PHONOLOGY Form of the text.
The extant text of the Avesta is an edited text. On one or several occasions during the oral transmission of the text editors worked to standardize it. The extant text does therefore not reflect a genuine oral tradition.[1]
One feature of the edited text is the replacement of the ending -a with the ending -õ in the first members of compounds and fricatives with stops in initial position in the second member, cf., e.g., beside the expected form ahuraöäta-, the much more common type daêuuõ.däta-, bayõ.baxta, etc. Another is the restoration of word-final form for the expected sandhi form, e.g., in xšuuaš.gäiia- "six steps" instead of *xšuuažgäiia-, cf. dužga4ti- "evil smell."
Not all non-standard or "incorrect" forms are from the editors, however; many more are probably due to the reciters (transmitters) of the text and the scribes who wrote the manuscripts.
Anaptyxis
The Avestan is in most positions an allophone of la/ (see Lesson 5). In addition, it is frequently used as an anaptyctic vowel.
"Anaptyctic" vowels are unetymological vowels inserted between consonants to "ease" the pronunciation. By far the most common anaptyctic vowel in Young Avestan is a; occasionally a is used.
Anaptyxis (also called svarabhakti, a Sanskrit word meaning "sound-splitting") is especially common, if not obligatory, after r in final position and before other consonants, as well as in the group nr. The exception is the group rš, although this, too, is sometimes written raš in the manuscripts.
Examples: araða- "side" (cf. Skt. ardha-); ara9a- "matter" (cf. Skt. artha-); karapamca "and the form"; karata- "done" (cf. Skt. krta-); varasa- "hair," parana- "feather" (cf. Skt. parea-); vadara "weapon for striking" (cf. Skt. vadhaþ); aipiduuqnara- (for Odunra-) "*clouded" (cf. dunman- "cloud")
Note also that the sequence ara is (l) frequently reduced to ra after t: *ätaram > ätram (ätaram), sometimes also after g; (2) replaced by ar (ara) before š: barazõ but barš, ätram < *ätaram, but ätarš.
Vowel changes. Dissimilation of ii> ai> ai/aë.
In the following cases the vowel preceding an epenthetic i was another i, and the original i was dissimilated to form the diphthong ai (ii > ii > ai > ai): barazaiôiš < *barazi t ðïš < *brzi-dïš [cf. OAv. hušaiti- < hušilti-]•
A similar development is probably the origin of the apparent anaptyxis in the group u! (see above) > uii > uai > uai or uoi (uuõii), and in the prefix baê0 instead of bio in baê.arazu- "two fingers wide" < *bai-rzu- < *bii-rzu-.
Consonant changes. Assimilation
When two different consonants come into contact, they may become "similar" to one another or completely identical. This phenomenon is referred to as (partial and complete) assimilation. Some common instances of assimilation in (proto-)Avestan are:
l . Unvoiced + voiced > voiced + voiced, e.g., s + d > zd: *mas-dä- > mazdä-; š + d > žd: duš-dä- > duždä-; sl + b > žb: niš-barata- > nižbarata-;
2003
+
z > žz: duš-zaotar- > dužzaotar-.
2. Labial stop + labial stop > single labial stop: p + b > *b > p: *ap-biiah > aißiiõ.
3. Dental stop + s > single s:
t + s > s: fšuiiant-s >fšuiigs.
Consonant changes. Spirantization of stops
When p and t comes before a suffix or an ending beginning with ii, uu, r, n, or m they change to fand e,
e.g.: astuuaiti "bony," but astuuai9iiå, hat "being," but hai9iia- "real," äp- "water," but *äfuuant- ( > äfut-) "full of water," xšapa "night," but xšafnõ. This change did not take place before ii or uu when the p or t was preceded by an original long vowel, diphthong, or another consonant (not counting ara), e.g., däitiia- "lawful," mašiia- "mortal man" < *martiia-, but maraeiiu- "death."
When a p, a k, or a g come before an
ending beginning with original *s they change to fand x, and the *s becomes š,
e.g., *äp-s > äfš "water" and *väk-s > växš "word, voice
" *drug-s > druxš "deception," 
(stem
napät-) > nafšu "among the grandchildren." A final sor z is lost
before the ending, which becomes -š: *spas-s > spaš "spy " *brz-s
> barš "high."
NOUNS
Consonant declensions: stems
Stems ending in consonants take more "regular" endings than stems ending in vowels, but their declension is complicated by "ablaut." Case forms that use the full or lengthened grade are commonly referred to as "strong" cases, while case forms that use the zero grade are referred to as "weak" cases.
The strong cases are the sing. nom. , voc. , acc., and loc.; the dual nom.-acc.; and the plur. nom. The other cases are weak cases.
