Misplaced Pages

#440559

33-668: Historically, Munji displays the closest possible linguistic affinity with the now-extinct Bactrian language . The Garam Chashma area became important during the Soviet–Afghan War . During the invasion, the Soviets were unable to stop the flow of arms and men back and forth across the Dorah Pass that separates Chitral , in Pakistan, from Badakshan in Afghanistan . The two dialects spoken in

66-646: Is a short passage of sample phrases. Bactrian language Bactrian (Bactrian: Αριαο , romanized:  ariao , [arjaː] , meaning "Iranian") is an extinct Eastern Iranian language formerly spoken in the Central Asian region of Bactria (present-day Afghanistan) and used as the official language of the Kushan and the Hephthalite empires. It was long thought that Avestan represented "Old Bactrian", but this notion had "rightly fallen into discredit by

99-521: Is derived from Persian alphabet , but consists of 10 additional letters. Some of these letters are to represent phonemes that do not exist in Persian (Dari) , while others are to clarify and specify vowel and consonant phonemes for better clarity and less ambiguity. Munji language has 8 vowel phonemes, these are A a [ə], Ā ā [a], O o [ɔ], U u [ʊ], Ū ū [u], Ə ə [ɪ], E e [ɛ], I i[i]. Five of these vowels are lengthened in pronunciation, [i], [u], [ɛ], [ɔ], [a]. And

132-452: Is from Lou-lan and seven from Toyoq, where they were discovered by the second and third Turpan expeditions under Albert von Le Coq . One of these may be a Buddhist text. One other manuscript, in Manichaean script , was found at Qočo by Mary Boyce in 1958. Over 150 legal documents, accounts, letters and Buddhist texts have surfaced since the 1990s, the largest collection of which is

165-532: Is inserted before word-initial consonant clusters . Original word-final vowels and word-initial vowels in open syllables were generally lost. A word-final ο is normally written, but this was probably silent, and it is appended even after retained word-final vowels: e.g. *aštā > αταο 'eight', likely pronounced /ataː/ . The Proto-Iranian syllabic rhotic *r̥ is lost in Bactrian, and is reflected as ορ adjacent to labial consonants, ιρ elsewhere; this agrees with

198-686: Is unclear. According to another source, the present-day speakers of Munji, the modern Eastern Iranian language of the Munjan Valley in the Kuran wa Munjan district of the Badakhshan province in northeast Afghanistan , display the closest possible linguistic affinity with the Bactrian language. Bactrian became the lingua franca of the Kushan Empire and the region of Bactria, replacing the Greek language. Bactrian

231-467: The Khalili Collection of Aramaic Documents . These have greatly increased the detail in which Bactrian is currently known. The phonology of Bactrian is not known with certainty, owing to the limitations of the native scripts, and also its status as an extinct language. A major difficulty in determining Bactrian phonology is that affricates and voiced stops were not consistently distinguished from

264-655: The Oxus . The region used the East Iranian Bactrian language , which was current from the 2nd to the 9th century CE. The most important city of Tokharistan was Balkh , which was at the center of the trade between Iran (the Sasanian Empire ) and India. The region of Tokharistan had been outside of Sasanian control for the three centuries preceding the Muslim conquest of Persia in 633–651 CE. During that time, Tokharistan

297-578: The Tarim Basin of China, during the early 20th century, they were linked circumstantially to Tokharistan, and Bactrian was sometimes referred to as "Eteo-Tocharian" (i.e. "true" or "original" Tocharian). By the 1970s, however, it became clear that there was little evidence for such a connection. For instance, the Tarim "Tocharian" languages were " centum " languages within the Indo-European family, whereas Bactrian

330-815: The ks and ps sequences did not occur in Bactrian. They were, however, probably used to represent numbers (just as other Greek letters were). The Bactrian language is known from inscriptions, coins, seals, manuscripts, and other documents. Sites at which Bactrian language inscriptions have been found are (in north–south order) Afrasiyab in Uzbekistan ; Kara-Tepe , Airtam, Delbarjin , Balkh , Kunduz , Baglan , Ratabak/Surkh Kotal , Oruzgan , Kabul , Dasht-e Navur, Ghazni , Jagatu in Afghanistan ; and Islamabad , Shatial Bridge and Tochi Valley in Pakistan . Of eight known manuscript fragments in Greco-Bactrian script, one

363-861: The 3rd century, the Kushan territories west of the Indus River fell to the Sasanians , and Bactrian began to be influenced by Middle Persian . The eastern extent of the Kushan Empire in Northwestern India, was conquered by the Gupta Empire . Besides the Pahlavi script and the Brahmi script , some coinage of this period is still in the Aryo (Bactrian) script. From the mid-4th century, Bactria and northwestern India gradually fell under

