Which languages ​​belong to the Indo-Iranian language group. Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary - Indo-Iranian languages

(Aryan languages) - a branch of the Indo-European family of languages ​​(see Indo-European languages), splitting into Indian (Indo-Aryan) languages ​​and Iranian languages; it also includes Dardic languages ​​and Nuristan languages. The total number of speakers is 850 million people. Indo-Iranian languages ​​are a genetic concept motivated by the presence of an Indo-Iranian linguistic community that preceded the split into separate groups and preserved a number of common archaisms dating back to the Indo-European era. It is very likely that the core of this community formed in the southern Russian steppes (as evidenced by archaeological finds in Ukraine, traces of linguistic contacts with the Finno-Ugrians, which most likely took place north of the Caspian Sea, Aryan traces in the toponymy and hydronymy of Tavria and the Northern Black Sea region etc.) and continued to develop during the period of coexistence in Central Asia or adjacent territories.

Comparative-historical grammar reconstructs for these languages ​​a common original system of phonemes, a common vocabulary, a common system of morphology and word formation, and even common syntactic features. Thus, in phonetics, Indo-Iranian languages ​​are characterized by the coincidence of Indo-European *ē̆, *ō̆, *ā̆ in Indo-Iranian ā̆, the reflection of Indo-European *ə in Indo-Iranian i, the transition of Indo-European *s after i, u, r, k into an š-shaped sound; in morphology, a basically identical system of name declension is developed and a number of specific verbal formations are formed, etc. The general lexical composition includes the names of key concepts of Indo-Iranian culture (primarily in the field of mythology), religion, social institutions, objects of material culture, names, which confirms the presence of an Indo-Iranian community. The common name is *arya‑, which is reflected in many Iranian and Indian ethnic terms over a vast territory (the name of the modern state of Iran comes from the form of this word). The most ancient Indian and Iranian monuments “Rigveda” and “Avesta” in their most archaic parts are so close to each other that they can be considered as two versions of one source text. Further migrations of the Aryans led to the division of the Indo-Iranian branch of languages ​​into 2 groups, the separation of which began with the entry of the ancestors of modern Indo-Aryans into northwestern India. Linguistic traces from one of the earlier waves of migration have been preserved - Aryan words in the languages ​​of Asia Minor and Western Asia from 1500 BC. e. (names of gods, kings and nobles, horse breeding terminology), the so-called Mitanni Aryan (belonging to the Indian group, but not fully explained from the Vedic language).

The Indo-Aryan group turned out to be more conservative in many respects than the Iranian one. It better preserved some archaisms of the Indo-European and Indo-Iranian eras, while the Iranian group underwent a number of significant changes. In phonetics, these are changes primarily in the field of consonantism: spirantization of voiceless stops, loss of aspiration for consonants, transition from s to h. In morphology, it is a simplification of the complex ancient inflectional paradigm of noun and verb, primarily in the Old Persian language.

The ancient Indian languages ​​are represented by the Vedic language, Sanskrit, and also some words of Mitannian Aryan; Central Indian - Pali, Prakritami, Apabhransha; new Indo-Aryan languages ​​- Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, Marathi, Gujarati, Punjabi, Oriya, Assamese, Sindhi, Nepali, Sinhalese, Maldivian, Gypsy languages ​​and others.

Ancient Iranian languages ​​are represented by Avestan, Old Persian (the language of Achaemenid inscriptions), as well as individual words in the Greek transmission in Scythian and Median (one can judge some phonetic features of these languages). The Central Iranian languages ​​include Middle Persian (Pahlavi), Parthian, Sogdian, Khorezmian, Saka languages ​​(dialects), Bactrian (primarily the language of the inscription in Surkhkotal). New Iranian languages ​​include Persian, Tajik, Pashto (Afghan), Ossetian, Kurdish, Baluchi, Gilan, Mazanderan, Tat, Talysh, Parachi, Ormuri, Yagnob, Munjan, Yidga, Pamir (Shughnan, Rushan, Bartang, Oroshor, Sarykol, Yazgulyam , Ishkashim, Wakhan) and others.