In addition to the changes in vowel length, the final consonant of the stem also frequently changes. Pay particular attention to such changes in the paradigms below.
Consonant declensions: endings
Consonant stems can end in almost any consonant. In Indo-Iranian (and Indo-European) masc. and fem. consonant stems formed their nom. sing. (1) by lengthening the last vowel of the stem and dropping the final consonant, (2) by adding the ending -s (-š after f and x), or (3) by both lengthening the vowel and adding ending -s (-š).
As long final vowels were shortened in Avestan, type (l) forms its nominative by simply dropping the final consonant of the stem.
In types (2) and (3) the ending *-s/*-š combined with the final consonant of the stem to produce various "irregular" form.
The nom.-voc. plural ending is -(5 (-as 0 ) for both masc. and fem. nouns. Not infrequently, however, the thematic ending -a is found in the manuscripts.[2] The nom.-voc. plural, like the nom. and acc. sing., typically requires the strong stem.
Neuter consonant stems take no endings in the nom.-acc. singular. The nom.-acc. plural is formed variously in the various declensions.
The nominative singular
The nom. sing. ending -š is found with masc. and fem. nouns and adjectives with stems ending in labials (p), velars (k, g), or sibilants (s, z [historically < *tš, dž]).
Consonant stems ending in velar stops (k and g). labial stops (p). and sibilants (s. z)
These stems take the nom. sing. ending -š.
The vocative = the nominative.
Paradigms
(väk-/väc- m. "word, speech," drug-/druj- f. "deception, the
Lie," äp- f. "water," spas- m. 
'spy," baraz- "high"):
|
Nom.-voc. |
|
druxš |
äfš |
spaš |
|
|
Nom.-voc. |
väcõ |
|
äpõ, apasca |
spasõ |
barazõ |
Notes:
Thematic forms such as nom. plur. väca are also found.
Note the shortening of the long ä in äpõ apasca "and the waters."
r-stems. Relationship terms
Most words denoting family members are "-stems. Their declension differs slightly from that of the agent nouns (see Lesson 4) in -tar-. The word nar- "man" is declined like the family terms. Examples (nar- "man," pitar- "father," mätar- "mother," duyda "daughter," xVaoha "sister," bräta "brother"):
|
nom. voc. |
nä nara |
pitara |
bräta |
mãta |
duyda |
xl'aoha |
|
nom.-voc. |
narõ |
pitarõ |
|
mätarõ |
|
|
WORD FORMATION Compounds. 1
Compounds as well as their individual elements can be all kinds of words (nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and other compounds). Some common types of Avestan adjectival compounds are the following:
noun + noun: barasmõ.zasta- "with barsom in the
hand" < barasman- + zasta-; adjective + noun: tiži.dära- "with a
sharp blade" < tiži 0 + därä-; noun + verbal noun or
adjective: vara9rajan- "obstruction-smashing" < varaera-
"obstruction" + jan- "to smash," mazdaiiasna-
"Mazda-sacrificer, Mazdayasnian" < Mazdä- "Ahura Mazda"
+ yasna
'sacrifice,"
paoiriiõ.fradäta- "first brought forth," ahuraôäta- and mazdaôäta-
"established (created) by Ahura Mazda"; adverb or prefix +
noun/adjective: huraoôa- "beautiful" < hu- + raoöa- "growth,
stature"; huuaršta"well done" < hu- + varšta-; aißi.gäma-
"year" < aißi- prefix + gäman- "step, going," 9ri.zafan-
"with three mouths" < eri- + zafar/n- "mouth,"
eri.kamaraôa- < eri- + kamaraöa- "head"; verb + noun:
frädat.gaê9a- "who furthers the world of living beings" <fräda-
"to further" + gaêOä"world of living beings."
Note that adjectival compounds whose second member is an ä-stem, themselves become regular a/ä-stem adjectives, e.g., m.frädat.gaê9a-, f.fräda!.gaê9ä- (< gaê9ä- f.).
The final vowel of the first member usually becomes (5, whether it as an a-, ä-, or an-stem (see the examples above).
2()()3
Some adjectives have a special form when used as the first member of a compound, e.g., tiži 0 < tip-a-
Note that äp- takes the form afš- in compounds, which becomes aßž- before voiced consonant: afš.tac.in"with running water," aßaždäna- "containing water" (Y .42.2).
When a word with initial h- is used as second member of a compound, a prosthetic a is prefixed and h > oh: a5õ.aohan- "winning aša" < *aša-(lÿ)han-; airime.aohad- (z armaêšad-) "sitting in peace."
