Indo-Iranian languages

2021-07-01T17:15:24Z

202.133.55.197:

{{Short description|Branch of the Indo-European language family}}
{{More citations needed|date=December 2019}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=June 2016}}
{{Infobox language family
|name = Indo-Iranian
|altname = Aryan
|region = [[South Asia|South]], [[Central Asia|Central]], [[Western Asia]], [[South East Europe]] and the [[Caucasus]] / Total speakers = approximately 1.5 billion in 15 countries
|familycolor = Indo-European
|protoname = [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]]
|child1 = [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]]
|child2 = [[Iranian languages|Iranian]]
|child3 = [[Nuristani languages|Nuristani]]
|iso5 = iir
|glotto=indo1320
|glottorefname= Indo-Iranian
|map=Indo-European branches map.svg
|mapcaption=The approximate present-day distribution of the Indo-European branches of Eurasia:
{{legend|#000080|Indo-Iranian}}
|mapsize=300px
}}
The '''Indo-Iranian languages''' (also '''Indo-Iranic languages'''<ref name="Mahulkar1990">{{cite book|author=D. D. Mahulkar|title=Pre-Pāṇinian Linguistic Studies|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vsNF-yuHEgYC|year=1990|publisher=Northern Book Centre|isbn=978-81-85119-88-5}}</ref><ref name="PuglielliFrascarelli2011">{{cite book|author1=Annarita Puglielli|author2=Mara Frascarelli|title=Linguistic Analysis: From Data to Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OCwJBdGbW-cC|year=2011|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-022250-0}}</ref> or '''Aryan languages'''<ref>{{cite book|author=Jadranka Gvozdanović|title=Numeral Types and Changes Worldwide|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KFBDGWjCP7gC&pg=PA221|year=1999|publisher=Walter de Gruyter|isbn=978-3-11-016113-7|page=221}}: "The usage of 'Aryan languages' is not to be equated with Indo-Aryan languages, rather Indo-Iranic languages of which Indo-Aryan is a subgrouping."</ref>) constitute the largest and southeasternmost extant branch of the [[Indo-European languages|Indo-European]] [[language family]]. They have more than 1.5 billion speakers, stretching from [[Europe]] ([[Romani language|Romani]]), [[Turkey]] ([[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] and [[Zaza–Gorani languages|Zaza–Gorani]]) and the [[Caucasus]] ([[Ossetian language|Ossetian]]) eastward to [[Xinjiang]] ([[Sarikoli language|Sarikoli]]) and [[Assam]] ([[Assamese language|Assamese]]), and south to [[Sri Lanka]] ([[Sinhala language|Sinhala]]) and the [[Maldives]] ([[Maldivian language|Maldivian]]), with branches stretching as far out as Oceania and the Caribbean for [[Fiji Hindi]] and [[Caribbean Hindustani]] respectively. Furthermore, there are large diaspora communities of Indo-Iranian speakers in northwestern Europe (the [[United Kingdom]]), North America ([[United States]], [[Canada]]), [[Australia]], [[South Africa]], and the Persian Gulf Region ([[United Arab Emirates]], [[Saudi Arabia]]).

The common ancestor of all of the languages in this family is called [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language|Proto-Indo-Iranian]]—also known as Common Aryan—which was spoken in approximately the late 3rd millennium BC. The three branches of the modern Indo-Iranian languages are [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan]], [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], and [[Nuristani languages|Nuristani]]. A fourth independent branch, [[Dardic languages|Dardic]], was previously posited, but recent scholarship in general places Dardic languages as archaic members of the Indo-Aryan branch.<ref name="jain-cardona-2007">{{Cite encyclopaedia| year = 2007 | title = The Indo-Aryan languages | editor1-first = Danesh | editor1-last = Jain | editor2-first = George | editor2-last = Cardona | page = 905 | quote ='Dardic' is a geographic cover term for those Northwest Indo-Aryan languages which ''[..]'' developed new characteristics different from the IA languages of the Indo-Gangetic plain. Although the Dardic and Nuristani (previously 'Kafiri') languages were formerly grouped together, Morgenstierne (1965) has established that the Dardic languages are Indo-Aryan, and that the Nuristani languages constitute a separate subgroup of Indo-Iranian. | isbn = 978-0415772945 | author-first = Elena | author-last = Bashir |author-link=Elena Bashir}}</ref>

