THE SCRIPT AND THE TEXT Punctuation

In the manuscripts every word is separated by a point (period). The point is also regularly used to separate members of compounds (see Lesson 6), as well as to mark off preverbs and prefixes (not consistently), enclitic pronouns, sometimes even endings. The enclitic particles -ca and -cit, however, are not separated from the words they are attached to.

It has become tradition to transcribe this point by a period whenever it does not simply mark the end of a word. It is also sometimes used with enclitic pronouns (yä.më, etc.). This is wrong, however, as the long ê of the enclitic pronouns shows they were considered by the scribes as separate words. If they were genuinely enclitic, they would—by the rules (see below)—have final -e, not -ê, etc.

PHONOLOGY

Sound system. The a

The phonemic status of Avestan a is problematic. It is found mainly in the following phonetic contexts:

l. as the regular allophone of a before nasals and before uu followed by i or i. Examples: hanti "they are" (but zauuai¿zti "they curse"); maniiauuï-, feminine of maniiauua- "belonging to the world of thought,' sauuišta- "most rich in life-giving strength" (< sauu-), rauuï- f. "fast," see below;

2. as the common anaptyctic vowel, see below.

Final syllables

Not all vowels, diphthongs, or consonants are found in final position.

Final vowels in monosyllables are always written long (except short -e in some late manuscripts), no matter their origins, e.g., mê "(to, for) me," zi "for, namely," nõ "(to, for) us."

The only diphthong found in final position is õi, and even this is rare, e.g., yõi "who (plur.).'

In polysyllabic words ä, i, 17, and diphthongs are not used at the end of words in genuine Young Avestan, only in imitation of Old Avestan.

Conspectus:

Finals:

Short

Monosyllables:

Polysyllables:

ä, i, 17, (5, d, a, ê, õi, äi, äu

Among the exceptions are: Araduuï Sura (possibly influenced by Pahl. Ardwïsür).

The diphthongs aê and ao become -(ii)e and -uuõ in final position. The diphthongs themselves reappear before -ca "and" and -cit "even": -aêca and -aoca, e.g., tê "they," taëcit "even they."

Note that vocative forms never take the enclitics -ca and -cit, and so the original diphthongs do not (usually) reappear in vocative forms.^{^[1]}

Few consonants are found as finals: the two nasals m and n, the dental t and the sibilants s (rare), š (common), e.g., baranz "I carried," baran "they carried," barat "he carried," hauruuatäs "wholeness, maniiuš "spirit(s)," gairiš "mountain(s)."

The consonant r always takes as supporting vowel when final, e.g., dätara "O creator! " ätara "O

2003

The consonant s takes a as supporting vowel when final in sandhi (see Lesson 4), e.g., kasa tê "who for

Vowels in monosyllables ending in consonants basically follow the same rules (or lack of rules) as vowels in other final syllables. In this introduction, short i will be used in words such as im "this (f.)" (not ïm), dim, diš.

Modifications of vowels: a + nasal

Among all the vowels, the vowel a is the most prone to change. Its main variants are a before uui/uuï and nasals (n and rn) and e when palatalized.

The variant a is in turn very sensitive to its surroundings and regularly becomes i when preceded by palatal consonants (ii, c, and j) and u when preceded by uu.

The combinations -(i)iim, -(u)uum and -(i)iin, -(u)uun are then finally simplified to -int, -um and -in, -un.

These finals in turn combine with a preceding -a- to form diphthongs: -aêm, -aom, etc.

Note: Sometimes the intermediate stage persists beside the final one, e.g., -aiian -aën.

The sound changes listed in the table below can all be derived from these rules.

Mastery of these rules and sound changes is crucial to the students' ability to analyze Avestan, as they pervade the entire language.

Following are some common examples of sound changes needed to understand the paradigms in this lesson. The student should learn them by heart. A complete table is given in lesson 7.