PRONOUNS
Demonstrative, relative, and interrogative pronouns in the nominative
The pronouns and "pronominal" adjectives have several forms that differ from those of the nouns. In the nom. note the neut. sing. in -t (cf. Eng. that) and the masc. plur. in -e (cf. Eng. they).
|
|
The demonstrative pronoun ima- "this": |
The demonstrative pronoun auua- "that": |
|
|
masc. |
masc. fem. neut. |
|
nom. |
aêm im imat |
häu häu auuat |
|
nom. |
ime imå, imås 0 ima |
auue auuå auua |
Note:
aênz < *aiam, im (ïm) < *iiam (cf. Olnd. ayarn, iyam).
The pronoun huuõ "he (you) there" (nom. sing. masc.) is only found in quotations from Old Avestan.
|
|
The relative pronoun ya- "who, |
which": |
The interrogative pronoun ka-/c.i- "who, |
|
|
masc. fem. neut. |
|
masc. fem. neut. |
|
nom. |
yõ, yas 0 .yä ya! |
|
kõ, kas 0 , ciš kä kat, cit |
|
nom. |
yõi, yae0 .Yå .Yä |
|
kaiia, caiiõ |
Notes:
The mss. frequently have (wrongly) yõ for yõi.
The form kaiia "which?" is thematic (Y. 19.18, N., FO.).
The form caiiõ is also used as neut. plur. (V .2.39, 8.12).
With negation the interrogative pronouns (especially those in c-) become indefinite pronouns: nõit ciš
'no one," rnä ciš "(let) no one."
The forms kat, cit correspond historically to Latin quod, quid.
Pronominal adjectives
Pronominal adjectives include vispa- "all" aniia- "other," nom. plur. masc. vispe and aniie. Note that vispa- has neut. vispanz, while aniia- has neut. aniiat.
Pronominal adverbs
Note the following "correlative" pronominal adverbs (cf. Lesson 17). Note also that, although the forms are symmetric, not all the meanings are:
|
i9a "in this way" |
a9a "thus" |
auuaea "in that way" |
yaea "as, like" |
ka9a "how?" |
|
i9ra "here" |
aera "here, there" |
auuaera "there" |
yaera "where" |
kuera "where?" |
|
iôa "here" |
|
auuaôa "there" |
|
ka&z "when?" |
at, äat "then" yat "when" kuua "where?"
Notes:
The forms in a- are the
"unmarked" ("neutral") ones, while those of i- and auua-
point clearly to "here" and "there.'
There is no YAv. *yaða, but Old Avestan has yadä "when?"
VERBS The middle
Avestan verbs can be "active," that is, take the active endings we have already seen, or "middle," that is, take the "middle" endings.
Verbs can have active and/or middle forms. Some verbs have only active forms, some only middle forms, and some both active and middle forms. Only in the third group can the middle forms have a special function, different from that of the active forms.
Intransitive verbs usually have only
active or only middle forms, while transitive verbs can take both active and
middle forms. If they do, then most often the distinction between the two forms
is "active 
passive";
more rarely the middle denotes that the action is being performed in the
interest of the subject. Occasionally the middle forms of a verb have the same
meaning as the active ones, especially in the case of verbs of motion.
Examples:
l . Middle verbs without active counterpart: maniia- "to think," yaza- "to sacrifice," etc.
2. Passive: aza- act. "leads, takes (away)" mid. "is led, taken away," vaëna- act. "sees" mid. "is seen," bara- act. "carries" mid. "rides" (lit. is carried), etc.
3.
Action performed in the interest of the subject: paca- act. "he
cooks" mid. "he cooks for himself," varaöaiia- act.
"increases (something else), enlarges" mid. "increases (by
oneself), becomes larger," etc.
4. Same meaning as active: fracara- act. , mid. "go forth."
5. Differentation of meaning: hišta- act. "to stand = take up a position," mid. "to stand = to be standing"; daöä-/daö- act. "to establish, give," mid. "to take (on), receive."
The imperfect-injunctive middle
Paradigms (aog- "to speak," hunao-/hunu- "to press (the haoma)," ä.parasa- "to converse," yaza- "to sacrifice"):
|
1 |
|
|
|
|
aparase |
|
2 |
-ša |
*hunuša |
|
|
yazaoha |
|
3 |
-ta |
hunuta |
aoxta |
-ata |
yazata |
|
2 |
|
|
|
-aôßam |
yazaöPam |
|
3 |
|
|
|
-anta |
yazanta |
Note: Very few athematic forms are attested. No 1st plur. forms are attested.
2()()3
äat
Zara9uštrõ aoxta "Then Zarathustra said." i9a hõ mašiiõ maniiata
"In this way the man thought." iBa mê tum hpm.carag Vha
Aši srire dämiðäite
kascit
iôa nõit vaõnata "Nobody was seen here." yaea Mi9rõ hubaratõ barata
(after Yt. 10.112)
