Avestan

Also known as Zend, Old Bactrian, Avestan language, ae

Avestan ( ) is the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism. It belongs to the Iranian branch of the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken during the Avestan period ( BCE) by the Iranians living in eastern Greater Iran as evidenced from names in Avestan geography.

AI overview

Avestan is an ancient Iranian language that served as the liturgical language of Zoroastrianism, the major religion of ancient Persia. It belongs to the Indo-European language family and was originally spoken by Iranians in eastern Greater Iran during the Avestan period, as shown by place names and geographical references preserved in Avestan texts.

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Key facts

Language.name: Avestan
Language.region: Central Asia
Language.era: Late Bronze Age, Iron Age
Language.familycolor: Indo-European
Language.fam2: Indo-Iranian
Language.fam3: Iranian
Language.ancestor: Proto-Indo-European
Language.ancestor2: Proto-Indo-Iranian
Language.ancestor3: Proto-Iranian
Language.iso1: ae
Language.iso2: ave
Language.iso3: ave
Language.glotto: aves1237
Language.glottorefname: Avestan
Language.lingua: 58-ABA-a
Language.image: Bodleian J2 fol 175 Y 28 1.jpg
Language.imagecaption: Yasna 28.1, Ahunavaiti Gatha (Bodleian MS J2)
Language.notice: IPA

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Wikidata facts

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Commons category: Avestan language
number of speakers, writers, or signers: 0
exact match: publications.europa.eu/resource/authority/language/AVE
P11012: Love Mode
P13311: Bidens cernua

Sources (7)

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Article

22 sections

Contents

Name
Classification
History
Avestan as a native language
Geographical distribution
Avestan as a liturgical language
Alphabet
Phonology
Consonants
Vowels
Grammar
Nouns
Verbs
Sample text
Example phrases
See also
References
Explanatory notes
Citations
General sources
Further reading
External links

After Avestan became extinct, its religious texts were transmitted orally, then collected and put into writing during the Sasanian period ( CE). The extant material falls into two groups: Old Avestan ( BCE) and Younger Avestan ( BCE). The immediate ancestor of Old Avestan was the Proto-Iranian language, a sister language to the Proto-Indo-Aryan language, with both having developed from the earlier Proto-Indo-Iranian language. As such, Old Avestan is quite close in both grammar and lexicon to Vedic Sanskrit, the oldest preserved Indo-Aryan language.