==Languages==
[[File:Indo-Iranian languages.png|thumb|Chart classifying Indo-Iranian languages within the Indo-European language family]]
[[File:Lenguas indoiranias.PNG|thumb|Distribution of the Indo-Iranian languages]]
The Indo-Iranian languages consist of three groups:
* [[Indo-Aryan languages|Indo-Aryan/Indic]]
* [[Iranian languages|Iranian/Iranic]]
* [[Nuristani languages|Nuristani]]

Indo-Iranian languages are spoken by more than 1.5 billion people. The languages with the most speakers are a part of the Indo-Aryan group: [[Hindi–Urdu]] (~590 million<ref>{{cite web|last=Edwards|first=Viv|title=Urdu Today|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/voices/multilingual/urdu.shtml|publisher=BBC}}</ref>) - the Indian census having often included [[Bhojpuri language|Bhojpuri]] (40 million), [[Awadhi language|Awadhi]] (40 million), [[Maithili language|Maithili]] (35 million), [[Marwari language|Marwari]] (30 million), [[Rajasthani language|Rajasthani]] (20 million), [[Chhattisgarhi language|Chhattisgarhi]] (18 million) and [[Kumaoni language|Kumaoni]] (2.1 million) as dialects - [[Bengali language|Bengali]] (205 million<ref>{{cite web|last=Thompson|first=Irene|title=Bengali|url=http://aboutworldlanguages.com/bengali|publisher=AboutWorldLanguages|access-date=29 March 2013}}</ref>), [[Punjabi language|Punjabi]] (100 million), [[Marathi language|Marathi]] (90 million), [[Gujarati language|Gujarati]] (50 million), [[Odia language|Odia]] (35 million), [[Sindhi language|Sindhi]] (25 million), [[Assamese language|Assamese]] (24 million), [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]] (19 million), [[Nepali language|Nepali]] (17 million), [[Bishnupuriya]] (12 million)<ref>{{cite web |title=Census of India: Family-wise grouping of the 122 Scheduled and Non-Scheduled Languages -2001 |url=http://www.censusindia.gov.in/Census_Data_2001/Census_Data_Online/Language/statement9.htm |website=www.censusindia.gov.in}}</ref> and [[Rangpuri language|Rangpuri]] (15 million). Among the Iranian branch, major languages are [[Persian language|Persian]] (90 million),<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2015/09/24/the-future-of-language/|title=The future of language|last=Noack|first=Rick|website=Washington Post|language=en|access-date=2020-03-27}}</ref> [[Pashto]] (ca. 70 million), [[Kurdish language|Kurdish]] (35 million),<ref name=CIA1>CIA- The World Factbook: 14.7 million in Turkey (18%)[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/turkey/]{{failed verification|date=February 2016}}, 4.9–6.5 million in Iraq (15-20%)[https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iraq/]{{failed verification|date=February 2016}}, 8 million in Iran (10%){{cite web|url=https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/iran/ |title=Archived copy |access-date=31 March 2011 |df=dmy-all }}{{failed verification|date=February 2016}} (all for 2014), plus several million in Syria, neighboring countries, and the diaspora</ref> and [[Balochi language|Balochi]] (8 million). There are also many smaller languages.
{{Indo-European topics}}

==History==
{{Expand section|date=December 2018}}
The common [[proto-language]] of the Indo-Iranian languages is the [[Proto-Indo-Iranian language]], which has been reconstructed.

