Tocharian A

Tocharian A, also known as Tokharian A, Eastern Tocharian, Agnean (), Karashahrian or Turfanian is a dead language that was in use in the 1st millennium AD in the Karashahr and Turfan region of the Tarim Basin, present-day Xinjiang, Western China. First discovered from Buddhist texts dating back to around the 7th century AD, it coexisted with a related language, Tocharian B that together possibly with Tocharian C form the Tocharian branch of the Indo-European languages. This language was notably used in what China's Han dynasty then called the Kiu-che Kingdom (known as the Kushan Empire). It is believed that Tocharian A died out with the other Tocharian languages when the Uyghurs and the Yenisei Kyrgyz moved into the Tarim Basin.

Writing

Tocharian A is known from around the 2000 manuscripts found. From these series of texts which are majority Buddhist liturgical texts are transcribed in a script derived from Brahmi. Unlike Tocharian B, there are no secular texts in Tocharian A. One possible explanation is that at the time these texts were written, Tocharian A survived only as a liturgical language and Tocharian B would still have been a living language.

Another hypothesis, however, is that this absence is simply explained by the very fragmentary attestation of Tocharian languages in general.

From the work of Georges-Jean Pinault and Melanie Malzahn in 2007, it is now recognized that it was also a living, spoken language.

Morphology

Nouns

The Tocharian A word for horse (yuk) is declined as follows:

Pronunciation

One of the innovations of Tocharian A is the presence of a sibilant consonant Ã¡Â¹Â£.

Glossary

Words

The following are some examples of Tocharian A words with English words:

The following is also a comparison of some numbers in Tocharian A and other Indo-European languages:

MaitreyasamitinÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âaka

The MaitreyasamitinÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âaka is a Buddhist drama about the life of the Maitreya written in Tocharian A and is the most well-known Tocharian text about Maitreya. It was translated into Old Uyghur (which is named Maitrisimit), which has been used to interpret Tocharian A. The Maitrisimit is not an exact translation as it was adapted to meet the requirements of Old Uyghur and the MaitreyasamitinÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âaka was written in the campÃÂ« style, which has a mixture prose and verse.

The following is one of the translations of the Tocharian A manuscript of MaitreyasamitinÃÂÃ¡Â¹Âaka:

klÃÂ k. SA (23 syllables) (me)trakÃ¡Â¹Â£inÃÂÃ¡Â¹Â opÃ¡Â¹Â£lyÃÂ plÃÂc weÃÂ±eÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂkÃÂvvintu yÃÂmeÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ///

[Ã¢ÂÂ¦ through MetrakÃ¢ÂÂs opÃ¡Â¹Â£ly they would tell a speech (and) make verses. ///:]

ÃÂ±ÃÂ¨[ÃÂ]Ã¢ÂÂ¢klyoMA[nT]ÃÂ (20 syllables) (k)ly(o)MAnTÃÂ metraKAÃ¡Â¹Â oÃÂ±antyo tri ÃÂ±emintwaÃ¡Â¹Â KAlymeyÃÂ spÃÂrtwe(ÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ) ///

[Ã¢ÂÂ¢noble /// beginning with noble Metrak in three jewels they would turn in the right manner ///:]

PÃÂ metRAkyÃÂp [w]. (18 syllables) ps. lÃÂntuneÃ¡Â¹Â£i [abhi]Ã¡Â¹Â£eKÃÂ artantRAÃ¢ÂÂ¢kus pat nu tanÃÂ SArki tu .i///

[of Metrak /// they praise anointing of sovereigntyÃ¢ÂÂ¢hereafter ///:]

s weÃÂ±eÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ klyo(seÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ klyoMAnt metra) Ã¢ÂÂ¯[k]Ã¡Â¹Â£(i)nÃÂ(Ã¡Â¹Â) plÃÂcÃÂ¨ÃÂ metRA(kyÃÂPÃÂ) yÃÂ¤rkanTÃÂ ÃÂrtantRA pÃÂlantRA anumodin yÃÂmeÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ pukÃÂk Ã¡Â¹Â£akk ats [c]e ///

