Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
PlRART
AI
BEI =
Benveniste, Inf
BSL =
Bulletin de la
= J.
RV = W.
Donigei O'Flaherty,
Veda,
An Anthology, London
K. F. GeJdner, Avesta, (he Sacred Books of the Parsis, 3 vol-, Stuttgart, 1886-96,
= H. Grassmajia, WOrterbuch zum Rig-Veda, Wiesbaden, 1976 (1873).
Haudry, ECV = S. Haudry, L'emploi des cos en vidique. Introduction a I'itude des cos en
Grassmann
Kellens,
Kellens,
VA
JamaspAsa,
J.
1982.
abasylh.
No other
J.
Kellens, Zoroastre et
I'Avesta
TVA =
J.
Kellens
&
3 vol., Wiesbaden,
1988-90-91.
KZ =
Mayrhofer,
EWA
= M.
HS]
Heidelberg, 1986-1992.
Mayrhofer,
EWA
II **
M.
II,
Band,
Heidelberg, 1956-63-76-80.
dans
Minard,
les
la
Prose
Cent
ttudes
sur
le
Recherches
sur
le
Vidique.
Chemins.
singular might be a
Renou,
mythiques
SI I
HSV =
was made
17 vol., PICI-8*
1,
-ty*.
In the above-mentioned article (p. 101) Henning also drew attention to several active
verbs used in the same context as the passive imperfects, which, although formally coinciding
with presents, he proposed should actually be interpreted as imperfects.
In an article published in 1989 (pp. 333-54) I basically repeated Henning's arguments,
and as I, like Henning, was unable to demonstrate any formal distinction between such active
I
et pmntennes,
16, 17, 18, 20, 22, 23, 26, 27, 30, 1955-1969.
Renou,
way of spelling
Persian and Parthian the only imperfect forms were those of the verb "to be."
Heidelberg, 1992-..
Mayrhofer,
It has long been known that the Old Persian imperfect survived into Middle Persian.
B. Henning showed in his pioneering and fundamental article on the Middle Iranian
languages written in 1956 and published in 1958 (p. 102) that the inscriptions of the high
priest Kercfir, dating from about 270 CE, contain the form 'kyfydy /akfrfyP, the direct
descendant of Old Persian akariya "was made." He also showed (ibid.) that three forms
without augment but used parallel with akirfy must also be imperfects: gugdnth, witfcbih, and
W.
Harmondsworth, 1981.
Geldner
0. Introduction"
Paris, 1892-93.
Past tenses
in the
Sasanian inscriptions
In my 1989 article I endeavored to show that the distribution of the passive imperfects
and the active forms used parallel with them is different from that of the preterite (or "simple
Wackemagel-Debrunner-Reriou,
AIG =
Band
11,1: J.
J.
Albert Debrunner, Nachtrage (1957). Bandll.2: Albert Debmntier, Die Nominalsuffixe (1954).
Band III: Jakob Wackernagel, Nominalflexion - Zahlwort - Pronomen (1930).
Whitney,
1.
The
2.
3. First published
p.
by Tavoosi-Frye, 1989;
short
i, cf,
kfyty
this article
104.
see Skjswva, 1992,
161
160
ON THE MIDDLE
P.O. SKJ-CRV0
preterite" or "simple past tense," as
it),
347-48)
how he rose
to
of which he describes
of the type
showed that
power under
subordinate clauses;
more
udfram¥
The remaining Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions, including the newly found
of this
Middle Persian inscription of Abnun and the Parthian Heracles inscription (see end
think
and
now
extent,
I
some
inscriptions
to
Kerdlr's
gained
from
picture
article), fill out the
that the use
"and
coming'), then
Abnun
referred to
abuhr.
following:
0$MEn
l*asnawent,
cf.
cf.
framad ks kard
en ddurgdh Abnun
"(As for) this fire altar, Abnun ordered (somebody)
pas ku dSnawSn (0$MEn) ka Hrtmay rastd hind ud
.
ptfwjyhyn f*padwehnt
',
cf.