The oldest attested Indo-Iranian languages are [[Vedic Sanskrit]], Older and Younger [[Avestan language|Avestan]] and [[Old Persian language|Old Persian]] (ancient Iranian languages). A few words from another Indo-Aryan language (see [[Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni]]) are attested in documents from the ancient [[Mitanni]] and [[Hittites|Hittite]] kingdoms in the Near East.

Within the Indo-European family, Indo-Iranian belongs to the [[Satem languages|Satem group]]. Various proposals have been made that link the Indo-Iranian languages with other subgroups of Indo-European (like [[Graeco-Aryan]], which posits a close relationship with Greek and Armenian), but these remain without wider acceptance.

==Features==
Innovations shared with other languages affected by the [[satem]] sound changes include: {{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
* Fronting and [[assibilation]] of the Proto-Indo-European (PIE) palato-velar stops: {{PIE|*kʲ, *gʲʰ, *gʲ > *t͡ʃ, *d͡ʒʰ, *d͡ʒ}}
* The merger of the PIE labiovelar and plain velar stops: {{PIE|*kʷ, *gʷʰ, *gʷ > *k, *gʰ, *g}}
* The [[Ruki sound law]]

Innovations shared with Greek include: {{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
* The vocalization of the PIE syllabic nasals {{PIE|*m̥, *n̥}} to {{PIE|*a}} (may be independent developments)
* [[Grassmann's law]] (may be independent developments)

Innovations unique to Indo-Iranian include: {{citation needed|date=August 2015}}
* The lowering of PIE {{PIE|*e}} to {{PIE|*a}}
** *o was also lowered to *a, though this occurred in several other Indo-European languages as well.
* The PIE laryngeal {{PIE|*H}} between consonants became {{PIE|*i}}, though it was apparently reduced to zero in Iranian.
* The use of a verb root ''*kr̥-'' to derive verbal forms from nouns.
* The use of ''*-yá-'' to derive passive verbs from roots.
* [[Brugmann's law]]
{{clear}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Sources==
* [[Byomkes Chakrabarti|Chakrabarti, Byomkes]] (1994). ''A comparative study of Santali and Bengali''. Calcutta: K.P. Bagchi & Co. {{ISBN|81-7074-128-9}}
* {{cite book|title=Indo-Iranian Languages and Peoples|editor= Nicholas Sims-Williams|year=2002 |publisher= [[Oxford University Press]]}}

==Further reading==
*{{cite web|url=https://imprs.shh.mpg.de/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/04-Contact-and-change-in-the-diversification-of-the-Indo-Iranic-languages.pdf|title=Contact and change in the diversification of the Indo-Iranic languages|work=Dr. Russell Gray}}
* Pinault, Georges-Jean. "Contacts religieux et culturels des Indo-Iraniens avec la civilisation de l'Oxus". In: ''Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'', 149ᵉ année, N. 1, 2005. pp. 213–257. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.2005.22848 ; www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2005_num_149_1_22848
* Pinault, Georges-Jean. "La langue des Scythes et le nom des Arimaspes". In: ''Comptes rendus des séances de l'Académie des Inscriptions et Belles-Lettres'', 152e année, N. 1, 2008. pp. 105–138. DOI:https://doi.org/10.3406/crai.2008.92104 ; www.persee.fr/doc/crai_0065-0536_2008_num_152_1_92104
*Baly, Joseph. Eur-Aryan roots: With their English derivatives and the corresponding words in the cognate languages compared and systematically arranged. Vol. 1. K. Paul, Trench, Trubner & Company, Limited, 1897.

==External links==
{{wiktionary|Indo-Iranian Swadesh lists}}
{{Commons category}}
* [https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Indo-Iranian_Swadesh_lists Swadesh lists of Indo-Iranian basic vocabulary words] (from Wiktionary's [http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Appendix:Swadesh_lists Swadesh-list appendix])
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{{Indo-European languages}}
{{Indo-Iranian languages}}

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Indo-Iranian languages