[they would speak (panegyric(?) and hear) the speech (of noble Metrak,) praise (much) the

respect (of) Metrak, make gratification absolutely (and) surely ///:]

t pi koriSÃÂ Ã¡Â¹Â¢Ak-KAnTÃÂ (w)r(asaÃÂ±ÃÂ¨ÃÂ taÃ¡Â¹Â)Ã¢ÂÂ¯ne KAtkeÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ kÃÂtka[Ã¡Â¹Â£ PA](lketSÃÂ?) ÃÂrkiÃÂoÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹Â£aÃ¡Â¹Â PAttÃÂÃÂ±KATÃÂ: ÃÂmantRA cem wrasaÃÂ±ÃÂ¨ÃÂ tÃÂm praÃ¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹ÂaÃÂÃÂÃÂ¤[l] ..///

[(9)600 millions (people) would go across (in such a way). The brilliant(?) Buddha would stand

in the world : The people would come in (proper?) time ///:]

kyo napeÃ¡Â¹ÂsaÃ¡Â¹Â : Ã¡Â¹Â£oÃÂ«meÃÂ» metRA[ky](ÃÂPÃÂ) (kl)[yo]seÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ ÃÂ MArkampaL*ÃÂ tSAlpeÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ kloPA(Ã¡Â¹Â£ Ã¡Â¹Â£ome?) yomneÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ puttiÃÂparnacÃÂ¨ÃÂ vyÃÂkariTÃÂ: TAmyo metRAkyÃÂp kÃÂ /// (PA)-

[with Ã¢ÂÂ¦ in (the world of?) people : Some would hear Dharma of Metrak, would be free (from)

suffering, (some?) would get the prophecy for the worth of Buddha : Then Metrak's ///:]

ls[k]asuntÃÂPÃÂ skaMÃÂ skenaLÃÂ : 1 (4x25) || sÃÂtÃÂgiri tRAÃ¡Â¹ÂKAÃ¡Â¹Â¢ÃÂ kÃÂsu weÃÂ±ÃÂ(Ã¡Â¹Â¢TÃÂ)++RÃÂ TAmyo TAÃ¡Â¹Â£ metRAkyÃÂp waSA[mp]ÃÂtÃ¡Â¹Â£iÃ¡Â¹Â opÃ¡Â¹Â£lyac poÃÂ±cÃÂ¤Ã¡Â¹Â ÃÂrki(Ã¡Â¹Â£Ã¡Â¹Â£aÃ¡Â¹Â) ///

[one should endeavor always mindful Ã¢ÂÂ¦ :Ã¢ÂÂ¢|| SÃÂ tagiri says, Ã¢ÂÂYou said good Ã¢ÂÂ¦ then so for opÃ¡Â¹Â£ aly

of attainment of Metrak (in) complete world:]

(purÃ¡Â¹Âak)e t(RA)Ã¡Â¹ÂKAÃ¡Â¹Â¢ÃÂ ceÃ¡Â¹Â£ Ã¡Â¹Â£ome ÃÂ±ÃÂ¤ktaÃÂ±ÃÂ¨ÃÂ epreRAÃ¡Â¹Â¢ÃÂ kÃÂKArpuRAÃ¡Â¹Â¢*ÃÂ dak(Ã¡Â¹Â£)i(Ã¡Â¹ÂÃÂpapatha)[c]ÃÂ¨ÃÂ yiÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ Ã¡Â¹Â£ome nu pÃÂÃ¡Â¹Â£ÃÂnak [Ã¡Â¹Â£u]lacÃÂ¨ÃÂ yiÃÂ±cÃÂ¨ÃÂ || sÃÂtÃÂ(giri tRAÃ¡Â¹ÂKAÃ¡Â¹Â¢ÃÂ dakÃ¡Â¹Â£iÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂpathÃÂ KAlymeyaÃ¡Â¹Â bÃÂdhari prÃÂmne)

[(PÃÂ«rÃ¡Â¹Âaka) says, Ã¢ÂÂSome these gods, having descended from air space, go to DakÃ¡Â¹Â£inÃÂpatha, some

also go to the mount PÃÂÃ¡Â¹Â£ÃÂnakaÃ¢ÂÂ || SÃÂta(giri says, Ã¢ÂÂIn DakÃ¡Â¹Â£iÃ¡Â¹ÂÃÂpatha region(Ã¢ÂÂ direction) Brahmin BÃÂdhari is):]

References

Bibliography

(Collection of the House of the Ancient Mediterranean Orient. Literary and Philosophical Series, 35)

External links

in Wiktionary