Modern Indo-Iranian languages ​​are widespread in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq (northern regions), Turkey (eastern regions), the USSR (in Tajikistan, the Caucasus, etc.). They are characterized by a number of common trends, which indicates a common typology of development of these two groups of languages. The ancient inflection of name and verb has been almost completely lost. In the nominal paradigm, instead of a multi-case inflectional system of declension, a contrast is developed between direct and indirect forms, accompanied by function words: postpositions or prepositions (only in Iranian languages), i.e., an analytical way of expressing grammatical meaning. In a number of languages, on the basis of these analytical constructions, a new agglutinative case inflection is formed (the eastern type of Indian languages, among Iranian languages ​​- Ossetian, Baluchi, Gilan, Mazanderan). In the system of verb forms, complex analytical constructions that convey meanings of aspect and tense, analytical passive, and analytical word formation are becoming widespread. In a number of languages, new synthetic contracted verbal forms are formed, in which function words of analytical constructions acquire the status of morphemes (in Indian languages, primarily in languages ​​of the eastern type, this process has gone further; in Iranian it is observed only in the colloquial speech of many living languages). In syntax, the new Indo-Iranian languages ​​are characterized by a tendency towards a fixed word order and, for many of them, towards ergativity in its various variants. The general phonological trend in the modern languages ​​of these two groups is the loss of the phonological status of quantitative vowel opposition, the increased importance of the rhythmic structure of the word (sequences of long and short syllables), the very weak nature of dynamic word stress and the special role of phrasal intonation.

The Dardic languages ​​constitute a special intermediate group of the Indo-Iranian language branch. Scientists have no consensus regarding their status. R. B. Shaw, S. Konov, J. A. Grierson (in early works) saw an Iranian basis in the Dardic languages, noting their special closeness to the Pamir languages. G. Morgenstierne generally classifies them as Indian languages, as does R. L. Turner. Grierson (in later works), D.I. Edelman consider them an independent group, occupying an intermediate place between the Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages. According to many features, the Dardic languages ​​are included in the Central Asian linguistic union.

Edelman D.I., Comparative grammar of East Iranian languages. Phonology, M., 1986; see also the literature under the articles Indian (Indo-Aryan) languages, Iranian languages, Dardic languages, Nuristan languages.

T. Ya. Elizarenkova.

Materials devoted to the study of Indo-Iranian languages, in addition to general linguistic journals (see Linguistic journals), are published in specialized journals in a number of countries:

"Indische Bibliothek" (Bonn, 1820-30), "Indische Studien" (B. - Lpz., 1850-98), "Zeitschrift für Indologie und Iranistik" (Lpz., 1922-36), "Indo-Iranian Journal" (The Hague, 1957-), “Indological Studies: Journal of the Department of Sanskrit” (Delhi, 1972-), “Studia Iranica” (P., 1972-), “Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik” (Reinbek, Germany, 1975-).

The Indo-European family includes Albanian, Armenian and the Slavic, Baltic, Germanic, Celtic, Italic, Romance, Illyrian, Greek, Anatolian, Iranian, Dardic, Indo-Aryan, Nuristan and Tocharian language groups. At the same time, Italic (if Romance is not considered Italic), Illyrian, Anatolian and Tocharian groups are represented only by dead languages.

Iranian languages

The Iranian languages ​​(more than 60) include Avestan, Azeri, Alan, Bactrian, Bashkardi, Balochi, Vanj, Wakhan, Gilan, Dari, Old Persian, Zaza (language/dialect), Ishkashim, Kumzari (language/dialect), Kurdish, Mazanderan, Median, Munjan, Ormuri, Ossetian, group of Pamir languages, Parachi, Parthian, Persian, Pashto/Pashto, Sangisari language/dialect, Sargulyam, Semnan, Sivendi (language/dialect), Scythian, Sogdian, Middle Persian, Tajik, Tajrishi ( language/dialect), Talysh, Tat, Khorezmian, Khotanosak, Shugnan-Rushan group of languages, Yaghnobi, Yazgulyam, etc. They belong to the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European languages. Areas of distribution: Iran, Afghanistan, Tajikistan, some areas of Iraq, Turkey, Pakistan, India, Georgia, Russian Federation. The total number of speakers is 81 million people.