The heterograms
in
Old Persian
1st
and
believe
it is
with
^
u-s
in ~'n found in
The
forms are,
in
my
MacKenzie (1993) reads YHWWNm with
word. Only the letters y h are clear.
5.
4. Cf.
is
,H
Preterite
plm'dyn l*framay&nl,
YIYBWN'n
..."
The
ordered"
anteriority >
subordinate clauses
the imperfect and/or narrative present is used in main and
place in the
(especially temporal clauses) to describe a sequence of events that took
clauses to express
past, while the "simple preterite" is used in main and subordinate
with
that is, an action viewed as completed with respect to the present or
2.
PERSIAN IMPERFECT
6.
the preceding y,
which
163
162
that
Abnun was
the one
ud
cosm-, lines 283-294 pas awSSdn dewdn ud pangdn xefman mazanan
*dsar$tdrdn f mayag andnd depdy ud tasbSy ... harw Uazaht az doSox abus
who had
is
Sdb,
An example of the
may be
andnd, udpas
another inscription
KNRm/KSM
ranfud
awam
Persian imperfect
On the Middle
P.O. SKLERV0
dJiyOrt
Auxiliary
pertaining to the beyond to the side of the departed than other persons."
6,
Sdb. cosm.
"to
be"
in
had donned
lines
mixed with
...";
below.
"And of that
The imperfect of
3,
tg
light
...
fruits
Manichean Middle Persian and Parthian no passive imperfect forms have survived.
Instead these languages have preserved the imperfect of the verb "to be": Middle Persian 3rd
singular andd, 3rd plural andnd, and Parthian 3rd singular ahdz.*
The use of these imperfect forms in Manichean Middle Persian and Parthian is
illustrated by the following examples:
"And
In
MM
that
ii,
p. 33 [324] n.
filled
"And
...
(created)
*masters(?),"
a mind
...
u-S az nas Tg
dewdn ud az rem
druxsdn kird
been angered ... and from the impurity of the demons and from the filth of the
she-demons she had made this corpse ..."
S 9 a31-b2 {pas] Ohrmezd f [xwadayj abaxsdyld-uS [abar] gydndn ud pad [dis i7]
mard&kman d-tist anadfrM 6 zamtg ...
"Then the Lord Ohrmezd pitied the souls, and in [the shape?] of mankind he had come
Az had
Copula
S&h. eschai. t lines 540-541* kg azfradam abdg *Ohrmezd ud yazddn drTst anad
"which from the first was right with Ohrmezd and the gods" (after MacKenzie).
lines 513-516 harwispdn wazurg $ddth bud u-$ harw pedis ga$ andnd
"For all there was great joy and they were all proud of it.
BT 4, lines 755-762 ud ke *xezendag ud drtst andnd u-fdn az e~r passazag bud boston
BT4,
down upon
hdn-ispad bann
"And
those
taxt
who were
it
was
ne-iz
befitting to
wiziSttha padtrifi
7.
KNRm
Here
164
p.
8.
On
9.
anad
"Quickly he revealed that the Lord Ohrmezd (had) not made this fleshy corpse and had
not himself bound the soul (in it); his wise, fortunate, soul had obtained resurrection,
bind below, those he drove into prison and and bound inside the earth,"
1983 [1985],
10- In
the
a paper read at the Manichean conference in Rende-Cosenza Summer 1993 Peter Zieme showed that
this word is "chief " The word may therefore have to be analyzed as d-sar-lsrar
'standing at the head," with the same "ending" -iitar as in artHi&t 'soldier"
cf.
<
165
ON THE MIDDLE
P.O. Skier V0
(had) believed in the knowledge of Ohrmezd, the good lord; every
seal of virtue he had zealously accepted."
commandment and
command and
BT 4,
lines
"When
it
it,
all
nlt
There is another heterogram for "to be," however,
meaning of which is clearly "to be.
why
namely Middle Persian HWE, and it has so far not been possible to explain plausibly
As, however, the
there should be two different sets of heterograms for this particular verb.
Middle Persian and
verb "to be* is the only verb known to use different heterogiams in both
seem logical
Parthian to denote different stems of the copula-see the table below-, it would
that
Middle Persian
HWE = h- "am,
HWENd
AYTY =
Copula
(?)