* -am					*-an	>	-an
*-iiam	>	-iiam			-iian	>	-iian	>	-in
*-aiiam		-aiiam	>	-aêm	*-aiian	>	-aiian	>	-aên
*-auuam		*-auuam	>	-aom	*-auuan	>	-auuan	>	-aon

The voiced fricatives: p, (5, y

The voiced fricatives are all subject to contextual, possibly also dialectal, changes and variations.

Intervocalic (5 alternates with 9 in forms of vaëð- "to know" and the present stem daðä- of the verb dä"to give, place, create," e.g., vi9uš "knowing," da9at "gave."

Intervocalic p further tends to become uu, which in turn is subject to change, cf. aißi "to" > auui > aoi, viiäuuaitï- "shining far and wide" < *vi-ä-bä- < N^Ibä "to shine." The combination *bi became Pi, written ßii, which further became u! , which combined with preceding a > aoii, cf. *aôaßiia- "undeceivable": nom. a&zoiiõ, but acc. athuuinr, *daißï- f. "deceptive" > *daiuuï- (written daêuuï-, daëiuuï-).

The velar fricative y is lost in some positions: druuant-, cf. OAv. draguuant-; fem. rauuï- "fast" < rayu(cf. Skt. laghvï-); Mourum < *Maryum. ⁴

NOUNS u- and 17-stems

The endings of the nom. and voc. sing. and plur. forms of the u- and ü-declensions and the irregular noun pasu- "small cattle (sheep and goats)" are

u-decl. pasu- ü-decl.

nom. -uš -u -uš -uš

voc. -uuõ

See Skjærvø, "Avestica Il,'' 1997.

9, 2003

nom.-voc. -auuõ, -auuas -u -uuÕ, -UUaS -uuõ, -uuaso

Paradigms (ratu- m. "(divine) model," pouru- "much, many," tanü- f. "body," pasu- m. "sheep"; note how the labialization rules work!):

	u-decl.		n.	pasu-	ü-declen,sion
	u-decl.		n.	pasu-	f.
nom. voc.	ratuš ratuuõ	pouruš	pouru	pasuš	tanuš
nom.-voc.		ratauuõ,	parauuö,	pouru	pasuuõ	tanuuõ
		ratauuas0	parauuas0		pasuuas0	tanuuaso

Notes:

In the manuscripts we often find pasuuõ "normalized" to pasauuõ.

ratu- is properly a u²-stem (see Lesson I l).

For the feminine u-stems, see ao-stems in Lesson 8.

The vocative endings of the i-stems (and aë-stems): -e (< *-!e), and u-stems: -uuõ, are for *-aë and *-ao in final position.

After ii the vocative ending is only -õ: maniiõ < maniiu- "spirit," Vaiiõ < Vaiiu-.

About the endings

The a-, i-, and Il-declensions originally in Indo-European) had the same ending in the nominative singular, namely -s, as in Greek e€ós theós "god," TTL'(JTLS pístis "faith" and ikhthús "fish," Latin dominus, civis, sinus, but in the Indo-Iranian mother language s became h after a and ä but š after i or u according to the "ruki" rule, which states that s became s^lafter r, u, k [Iran. x], i). The Indo-Iranian forms were therefore * -ah, *-iš, *-uš.

In addition, in Avestan final *-h was lost causing rounding of the preceding vowels: *-ah > -õ, *-äh > -å.

ADJECTIVES

Feminine and neuter forms

Feminine forms of adjectives of the a-declension are usually declined according to the ä-declension, occasionally according to the ï-declension, e.g., sura- "rich in life-giving strength," f. surä-; spmgta- "lifegiving," f. spantä-, but zaranaëna- "made of gold," f. zaranaëinï-, maniiauua-, f. maniiauuï-.

Note the fem. nom. sing. naire < *nairiia of nairiiä- "manly, heroic.'

