrit [ sic ] language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists. Thomas Young first used

5208-485: The family relationships between the Indo-European languages, and the reconstruction of their common source, was central to the development of the methodology of historical linguistics as an academic discipline in the 19th century. The Indo-European language family is not considered by the current academic consensus in the field of linguistics to have any genetic relationships with other language families, although several disputed hypotheses propose such relations. During

5301-418: The fiery torrent of judgement day, when all will receive their just deserts 'by fire and by Aṣ̌a' ( Y 31.3)." In the Avesta, the "radiant quarters" of aṣ̌a is "the best existence", i.e. Paradise (cf. Vendidad 19.36), entry to which is restricted to those who are recognized as "possessing truth" ( aṣ̌avan ). The key to this doctrine is Yasna 16.7: "We worship the radiant quarters of Aṣ̌a in which dwell

5394-504: The final renovation of the world. The standing epithet of these saviour figures is ' astvat ә r ә ta ', which likewise has arta as an element of the name. These saviours are those who follow Ahura Mazda's teaching "with acts inspired by aṣ̌a" ( Yasna 48.12). Both Airyaman and Asha Vahishta (as also Atar ) are closely associated with Sraosha "[Voice of] Conscience" and guardian of the Chinvat bridge across which souls must pass. According to

5487-421: The first Yasht , dedicated to Ahura Mazda , in which the "fifth name is the whole good existence of Mazda, the seed of Asha" ( Yasht 1.7). Similarly, in the mythology of Gandar ə βa , the 'yellow-heeled' dragon of the druj- that emerges from the deep to destroy the "living world (creation) of Aṣ̌a" ( Yasht 19.41) In the ethical goals of Zoroastrianism ("good thoughts, good words, good deeds"), Vohu Manah

5580-503: The formation of the Achaemenid Empire and was spoken during most of the first half of the first millennium BCE. Old Persian belongs to the Iranian language family , a branch of the Indo-Iranian language family, itself within the large family of Indo-European languages . The common ancestors of Indo-Iranians came from Central Asia sometime in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE . The extinct and unattested Median language

5673-631: The fourth of the four great Gathic prayers. In present-day Zoroastrianism it is considered to invoke Airyaman just as the Ashem Vohu , is the second of the four great Gathic prayers, is dedicated to Aṣ̌a. All four prayers (the first is the Ahuna Vairya , the third is the Yenghe Hatam ) have judgement and/or salvation as a theme, and all four call on the Truth. It is Airyaman that – together with fire – will "melt

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5766-538: The gender or the verb system) have been interpreted alternately as archaic debris or as innovations due to prolonged isolation. Points proffered in favour of the Indo-Hittite hypothesis are the (non-universal) Indo-European agricultural terminology in Anatolia and the preservation of laryngeals. However, in general this hypothesis is considered to attribute too much weight to the Anatolian evidence. According to another view,

5859-416: The genitive suffix -ī ; the superlative suffix -m̥mo ; the change of /p/ to /kʷ/ before another /kʷ/ in the same word (as in penkʷe > *kʷenkʷe > Latin quīnque , Old Irish cóic ); and the subjunctive morpheme -ā- . This evidence was prominently challenged by Calvert Watkins , while Michael Weiss has argued for the subgroup. Evidence for a relationship between Greek and Armenian includes

5952-620: The healer of all spiritual ills and Airyaman then only retains the role of healer of corporeal ills. Although Airyaman has no dedication in the Siroza, the invocations to the divinities of the Zoroastrian calendar , Airyaman is twice invoked together with Aṣ̌a. ( Siroza 1.3 and 2.3) Aogemadaecha 41-47 prototypes death as a journey that has to be properly prepared for: As mortals acquires material goods as they go through life, so also should they furnish themselves with spiritual stores of righteousness. They will then be well provisioned when they embark on

6045-566: The homeland to be the Pontic–Caspian steppe in what is now Ukraine and southern Russia , associated with the Yamnaya culture and other related archaeological cultures during the 4th millennium BC to early 3rd millennium BC. By the time the first written records appeared, Indo-European had already evolved into numerous languages spoken across much of Europe , South Asia , and part of Western Asia . Written evidence of Indo-European appeared during

6138-567: The individual Indo-European languages with the most native speakers are English, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Hindustani , Bengali , Punjabi , French and German each with over 100 million native speakers; many others are small and in danger of extinction. In total, 46% of the world's population (3.2 billion people) speaks an Indo-European language as a first language —by far the highest of any language family. There are about 445 living Indo-European languages, according to an estimate by Ethnologue , with over two-thirds (313) of them belonging to

6231-447: The journey from which they will not return. Aṣ̌a's role is not limited to judgement: In Bundahishn 26.35, Aṣ̌a prevents daevas from exacting too great a punishment to souls consigned to the House of Lies. Here, Aṣ̌a occupies the position that other texts assign to Mithra , who is traditionally identified with fairness. For the relationship between Aṣ̌a, eschatology and Nowruz , see in