12
We shall see
BZ* 11, lines 83-84 mird e"w ahaz *ud haft puhr bad
"There was a man, and he had three sons."
BT\\> lines 1581-83 bid Sdbuhr fahan SSh brad bud MeSun xwaday ud MihrSdh nam
ahaz "Further, Sabuhr, Icing of kings, had a brother, the Lord of Mesun, and his name
was Mihrsah."
1589-90 parwan MihrSdh Sud kipad bOSistdn pad bazm ahaz pad wazurg
Parthian
HWY(E)-
etc."
HWYN
"they are"
LOYTY = Mst
lines
different stems
were assembled.
BT 11,
PERSIAN IMPERFECT
"(there)
is
not'
ah-
(a?)hend
AYTY = ast
(LA AYTY =
ne
ast)
As we shall see in a moment, all the contexts in which HWYTN- and Parthian HWEwith that oiandd,
are used are clearly in the past, and the use of the forms agrees completely
that
very
strongly
always
felt
therefore
I
student
days
my
etc., quoted above. From
ought to correspond to andd. The principal obstacle to interpreting all these forms as
HWYTN
"He went
Auxiliary
the Middle Persian and Parthian inscriptions and the Pahlavi Psalter (exhaustive
Manichean
(after
Boyce).
4.
Persian or Parthian, form the present or past perfect (not, however, narrative pluperfects
process,
past preterites), that is, intransitive forms denoting a state resulting from an action or
the present perfect in
the well-known function of such forms, cf. the following examples of
Parthian
HWE
and
select
KZ
HWYTN,
list)
texts:
nibist
and in
Humbach-Skjs&rver 19&3>
pi. 3.2,
the following)
"And
(it) is
KKZ
HWYTN =
in
HWEnd,
is
regularly only
-tP.
167
P.O.
On the Middle
SKLERV0
KNRb 24-25
ir
II
probably
is
written above
lines 194-197
"which are
ud hdn-iz
"...
MM
this
many
places in
..."
kings,
MM
where
in
we would
this
wimext i&tam
As we
is
Book Pahlavi,
HWYTN-. The form HWYTNn is used
inscriptions of Kerdir (KKZ, KNRm, KSM):
HWYTNn"
*was obedient and well disposed toward the gods and Ardaser, king of
14
and Sabuhr, king of kings."
was made
to stand before
me, as (when)
it is
adorned
in
regal
and
in the
Manichean
The only
is
form
HWYTNt
-/,
me absolute
and authoritative
..."
HWYTNt
fashion of
no examples of the
possible exception
HWYTNt
13.
same sentence we
u-m pad an spas t-mpad yazdan ud Ardaxsahr sOhdn Sdh ud Sabuhr Sahdn sah
(var. HWYTN) On-tin kung(d) (OBYDWN) Sdbuhr ...
"And for that service which I had done toward the gods and Ardaser, etc., Sabuhr,
kerd
is
..
it
expect him to say, namely that he was or had been obedient to these former kings.
KKZ
g, line 91
who
ambiguous, as
used as an auxiliary:
is
with the gods and the kings Ardaser and Sabuhr, saying, with the traditional interpretation of
"I Kerdir, may I be (or: I shall be) obedient and well disposed toward the gods and
Ardaser, king of kings, and Sabuhr, king of kings." It is, however, somewhat strange for
state of mixture.
text
iii,
pronoun -m
No doubt this
HWYTNn,
In the
iii,
am
enclitic
Here the meaning "I shall be" (MacKenzie: "shall (continue to) be") is not impossible,
bit awkward. At the beginning of the inscription Kerdir describes his relationship
liSted]
"I
had
Kerdtr to promise to be obedient to Ardaser and Sabuhr, who were both long dead at this
time. Now that -n has been shown to be the ending of the 1st singular imperfect we see that
the meaning "I was" or "I have been" fits the context perfectly. Clearly Kerd& is saying what
in Parthian
MM
"I, Kerdir,
is
isted
although a
&KZ
huparistd ud hukdmag
since the quality and essence of the soul has been revealed in
book
KKZ
arranged."
ii, p. 9 [300] amext ud passaxt [ud] bast isted
is mixed and fitted into and bound" (of the soul in the body).
ii,
p. 8 [299] ud ka ie'Onth ud gohr f gyCn andar en nibeg pad was gydg
"And
my name was
paydagerdd
is,
A different explanation
..."