According to cultural and historical criteria, the ancient, middle and new periods are distinguished; according to structural characteristics, two periods are distinguished: ancient (Old Persian, Avestan, Median, Scythian) and subsequent, including the middle and new stages (all other languages).

Properties of Iranian languages:

1) in phonetics: preservation in ancient Iranian languages ​​of the subsequently lost correlation of duration; preservation in consonantism mainly of the proto-language system; the development in later languages ​​of correlations for aspiration, cerebrality, aruptiveness, presented differently in different languages;

2) in morphology: at the ancient stage - inflectional formation and ablaut of the root and suffix; diversity of declension and conjugation; trinity of the system of number and gender; multi-case inflectional paradigm; the use of inflections, suffixes, augments, and different types of stems to construct verb forms; rudiments of analytical structures; in later languages ​​- unification of types of formation; extinction of ablaut; binary systems of number and gender (up to the extinction of gender in a number of languages); simplification of the case system (with a transition to the agglutinative principle in a number of languages) or the extinction of cases; postpositive and prepositive articles; formation of new verbal analytical and secondary inflectional forms based on participles; variety of person and number indicators of the verb; new formal indicators of passive, voice, aspect characteristics, time;

3) in syntax: the presence of an isafic construction; the presence of ergative sentence construction in a number of languages.

The first written monuments from the 6th century. BC. Cuneiform for Old Persian; Middle Persian (and a number of other languages) monuments (from the 2nd-3rd centuries AD) in a variety of Aramaic writing; a special alphabet based on Middle Persian for Avestan texts.

- (from Sanskrit aria, a person of an Iranian or Indian tribe). Indo-European and Zendian languages. Dictionary of foreign words included in the Russian language. Chudinov A.N., 1910. ARYAN LANGUAGES from Sanskrit, aria, Iranian or Indian person... ...

And Aryan peoples see Aryans and Indo-Europeans... Encyclopedic Dictionary F.A. Brockhaus and I.A. Ephron

Same as Indo-Iranian languages... Handbook of Etymology and Historical Lexicology

This term has other meanings, see Languages ​​of the world (meanings). Below is a complete list of articles on languages ​​and their groups that are already on Wikipedia or should definitely be there. Only human languages ​​included (including... ... Wikipedia

Languages ​​of the peoples inhabiting (and previously inhabiting) the globe. The total number of languages ​​is from 2500 to 5000 (the exact figure is impossible to establish due to the conventions of distinction between different languages ​​and dialects of the same language). To the most common Ya. m... Great Soviet Encyclopedia

Languages ​​of the world- Languages ​​of the world are the languages ​​of the peoples inhabiting (and previously inhabiting) the globe. The total number is from 2500 to 5000 (the exact figure is impossible to establish, because the difference between different languages ​​and dialects of the same language is arbitrary). To the most common... ...

AND LANGUAGES Indo-Germanic. origin: Greeks, Romans; Romanesque, Slavic, Germanic tribes: descended from the Aryans. A complete dictionary of foreign words that have come into use in the Russian language. Popov M., 1907. ARYAN PEOPLES AND LANGUAGES peoples and languages ​​... Dictionary of foreign words of the Russian language

Text of the Rig Veda ... Wikipedia

Iranian Taxon: group Area: Middle East, Central Asia, Northern Caucasus Number of speakers: approx. 150 million Classification ... Wikipedia

Indo-Iranian languages- (Aryan languages) a branch of the Indo-European family of languages ​​(see Indo-European languages), splitting into Indian (Indo-Aryan) languages ​​and Iranian languages; it also includes Dardic languages ​​and Nuristan languages. The total number of speakers is 850 million people... Linguistic encyclopedic dictionary

Books

• Languages ​​of the world. Relict Indo-European languages ​​of Western and Central Asia. The book is the next volume of the encyclopedic publication "Languages ​​of the World", which is being created at the Institute of Linguistics of the Russian Academy of Sciences. This volume is devoted to a number of branches of the Indo-European language family,...