6324-414: The metal in the hills and mountains, and it will be upon the earth like a river" ( Bundahishn 34.18). In Zoroastrian tradition, metal is the domain of Xshathra [Vairya] , the Amesha Spenta of "[Desirable] Dominion", with whom Aṣ̌a is again frequently identified. Dominion is moreover "a form of truth and results from truth." In Denkard 8.37.13, Asha Vahishta actually takes over Airyaman's healer role as

6417-460: The more striking features shared by Italic languages (Latin, Oscan, Umbrian, etc.) might well be areal features . More certainly, very similar-looking alterations in the systems of long vowels in the West Germanic languages greatly postdate any possible notion of a proto-language innovation (and cannot readily be regarded as "areal", either, because English and continental West Germanic were not

6510-590: The most important attestation by far being the contents of the Behistun Inscription (dated to 525 BCE). In 2007, research into the vast Persepolis Fortification Archive at the Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago unearthed Old Persian tablets, which suggest Old Persian was a written language in use for practical recording and not only for royal display. As a written language , Old Persian

6603-537: The official language of the Achaemenid kings. Assyrian records, which in fact appear to provide the earliest evidence for ancient Iranian (Persian and Median) presence on the Iranian Plateau, give a good chronology but only an approximate geographical indication of what seem to be ancient Persians. In these records of the 9th century BCE, Parsuwash (along with Matai , presumably Medians) are first mentioned in

6696-498: The ordeal, of justice and of truth at the same time." In Yasna 31.19, "the man who thinks of aṣ̌a , [...] who uses his tongue in order to speak correctly, [does so] with the aid of brilliant fire". In Yasna 34-44 devotees "ardently desire [Mazda's] mighty fire, through aṣ̌a." In Yasna 43–44, Ahura Mazda "shall come to [Zoroaster] through the splendour of [Mazda's] fire, possessing the strength of (through) aṣ̌a and good mind (=Vohu Manah)." That fire "possesses strength through aṣ̌a "

6789-477: The original Proto-Indo-European population remain, some aspects of their culture and their religion can be reconstructed from later evidence in the daughter cultures. The Indo-European family is significant to the field of historical linguistics as it possesses the second-longest recorded history of any known family, after the Afroasiatic Egyptian language and Semitic languages . The analysis of

6882-421: The other concepts, only Vohu Manah "Good Purpose" appears nearly as often (136 occurrences). In comparison, the remaining four of the great sextet appear only 121 times altogether. Although a formal hierarchy is not evident in the Gathas, the group of six "divides naturally into three dyads ." In this arrangement, Aṣ̌a is paired with Vohu Manah. This reflects the frequency in which the two appear (together) in

6975-554: 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,

7068-557: The perfect active particle -s fixed to the stem, link this group closer to Anatolian languages and Tocharian. Shared features with Balto-Slavic languages, on the other hand (especially present and preterit formations), might be due to later contacts. The Indo-Hittite hypothesis proposes that the Indo-European language family consists of two main branches: one represented by the Anatolian languages and another branch encompassing all other Indo-European languages. Features that separate Anatolian from all other branches of Indo-European (such as

7161-418: The post- Sassanid Dadestan i denig (I.31.10), at the final judgement a river of molten metal will cover the earth. The righteous, as they wade through this river, will perceive the molten metal as a bath of warm milk. The wicked will be scorched. For details on aṣ̌a's role in personal and final judgement, see aṣ̌a in eschatology , below. Fire is moreover the "auxiliary of the truth," "and not only, as in

7254-691: The power to detect guilt." This analogy of truth that burns and detecting truth through fire is already attested in the very earliest texts, that is, in the Gathas and in the Yasna Haptanghaiti . In Yasna 43–44, Ahura Mazda dispenses justice through radiance of His fire and the strength of aṣ̌a. Fire "detects" sinners "by hand-grasping" ( Yasna 34.4). An individual who has passed the fiery test ( garmo-varah , ordeal by heat ), has attained physical and spiritual strength, wisdom, truth and love with serenity ( Yasna 30.7). Altogether, "there are said to have been some 30 kinds of fiery tests in all." According to

7347-461: The regular change of the second laryngeal to a at the beginnings of words, as well as terms for "woman" and "sheep". Greek and Indo-Iranian share innovations mainly in verbal morphology and patterns of nominal derivation. Relations have also been proposed between Phrygian and Greek, and between Thracian and Armenian. Some fundamental shared features, like the aorist (a verb form denoting action without reference to duration or completion) having

7440-531: The root * h 2 ar . The word is attested in Old Persian as arta . It is unclear whether the Avestan variation between aṣ̌a and arta is merely orthographical. Benveniste suggested š was only a convenient way of writing rt and should not be considered phonetically relevant. According to Gray, ṣ̌ is a misreading, representing – not /ʃ/ - but /rr/, of uncertain phonetic value but "probably" representing

7533-445: The sense of "really existing." This meaning is also preserved in Avestan, for instance in the expression haiθīm var ə z , "to make true" as in "to bring to realization." Another meaning of "reality" may be inferred from the component parts of the aṣ̌a/arta : from (root) ŗ with a substantivizing -ta suffix. The root ŗ corresponds to Old Avestan ar ə ta- and Younger Avestan ə r ə ta- "established", hence aṣ̌a/arta "that which