Feminine forms of other adjectives are declined according to the ï-declension, e.g.: vaohu- "good,' vaì'hï- f.; pouru- "plentiful, many," paoirï- f.; driyu- "poor," driuuï- f. (note the phonetic changes).

Neuter adjectives are declined like neuter nouns, e.g., nom.-acc. sing. suram, ähuiri "belonging to/related to Ahura (Mazdã)," vohu.

Adjectival compounds in -ïand -17

There are a few adjectival compounds ending in root nouns in -ï and -17, e.g., yauuaëjï- "living forever" and yauuaêsü- "vitalized forever" (see Lesson 12: laryngeal stems). These stems are declined like ü-stems, but few forms are actually attested:

2()()3

nom.	*yauuaêjiš	*yauuaêsuš
nom.-acc.	*yauuaëjiiõ	yauuaësuuõ

PRONOUNS

Personal pronouns in the nominative

The personal pronouns have the following forms in the nominative.

1st

3rd

nom.

azarn "1"

turn "you, thou"

hõ, has ⁰; huuõ "he"

hä "she"

tat "it"

nom.

vaë.m "we"

yužam "you, ye"

tê "they"

tå "they"

tä "they"

Note: hascit, but hõ + ca > h5ca in h5ca iôa astu "and he (Sraoša) shall be here" (Y .27.6, V r. 12.1).

VERBS

Imperfect-injunctive active 1

Depending on their shape, the Avestan verbs are divided into groups of verbs with similar characteristics. There are two main groups: "thematic" verbs, in which the stem ends in a, and "athematic" verbs, in which the stem does not end in a. These two groups are further divided into subgroups called "present classes. We have already seen examples of imperative forms of athematic verbs ending in consonants or vowels and thematic verbs with stems ending in -a-, -iia-, and -aiia-. These will be discussed in greater detail later.

To express past tense (past action, state, etc.) Young Avestan employs a form of the verb which here will be referred to as the "imperfect-injunctive."

The endings of the imperfect-injunctive are called "secondary" (i.e., as opposed to the "primary" endings of the present indicative, see Lesson 8). As the secondary endings are less exposed to phonetic changes than the. primary ones—although there are several—we shall discuss them first.

Note: Because many forms are not (well) attested in the Avesta, it is impossible to give complete paradigms. To make it easier on the students I have as far as possible used the same verb throughout the paradigms, although these particular forms may not be attested, and I have sometimes included forms that are strictly speaking only attested in Old Avestan.

In the athematic verbs, the endings vary according to the final of the stem.

Paradigm (athem.: mrao-/mru- "to say," stao-/stu- "to praise," daðä-/daö- (dae-) "to give, place"; them.: vaêna- "to see," tauruuaiia- "to overcome"):

Athematic Thematic

2	*-h, -š	daðå	mraoš		vaënõ
3	-t	claðät	mraot	-at:	vaênat
1	-ma			* -äma , -ama	*vaênäma	tauruuaiiama
2	-ta	dasta	staota	-ata	*vaënata	tauruuaiiata
3	-an	claöan		-an	vaënan

I -m, -am daöqm mraom -am vaënam

2()()3

Note:

Of ah- "to be" only the 3rd sing. is found: as or äs "(he/she/it) was." No 3rd plur. form is attested, but äs is sometimes used (Yt. 14.46). mraom "I said" is < *mrauuam.

tauruuaiiama "we overcome" is from *tauruuaiiäma. In dasta "you give", -dt- has become -st-.