MM
of(?)
n&mag
3 Sd
S&b. cosm.
"...
...
...
written ..."
h. 'atom).
Ps
Persian Imperfect
the following:
KSM
has only
HWYTN,
be righteous";
v^uch
is
cf-
b.
KNRm/KSM
KNRm/KSM
(HWEn)
be righteous!'
"if
am
may
169
P.O. SKJ/ERV0
statement just quoted. If
"And
we
interpret
HWYTNt
as imperfect, however,
we
king of kings,
Parthian
etc.
following:
treatment of
The development of Old Persian Sham is uncertain, depending upon the
Parallels from other
uncovered) -m. The form must first have resulted in *0m.
rem > French Hen.
languages suggest that this may have become *an directly, cf. Latin
derive
the Middle Persian
assumption,
an
such
Within Middle Persian one could, by
11
Whether this *&n
pronoun en "this" directly from Old Persian ayam.
final (originally
NPi 2 Mid. Pers. [amdh?] Amman SQh HWYTNm ud Armin pahr[ist hem] (or:
pahrfezom] "[We, i.e. the king] were king of Armenia. And We were staying in
Armenia [when ...]" (or: "We stayed in Armenia [until ...]").
NPi 4/4 Mid, Pers. ud part ud paftlfaw ... Asttrestjan pad pahrag HfWJYTN an
,
anfaman kunind
hanfaman karind
"And the Persians and the Parthians [and whoever else] was [Parthian: were] at the
border of Asuristan, they made an assembly ..."
NPi 7/6 Mid. Pers. ke-nxdnfag) bandag mahist udpahlom ud tomtgtom HWYTNt
/.
.]
Parth. ke-n
"...
AsUristOn
t&m]rgistar
/".,.
whoever was
illustrious subject
. .
.)
HWEni
were] the greatest and most outstanding and most
[Parthian:
of Our house
18
The
The
Middle Persian
Parthian
>
*dn -* *Onan1
*a *aS -> *ak-0S
>
*&d-*an~ad
*&d
*0n
Old Persian
dharn
Sohd >
*ahatd
Plural
>
3 aha"
dka"ta
Auxiliary
HWE
Parth. [...] kl
"...
yazaddn nisaxt
he shall/should be king
p.
428; 1991,
below:
*0n-dnP.
dn-dnd
*and-+ an-dnd
*an
ah&z
*dnd
-*
*ah-dnd
may compare
the development
>
-urn in
aSaum
yum
"o youth,
1986,
the
HWEd
whom
I think there can be little doubt that these heteiograms correspond to the Manichean
forms discussed above. Thus HWYTNIHWYTNt = an&d and Parthian HWE/HWEd - ahdz.
I have explained elsewhere how I think the Middle Persian and the Parthian forms are
descended from Old Iranian. 1 * My original explanation may now have to be slighdy modified
in the light of the new evidence for the 1st singular imperfect.
15. Skjserve,
>
Receody
andnd
*dm
*tfW(?)?
..."
NPi 19-20/17-18
On
Singular
1
had been
is
that, as far as
have been
3rd singular ah&z see below.
The suggested developments are
able to verify,
HWYTNt
the border people and the mountain dwellers and the other districts that
*proven before
coincided,
..."
"And
demonstrative
Copula
Parth.
imperfect
De Blois also
criticizes, rightly,
my
It
was
a regrettable lapsus.
171
170
by
we
damtnt, which is obviously from *dan with the addition of the regular 3rd plural ending. 20
2)
The
&
of the 3rd singular *d and *dd to dn-Gd (with subsequent shortening of the initial
> a-)
have several parallels:
For the analogical transformation note the following example. The Indo-Iranian 3rd
singular imperfect of "to be" was *&$-?, which lost its final -t in both Indian and Iranian and
was preserved in Avestan as as or as but was changed in Indian to asti. In Old Persian, where
final
m and
i"
were
Gha according
(3rd sing.)
