Sogdian language

Sogdian
*s{əγ}ʷδī́k ᵊzβā́k, *s{əγ}ʷδyā́u̯,
𐼑𐼇𐼄𐼌𐼊𐼋 [*𐼀𐼈𐼂𐼀𐼋]‎ swγδyk [*ʾzβʾk]
𐼼𐼴𐼶𐼹𐼷𐼸 (𐼰𐼵𐼱𐼰𐼸)‎ swγδyk (ʾzβʾk)
𐼼𐼲𐼴𐼹𐼷𐼰𐼴‎ sγwδyʾw
𐫘𐫇𐫄𐫔𐫏𐫀𐫇‎ swγδyʾw
Native toSogdia
RegionCentral Asia, China
Era1st millennium BCE – 1000 CE[1]
developed into modern Yaghnobi
Language codes
ISO 639-2sog
ISO 639-3sog
Glottologsogd1245
This article contains Sogdian text. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Sogdian characters.

The Sogdian language was an Eastern Iranian language spoken mainly in the Central Asian region of Sogdia (capital: Samarkand; other chief cities: Panjakent, Fergana, Khujand, and Bukhara), located in modern-day Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Kazakhstan[4] and Kyrgyzstan;[5] it was also spoken by some Sogdian immigrant communities in ancient China. Sogdian is one of the most important Middle Iranian languages, along with Bactrian, Khotanese Saka, Middle Persian, and Parthian. It possesses a large literary corpus.

The Sogdian language is usually assigned to a Northeastern group of the Iranian languages. No direct evidence of an earlier version of the language ("Old Sogdian") has been found, although mention of the area in the Old Persian inscriptions means that a separate and recognisable Sogdia existed at least since the Achaemenid Empire (559–323 BCE).[6]

Like Khotanese, Sogdian may have possessed a more conservative grammar and morphology than Middle Persian. The modern Eastern Iranian language Yaghnobi is the descendant of a dialect of Sogdian spoken around the 8th century in Osrushana, a region to the south of Sogdia.

  1. ^ Sogdian at MultiTree on the Linguist List
  2. ^ Jacques Gernet (31 May 1996). A History of Chinese Civilization. Cambridge University Press. pp. 282–. ISBN 978-0-521-49781-7.
  3. ^ Sigfried J. de Laet; Joachim Herrmann (1 January 1996). History of Humanity: From the seventh century B.C. to the seventh century A.D. UNESCO. pp. 467–. ISBN 978-92-3-102812-0.
  4. ^ "Sogdian Language and Its Scripts | The Sogdians".
  5. ^ Barthold, W. "Balāsāg̲h̲ūn or Balāsaḳūn." Encyclopaedia of Islam. Edited by: P. Bearman, Th. Bianquis, C.E. Bosworth, E. van Donzel and W.P. Heinrichs. Brill, 2008. Brill Online. Universiteitsbibliotheek Leiden. 11 March 2008 <http://www.brillonline.nl/subscriber/entry?entry=islam_SIM-1131>
  6. ^ Dresden, Mark (1983). "Sogdian Language and Literature". The Cambridge History of Iran. The Seleucid, Parthian and Sassanian periods. Cambridge University Press.