Other examples of verbs with "contracted" forms (bao- "become," jaiôiia- "implore," sräuuaiia- "recite"):

Sing. 1 baom < *bauuam	jaiðim < jaiðiiam	sräuuaêm < *sräuuaiiam
Plur. 3 baon (< *bauuan)	jaiôin (< jaiôiian)	sräuuaën or sräuuaiian

SYNTAX

Use of the imperfect-injunctive

äat jasat Zaraeuštrõ "Then came Zarathustra.

srirõ mê saôaiiat Yimõ "Yima seemed beautiful to me." äat mraotAhurõ Mazdå maniiuš spãništõ

"Then spoke Ahura Mazdä, the most Life-giving spirit. "

äat him jaiöiiat barazaiôiš Vištäspõ äa! him ra9aëštärõ jaiôin

"Then Vištäspa, who saw in high places, implored her; then the charioteers implored her." äfš paoiri fra.tacat "Much water flowed forth." uruuarå uxšin zairi.gaonå baon paoirišca

"The plants grew; they became green and many," yõ as varaerajqstamõ

"(Zarathustra), who was the most obstruction-smashing." (Y.9.15) mošu tat ãs nõit darayam (yat)

"It was soon, not long (= it was not long) (before)." (Yt.5.65) ya9a ka9aca tê ãs zaošõ "However was your pleasure." (Yt. 19.82)

Verbs with preverbs

Verbs such as paiti.mrao- "to answer" and paiti.auua.jasa- " to come down hither to" consist of a main verb and "preverbs," that is words which are sometimes used alone, e.g., as a preposition or an adverb, but often only exist together with a verb. There are similar words used with nouns, in which case they are called prefixes.

The scribes sometimes did and sometimes did not separate the preverb from the verb by a period. In this introduction the period is commonly used, except where sandhi changes have taken place (e.g., äi- < ä-ai-, äuuara- < ä-bara-).

Sometimes the preverb is separated from the verb and placed (usually) at the beginning of the sentence. Compare and contrast the following examples:

paiti.mraot yõ Zaraeuštrõ

"He, Zarathustra, spoke back (answered)." paiti šë mraot Ahurõ Mazdå "Ahura Mazdä said back to him."

ã.jasat Varaeraynõ ahuraôätõ

"Voroerayna, established by Ahura Mazda, came (flying)." ã nõ jasa auuaúhë "Come to our assistance!" paiti dim parasat Zaraeuštrõ "Zarathustra asked him in turn.'

A verb can have several preverbs:

äiði paiti.auua.jasa Araduuï Sure Anähite

"Come! Come down to (us), O Aroduuï Sura Anähita!"

When a verb with a preverb is repeated in a sentence, instead of repeating the whole verb, the preverb may be repeated without the verb (cf. Lesson 3), e.g.:

pairi tê Haoma daö€m pairivõ äpõ pairi tê ätara

"I presented to you, O Haoma, (I presented) to you, O waters, (I presented) to you, O fire ...

EXERCISES 5

1. Write in transcription and Avestan script the nom. sing. and plur. (where appropriate) forms of the following nouns and adjectives:

aša- vahišta-, aši- vao ^Vhï-, bara- mazišta-, bayä- paoirï-, driyu- mašiia-,frasparaya- srira-, kaniiähudaênä-, vohu- vastra-, buiri- x^Vara9a-, aka- yätu-, vaohu- gairi-; Vaiiu- uparõ.kairiia-.

2. Write in transcription and Avestan script the imperfect-injunctive forms of the following verbs:

äi-, ä.kasa-, isa-, karanao-, gauruuaiia-, "arasa-, barajaiia-, zauua-, zbaiia-.

3. Transcribe and translate into English:

Note: In the following passage note the forms ašäum, voc. sing. of a$auuan-, and ašahe "of Order" gen. sing. of aša-).

4. Translate into Avestan:

l . We are not Turanian enemies. We are Aryan charioteers, having good horses and good chariots.

2. The young woman is poor. There is no guardian for her, no protector.

3. Yima walked forth. He said:

4. Go forth, and go wide and far, O men; go wide and far, O animals, both great and small!

5. Then both the men and the animals went forth and wide and far and became many.

6. Then my daëna came. (She) seemed to me both beautiful and Life-giving.

7. She said to me: I am (she) who (is your) own daënä. Come to me, O Orderly Mazdaiiasnian.

8. Then we went forth, both I and my daënä.

VOCABULARY 5