For the
JI
lost
and
final
all,
*X =
Gha (3rd
plur.)
Gha?2
of the 3rd plural to provide the basis for the reshaping of other forms,
ability
note the following examples. In Middle Persian the entire present paradigm of "to
be.,"
with
of the 3rd singular indicative, was rebuilt on the model of the 3rd plural: h-and
h-am, etc. In Spanish the 2nd plural was remodeled after the 1st and 3rd plural (somas,
son =* sois) in Italian also the 2nd singular and plural (set, siete). In Gothic the 3rd plural
provided the model for the 1st and 2nd plural: si-nd** sijum, sijuts. Note also Modern Persian
hypothesis
is
problematic, however.
etc.,
and Manichean Parthian ast ah$nd "there are," which was formed by
where
is the normal form of the 3rd singular
in Latin
are, etc."
finally, the
Parthian ahaz
zf
Y. 19.10
AhurG Mazda". Only one (?) example is found in the Avesta of "to be" + ZF
of zr(Vedic hi) is clearly
auuauuat uxSata ya$a .-.., with th&pres&a tense asti. The function
asti
information. Gershevitch s
connect a statement to a previous statement as explanatory
therefore not represent a
does
a
tale,
of
sentence
*dnha if hone*, that is, the introductory
this expression in Manichean Parthian
typical use of zf. As a matter of fact, the actual form of
examples
below), not *ahdz mird &v*, and there are no
is mird sw ahdz (for an example see
if we imagine an
however,
saved,
be
can
hypothesis
of sentence-initial ahdz. Gershevitch's
and asides ("for this young man was
*Gha zi used in tales and parables in explanatory remarks
24
The problem remains that the particle zi does not seem to
to
really a prince,"
have survived
5.
in
and similar).
any form anywhere else
-<J
in
Middle
Iranian.
25
The
heterograms,
done
er.
&e
the exception
later
its
3 The
when
first place in Old Iranian and only
sentence, but the finite verb rarely occupies the
Avestan mraot
DGrayavauI,
tGtiy
OPers.
as
in
diction),
topicalized (emphatic or solemn
in
=>
Persian Imperfect
On the Middle
P.O. SKJ/ERV0
sake of clarity.
find forms withine
Beside the forms with the phonetic complements -t or zero we also
functions, namely, imperfect
same
the
exactly
and
in
however,
-d,
phonetic complement
later for the
The Parthian form ahaz (and the similar Sogdian form axaz) is more difficult to
explain. The "normal" development of Old Iranian *-dt is seen in the 3rd singular subjunctive.
In the Parthian inscriptions this form
spelling
HWEd
in the inscriptions,
in
Manichean Parthian > -G or -ah (on Manichean Parthian ahdd see below), The expected
form of the 3rd singular imperfect in Manichean Parthian is thus *a, which was avoided for
the same reason as the Middle Persian form.
L
ax&z,
is
active-
placed,
founded" and
mWWN-0/t. Henning
(1958,
p.
yw
express past
101 bottom) mentioned that Oie forms in -d
Qershevitch (1975, pp. 201-202) proposed that the final -z of Parthian ahdz, Sogdian
the remnant of the particle zi, Avestan zf, reconstructing an ingenious
story-introducing *-6$ha
24 Expressed
Middle Persian by
in
in Parthian
by
fiS
or az d rAS
&.
the
discussion.
21.
me
for examples),
27.
The
preterite
of
complement for
YTWWN-
'to
found"
Ihfc
is
nfrry and of
in *nd.
nYBWN-
"to sit
173
172
On the Middle
P.O. SKJ/ERV0
the conventions of Middle Persian orthography a phonetic
By
-d
complement ~d ought
*-yd!*-ydy like
-t
to
-yt
is written in
in the inscriptions, this ending is used for the 2nd singular ending -5 in the hetCrogram
NTLWNydy
fpaye~J,
with which
we can compare
HWEd fhil,
3rd singular
its
-e~,
descendants
In view of the recent discoveries, however, we cau look at the use of the phonetic
complement -d in the 3rd singular in a different light. In order to do so let us first review the
relevant Old Persian and Young Avestan functions and forms, as well as the postulated
developments of these forms into early Middle Persian and Parthian.