SECTION 10

#1733270709441

396-709: The 7th and 8th centuries it was incorporated into the Tang dynasty , administered by the Protectorate General to Pacify the West . Today, Tokharistan is fragmented between Afghanistan , Uzbekistan and Tajikistan . Several languages have used variations of the word "Tokhara" to designate the region: Several portraits of ambassadors from the region of Tokharistan are known from the Portraits of Periodical Offering of Liang , originally painted in 526–539 CE. They were at that time under

429-492: The Kushan king Kanishka ( c.  127 AD ) discarded Greek ("Ionian") as the language of administration and adopted Bactrian ("Arya language"). The Greek language accordingly vanished from official use and only Bactrian was later attested. The Greek script , however, remained and was used to write Bactrian. The territorial expansion of the Kushans helped propagate Bactrian in other parts of Central Asia and North India . In

462-606: The Proto-Iranian vowel length contrast. It is not clear if ο might represent short [o] in addition to [u] , and if any contrast existed. Short [o] may have occurred at least as a reflex of *a followed by a lost *u in the next syllable, e.g. *madu > μολο 'wine', *pasu > ποσο 'sheep'. Short [e] is also rare. By contrast, long /eː/ , /oː/ are well established as reflexes of Proto-Iranian diphthongs and certain vowel-semivowel sequences: η < *ai, *aya, *iya; ω < *au, *awa. An epenthetic vowel [ə] (written α )

495-740: The area of Mamalgha Valley and the area of Munjan Valley differed, being the northern and southern dialects. The language has moved to parts of Chitral, after the War in Afghanistan forced the Munji-speaking people to flee to safer areas. Despite Dari being the predominant language of the region, attitudes towards Munji are highly positive, and among speakers, few predict a decline in use. Alveolar Munji language has 8 vowel phonemes, these are [ə] ,[a] ,[ɔ] ,[ʊ] ,[u] ,[ɪ] ,[ɛ] ,[i]. Five of these vowels are lengthened in pronunciation, [i], [u], [ɛ], [ɔ], [a]. And

528-628: The arrival of the Turks . In painting, there is "Tokharistan school of art" (see Northern Buddhist art ) with examples from Kalai Kafirnigan , Kafyr Kala or Ajina Tepe , as Buddhism and Buddhist art enjoyed a renaissance, possibly owing to the sponsorships and religious tolerance of the Western Turks ( Tokhara Yabghus ). Islamic art developed with the Samanid Empire and the Ghaznavids from

561-542: The clusters *sr, *str, *rst. In several cases, however, Proto-Iranian *š becomes /h/ or is lost; the distribution is unclear. E.g. *snušā > ασνωυο 'daughter-in-law', *aštā > αταο 'eight', *xšāθriya > χαρο 'ruler', *pašman- > παμανο 'wool'. The Greek script does not consistently represent vowel length. Fewer vowel contrasts yet are found in the Manichaean script, but short /a/ and long /aː/ are distinguished in it, suggesting that Bactrian generally retains

594-506: The control the Hephthalite and other Huna tribes . The Hephthalite period is marked by linguistic diversity; in addition to Bactrian, Middle Persian, Indo-Aryan and Latin vocabulary is also attested. The Hephthalites ruled these regions until the 7th century, when they were overrun by the Umayyad Caliphate , after which official use of Bactrian ceased. Although Bactrian briefly survived in other usage, that also eventually ceased, and

627-464: The corresponding fricatives in the Greek script. The status of θ is unclear; it only appears in the word ιθαο 'thus, also', which may be a loanword from another Iranian language. In most positions Proto-Iranian *θ becomes /h/ (written υ ), or is lost, e.g. *puθra- > πουρο 'son'. The cluster *θw, however, appears to become /lf/ , e.g. *wikāθwan > οιγαλφο 'witness'. ϸ continues, in addition to Proto-Iranian *š, also Proto-Iranian *s in

660-573: The development in the western Iranian languages Parthian and Middle Persian . Tokharistan Tokharistan (formed from "Tokhara" and the suffix -stan meaning "place of" in Persian) is an ancient Early Middle Ages name given to the area which was known as Bactria in Ancient Greek sources. By the 6th century CE Tokharistan came under rule of the First Turkic Khaganate , and in

693-547: The end of the 19th century". Bactrian, which was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the Greek script , was known natively as αριαο [arjaː] (" Arya "; an endonym common amongst Indo-Iranian peoples). It has also been known by names such as Greco-Bactrian or Kushan or Kushano-Bactrian. Under Kushan rule, Bactria became known as Tukhara or Tokhara , and later as Tokharistan . When texts in two extinct and previously unknown Indo-European languages were discovered in

SECTION 20

#1733270709441

726-631: The figures in the Dilberjin Tepe or Balalyk Tepe paintings are characteristic of the Hephthalites (450–570 CE). In this context, parallels have been drawn with the figures from Kizil Caves in Chinese Turkestan , which seem to wear broadly similar clothing. The paintings of Balalyk Tepe would be characteristic of the court life of the Hephthalites in the first half of the 6th century CE, before

