| Old Persian | |
|---|---|
| Region | Ancient Iran |
| Era | evolved into Middle Persian by c. 300 BC |
| Old Persian cuneiform | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-2 | peo |
| ISO 639-3 | peo |
peo | |
| Glottolog | oldp1254 |
The Old Persian language is one of two Old Iranian languages. The other is Avestan). Old Persian was used during the Achaemenid era (c. 600 BC to 300 BC). Examples of Old Persian have been found in Iran, Iraq, Turkey and Egypt. It belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken during the Old Iranian period (c. 1500 – 400 BCE) by the Iranians living in the eastern portion of Greater Iran.
Old Persian is an Old Iranian language and a member of the Southwestern Iranian language group. As an Iranian language, Old Persian is a member of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family.
Old Persian subsequently developed into Middle Persian, which is in turn the nominal ancestor of New Persian.
The following phonemes are expressed in the Old Persian script:
Vowels
Consonants
| Labial | Dental/ Alveolar |
Palatal | Velar | Glottal | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plosive | p /p/ | b /b/ | t /t/ | d /d/ | c /c/ | j /ɟ/ | k /k/ | g /g/ | ||
| Nasal | m /m/ | n /n/ | ||||||||
| Fricative | f /f/ | θ /θ/ | ç /ç/ | x /x/ | h /h/ | |||||
| Sibilant | s /s/ | z /z/ | š /ʃ/ | |||||||
| Rhotic | r /r/ | |||||||||
| Approximant | v /ʋ/ | l /l/ | y /j/ | |||||||
Old Persian stems:
| -a | -am | -ā | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | -a | -ā | -ā, -āha | -am | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā |
| Vocative | -ā | -ā | -ā | -am | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā | -ā |
| Accusative | -am | -ā | -ā | -am | -ā | -ā | -ām | -ā | -ā |
| Instrumental | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Dative | -ahyā, -ahya | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ahyā, -ahya | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Ablative | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -ā | -aibiyā | -aibiš | -āyā | -ābiyā | -ābiš |
| Genitive | -ahyā, -ahya | -āyā | -ānām | -ahyā, -ahya | -āyā | -ānām | -āyā | -āyā | -ānām |
| Locative | -aiy | -āyā | -aišuvā | -aiy | -āyā | -aišuvā | -āyā | -āyā | -āšuvā |
| -iš | -iy | -uš | -uv | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | Singular | Dual | Plural | |
| Nominative | -iš | -īy | -iya | -iy | -in | -īn | -uš | -ūv | -uva | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Vocative | -i | -īy | -iya | -iy | -in | -īn | -u | -ūv | -uva | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Accusative | -im | -īy | -iš | -iy | -in | -īn | -um | -ūv | -ūn | -uv | -un | -ūn |
| Instrumental | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Dative | -aiš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -aiš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auš | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Ablative | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auš | -ībiyā | -ībiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš | -auv | -ūbiyā | -ūbiš |
| Genitive | -aiš | -īyā | -īnām | -aiš | -īyā | -īnām | -auš | -ūvā | -ūnām | -auš | -ūvā | -ūnām |
| Locative | -auv | -īyā | -išuvā | -auv | -īyā | -išuvā | -āvā | -ūvā | -ušuvā | -āvā | -ūvā | -ušuvā |
Adjectives are declinable in a similar way.
Voices
Active, Middle (thematic present -aiy-, -ataiy-), Passive (-ya-).
In Old Persian, the first- and the third-person forms were mostly used. The only dual form used was ajīvatam 'both lived'.
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'be' | 'bring' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | ahmiy | barāmiy |
| 3.pers. | astiy | baratiy | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | ahmahiy | barāmahiy |
| 3.pers. | hatiy | baratiy | |
| Athematic | Thematic | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 'do, make' | 'be, become' | ||
| Sg. | 1.pers. | akunavam | abavam |
| 3.pers. | akunauš | abava | |
| Pl. | 1.pers. | akumā | abavāmā |
| 3.pers. | akunava | abava | |
| Active | Middle |
|---|---|
| -nt- | -amna- |
| -ta- |
| -tanaiy |
| Proto-Indo-Iranian | Old Persian | Middle Persian | Modern Persian | meaning |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| *açva | aspa | asp | asp اسپ | horse |
| *kāma | kāma | kām | kām کام | desire |
| *daiva | daiva | div | div دیو | devil |
| drayah | drayā | daryā دریا | sea | |
| dasta | dast | dast دست | hand | |
| *bhāgī | bāji | bāj | bāj باج/باژ | tribute |
| *bhrātr- | brātar | brādar | barādar برادر | brother |
| *bhūmī | būmi | būm | būm بوم | region, land |
| *martya | martya | mard | mard مرد | man |
| *māsa | māha | māh | māh ماه | moon, month |
| *vāsara | vāhara | Bahār | bahār بهار | spring |
| stūnā | stūn | sotūn ستون | column (related to stand) | |
| šiyāta | šād | šād شاد | happy | |
| *arta | arta | ard | ord ارد | truth |
| *draugh- | drauga | drōgh | dorōgh دروغ | lie (maybe legendary related to drought) |