7626-537: The similarity among certain Asian and European languages and theorized that they were derived from a primitive common language that he called Scythian. He included in his hypothesis Dutch , Albanian , Greek , Latin , Persian , and German , later adding Slavic , Celtic , and Baltic languages . However, Van Boxhorn's suggestions did not become widely known and did not stimulate further research. Ottoman Turkish traveler Evliya Çelebi visited Vienna in 1665–1666 as part of

7719-474: The souls of the dead, the Fravašis of the aṣ̌avan s; the best existence (=Paradise) of the aṣ̌avan s we worship, (which is) light and according all comforts." 'Aṣ̌a' derives from the same Proto-Indo-European root as ' Airyaman ', the divinity of healing who is closely associated with Asha Vahishta. At the last judgement, the common noun airyaman is an epithet of the saoshyans , the saviours that bring about

7812-434: The source of all the Germanic languages. In the 21st century, several attempts have been made to model the phylogeny of Indo-European languages using Bayesian methodologies similar to those applied to problems in biological phylogeny. Although there are differences in absolute timing between the various analyses, there is much commonality between them, including the result that the first known language groups to diverge were

7905-600: The standard scientific term. A number of other synonymous terms have also been used. Franz Bopp wrote in 1816 On the conjugational system of the Sanskrit language compared with that of Greek, Latin, Persian and Germanic and between 1833 and 1852 he wrote Comparative Grammar . This marks the beginning of Indo-European studies as an academic discipline. The classical phase of Indo-European comparative linguistics leads from this work to August Schleicher 's 1861 Compendium and up to Karl Brugmann 's Grundriss , published in

7998-475: The striking similarities among three of the oldest languages known in his time: Latin , Greek , and Sanskrit , to which he tentatively added Gothic , Celtic , and Persian , though his classification contained some inaccuracies and omissions. In one of the most famous quotations in linguistics, Jones made the following prescient statement in a lecture to the Asiatic Society of Bengal in 1786, conjecturing

8091-736: The syllabic /r/ , an epenthetic vowel [i] had developed already in the Old Persian period, which later became [u] after labials. For example, Old Persian Vᵃ-rᵃ-kᵃ-a-nᵃ /wr̩kaːna/ is rendered in Elamite as Mirkānu- , rendering transcriptions such as V(a)rakāna , Varkāna or even Vurkāna questionable and making Vrkāna or Virkāna much more realistic (and equally for vrka- "wolf", Brdiya and other Old Persian words and names with syllabic /r/ ). While v usually became /v/ in Middle Persian, it became /b/ word-initially in New Persian, except before [u] (including

8184-425: The syllabic Old Persian cuneiform script and had 36 phonetic characters and 8 logograms . The usage of logograms is not obligatory. The script was surprisingly not a result of evolution of the script used in the nearby civilisation of Mesopotamia . Despite the fact that Old Persian was written in cuneiform script, the script was not a direct continuation of Mesopotamian tradition and in fact, according to Schmitt,

8277-528: The term Indo-European in 1813, deriving it from the geographical extremes of the language family: from Western Europe to North India . A synonym is Indo-Germanic ( Idg. or IdG. ), specifying the family's southeasternmost and northwesternmost branches. This first appeared in French ( indo-germanique ) in 1810 in the work of Conrad Malte-Brun ; in most languages this term is now dated or less common than Indo-European , although in German indogermanisch remains

8370-501: The wake of Kuryłowicz 's 1956 Apophony in Indo-European, who in 1927 pointed out the existence of the Hittite consonant ḫ. Kuryłowicz's discovery supported Ferdinand de Saussure's 1879 proposal of the existence of coefficients sonantiques , elements de Saussure reconstructed to account for vowel length alternations in Indo-European languages. This led to the so-called laryngeal theory , a major step forward in Indo-European linguistics and

8463-403: Was a "deliberate creation of the sixth century BCE". The origin of the Old Persian cuneiform script and the identification of the date and process of introduction are a matter of debate among Iranian scholars with no general agreement having been reached. The factors making the consensus difficult are, among others, the difficult passage DB (IV lines 88–92) from Darius the Great who speaks of

8556-597: Was made by Filippo Sassetti , a merchant born in Florence in 1540, who travelled to the Indian subcontinent. Writing in 1585, he noted some word similarities between Sanskrit and Italian (these included devaḥ / dio "God", sarpaḥ / serpe "serpent", sapta / sette "seven", aṣṭa / otto "eight", and nava / nove "nine"). However, neither Stephens' nor Sassetti's observations led to further scholarly inquiry. In 1647, Dutch linguist and scholar Marcus Zuerius van Boxhorn noted

8649-496: Was realized, Truth is one of the "organs, aspects or emanations" of Ahura Mazda through which the Creator acts and is immanent in the world. Although Vohu Manah regularly stands first in the list of the Amesha Spenta (and of Ahura Mazda's creations), in the Gathas Asha Vahishta is the most evident of the six, and also the most commonly associated with Wisdom (Mazda). In the 238 verses of these hymns, Aṣ̌a appears 157 times. Of

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