Groups. Distributed in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka, the Maldives, Iran, Afghanistan, Iraq (north), Turkey (east), Tajikistan, Russia (Ossetia, etc.).
The total number of speakers (as of the mid-2000s) is 1.2 billion people, incl. on Hindi says 300 million, Bengali- 200 million, Marathi And Punjabi- 80 million each, Urdu- 60 million, Gujarati- 50 million, Persian - 40 million (as a native language), Oriya- 35 million, Pashto- 30 million, Bhojpuri- 27 million, Maithili- 26 million, Sindhi- 21 million, Nepali- 17 million, Assamese- 16 million, Sinhala- 14 million, Magahi- 13 million. Probably, the core of the Indo-Iranian linguistic community formed in the southern Russian steppes (as evidenced by archaeological finds in Ukraine, traces of linguistic contacts with the Finno-Ugrians, which most likely took place north of the Caspian Sea, Aryan traces in the toponymy and hydronymy of Tavria, Northern Black Sea region, etc.) and continued to develop during the period of coexistence in Central Asia or adjacent territories.
The general lexical composition of the Indo-Iranian languages ​​includes the names of key concepts of Indo-Iranian culture (primarily in the field of mythology), religion, social institutions, objects of material culture, and names. The common name is *ауа-, which is reflected in many Iranian and Indian ethnic terms (the name of the state of Iran comes from the form of this word).
The most ancient Indian and Iranian written monuments - "Rigveda" and "Avesta" - in their most archaic parts are so close to each other that they can be considered as 2 versions of one source text.
Further migrations of the Aryans led to the division of the Indo-Iranian branch into 2 groups, the separation of which began with the entry of the ancestors of modern Indo-Aryans into northwestern India. Linguistic traces of one of the earlier waves of migration have been preserved - Aryan words in the languages ​​of Asia Minor and Western Asia from 1500 BC. (names of gods, kings and nobility, horse breeding terminology), so-called. Mitanni Aryan (belonging to the Indian group, but not fully explainable from the Vedic language).
The Indian group turned out to be more conservative than the Iranian group in many respects. It better preserved some archaisms of the Indo-European and Indo-Iranian eras, while the Iranian group underwent a number of significant changes. In phonetics, these are changes primarily in the area of ​​consonantism: spirantization of voiceless stops, loss of aspiration for consonants, transition s -> h. In morphology, a simplification of the complex ancient inflectional paradigm of a name and a verb.

Modern Indian and Iranian languages ​​are characterized by a number of common trends. The ancient inflection of name and verb has been almost completely lost. In the nominal paradigm, instead of a multi-case inflectional system of declension, a contrast between direct and indirect forms is developed, accompanied by function words: postpositions or prepositions (only in Iranian languages), i.e. an analytical way of expressing grammatical meaning. In a number of languages, on the basis of these analytical constructions, a new agglutinative case inflection is formed (the eastern type of Indian languages; among Iranian languages ​​- Ossetian, Baluchi, Gilan, Mazanderan). In the system of verb forms, complex analytical constructions that convey meanings of aspect and tense, analytical passive, and analytical word formation are becoming widespread. In a number of languages, new synthetically contracted verbal forms are formed, in which function words of analytical constructions acquire the status of morphemes (in Indian languages, primarily of the Eastern type, this process has gone further; in Iranian languages ​​it is observed only in colloquial speech). In syntax, the new Indo-Iranian languages ​​tend to have a fixed word order and, for many of them, to be ergative. The general phonological trend in modern languages ​​of both groups is the loss of the phonological status of quantitative vowel opposition, the increased importance of the rhythmic structure of the word (sequences of long and short syllables), the very weak nature of dynamic word stress and the special role of phrasal intonation.