759-506: The latest known examples of the Bactrian script, found in the Tochi Valley in Pakistan, date to the end of the 9th century. Among Indo-Iranian languages, the use of the Greek script is unique to Bactrian. Although ambiguities remain, some of the disadvantages were overcome by using upsilon ( Υ, υ ) for /h/ and by introducing sho ( Ϸ, ϸ ) to represent /ʃ/ . Xi ( Ξ, ξ ) and psi ( Ψ, ψ ) were not used for writing Bactrian as

792-523: The overlordship of the Hephthalites , who led the embassies to the Southern Liang court in the early 6th century CE. The name of " Tocharians " was mistakenly applied by early 20th century authors to the Indo-European people of the Tarim Basin , from the areas of Kucha and Agni . These scholars erroneously believed that these Indo-Europeans had originated in Tokharistan ( Bactria ), and hence applied

825-772: The term "Tocharians" to them. This appellation remains in common usage although the Indo-European people of the Tarim Basin probably referred to themselves as Agni , Kuči and Krorän . In the Xi'an Stele , erected in 781 CE, the Church of the East monk Adam , author of the stele, mentioned in Syriac that his grandfather was a missionary-priest from Balkh ( Classical Syriac : ܒܠܚ , romanized:  Balḥ ) in Tokharistan ( ܬܚܘܪܝܣܬܢ Taḥuristan ). Geographically, Tokharistan corresponds to

858-534: The three central vowels [ɪ], [ʊ], [ə] are pronounced as short. As for orthography, native Munji words that have the 5 long vowels, these vowels are written with explicit letters, as defined in orthographic conventions of Munji. The three short vowels are written using diacritics which are dropped in most cases. Loanwords entering Munji via Persian (Dari) (which can be native Persian words, or Arabic or Turkic or European words) are written as they would in Persian. Below

891-606: The three central vowels [ɪ], [ʊ], [ə] are pronounced as short. The short vowels are neutralized in unstressed syllables, so that even native speakers are not aware of which specific vowel they are using. As for orthography, native Munji words that have the 5 long vowels, these vowels are written with explicit letters, as defined in orthographic conventions of Munji. The three short vowels are written using diacritics which are dropped in most cases. Loanwords entering Munji via Persian (Dari) are written as they would in Persian. Attempts at compiling and standardizing an alphabet for Munji

924-561: The upper Oxus valley, between the mountain ranges of the Hindu-Kush to the south and the Pamir-Alay to the north. The area reaches west as far as the Badakshan mountains, south as far as Bamiyan . Arab sources considered Kabul as part of the southern border of Tokharistan, and Shaganiyan as part of its northern border. In a narrow sense, Tokharistan may only refer to the region south of

957-548: Was an Iranian, thus " satem " language. Bactrian is a part of the Eastern Iranian languages and shares features with the extinct Middle Iranian languages Sogdian and Khwarezmian (Eastern) and Parthian ( Western ), as well as sharing affinity with the modern Eastern Iranian languages such as Pamir subgroup of languages like Munji and Yidgha which are part of the same branch of the Pamir languages. Its genealogical position

990-602: Was first started in 2010. Samar linguistic institute , the Afghan branch of SIL International , an organization dedicated to preservation of language and development of literacy, has compiled a standardized orthography and various educational and linguistic material on Munji language. In 2017, the Munji orthography was given official confirmation by the Academy of Sciences of Afghanistan , Afghanistan's official language regulator . The alphabet

1023-622: Was overrun by a confederation of tribes belonging to the Great Yuezhi and Tokhari . In the 1st century AD, the Kushana, one of the Yuezhi tribes, founded the ruling dynasty of the Kushan Empire . The Kushan Empire initially retained the Greek language for administrative purposes but soon began to use Bactrian. The Bactrian Rabatak inscription (discovered in 1993 and deciphered in 2000) records that

Munji language - Misplaced Pages Continue

1056-680: Was under the rule of dynasties of Hunnish or Turkic origin, such as the Kidarites , the Alchon Huns and the Hephthalites . At the time of the Arab conquest, Tokharistan was under the control of the Western Turks , through the Tokhara Yabghus . Numerous artefacts exist from the art of early medieval Tokharistan, which shows influence from the Buddhist art of Gandhara. Many authors have suggested that

1089-712: Was used by successive rulers in Bactria, until the arrival of the Umayyad Caliphate . Following the conquest of Bactria by Alexander the Great in 323 BC, for about two centuries Greek was the administrative language of his Hellenistic successors, that is, the Seleucid and the Greco-Bactrian kingdoms . Eastern Scythian tribes (the Saka , or Sacaraucae of Greek sources) invaded the territory around 140 BC, and at some time after 124 BC, Bactria

#440559