In
is
is
optatives
The
old aorist
is
present in
positive
Passive function was expressed using either a special passive stem formed with the
morpheme -iya- (Avestan -iia-) or the middle forms of transitive verbs, for instance,
Old Persian kariya- "to be done, made" but vainataiy "is seen." Transitive verbs which
formed passive stems could take either active or middle endings in their active function, for
passive
did,
express
following
(thematic a- and
aya&t&ms)
Old Iranian
Middle Persian
Parthian
* fayJot
*-0*e
Opt-3-singactive
*-(ay)aH*-(ay)ai$
*-s
*-a$,*-eS
*-&
*-(ay)atd*
-ad*-&
*-ad*-ed
Opt.3. sing-middle
*-(ay)ait&
*-td
*-2d
-fya
*-0(?)", *-fy
We
probably, the
see that in Middle Persian the 3rd singular imperfect active and,
which incorporates the above-mentioned functions of the imperative, injunctive,
"hortative,"
33
would both have alternating endings -l and -id (and zero), while the 3rd
and optative,
middle). The phonetic
singular imperfect passive would end in -ty or -Sd (from the
faithfully:
endings
these
reflect
apparently
complements
Middle Persian
Parthian
There
to
is
Passive
instance,
the imperative
remnants only, and its function is identical with that of the imperfect.
In Young Avestan the standard narrative past tense is the injunctive, that is, the same
form as in Old Persian, but without the augment. Augmented imperfects and augmented
28
The Old
i-yty.
Persian Imperfect
ending
phonetic spelling
heterograms
*-?
*-ydy
-d
*-ty
*-ydy
-d
*-ed
-y
-t
*-es
-yd,
*-ed
-yt,
is at least
-ywd
-ywt
one example of -d
-d
-t
fit this
description:
318.
29. Kent, 1953, p. 90; Lazard, 1976, pp. 186-87; Kelleos, 1984, p.
244.
30. Kent, 1953, p- 90; Lazard, 1976, p. 1S7; KeUe&s, 1984, p.
300.
31. Kent, 1953, p. 89; Lazard, 1976, p. 190; Keltecs, 1984, p.
made.*
We
II,
175
174
P.O.
On the Middle
SKW6RV0
Inj./jmperf.
man bud
"So that he who
Inj./imperf.
KZ
tiydn
The sentence
YHWWNd
may be
Us may be
of better service
and
better will
toward
in the
same
Parth. 29-30 awds w$r$n amah abar yazddn Tr ud kirdagdn tuxgdm (twhsywm)
ud yazddn dastkerd him (HWYm) ud pad yazddn aSydwartf im dwend fahr wxdst ud
derd nam ud niwtfkerd haw-iz ke pal amah bawdS (YHYE) udfarrox ahOd (HWYf)
haw-iz abar yazddn rr ud kerdagdn tuxfoS (twhsywd) ku yazd aSydwar bawand
(YHYEnt) ud dastkerd kardnd (OBDWnt)
We
the gods
course.
become
his helpers
complement -t and that the 3rd singular optative of "to be," hi?*
is spelled without any phonetic complement (HWE) provides some support for interpreting
them as not having the ending -id (-ad), but i.
In Parthian -d is also used in the 2nd plural beside -r. The forms in -r are clearly from
the secondary ending *-(ay)ata > *-ad, *-M. We also find 2nd plural YHWEd beside
prmywt. iS It is barely conceivable that this -d reflects the middle ending -aduam, especially
since bow- is not a middle verb. Instead one may want to consider the possibility that the
spelled with the phonetic
now tabulate
the Old Iranian forms of the 1st singular imperfect and preterital
34.
At
this stage
may be archaisms
am
*-i(n1)
>
>
*-0, *-i
sing,
*?
see, the 1st singular of the Old Persian imperfect and/or preterital optative
would develop very much like the 3d singular and result in zero or -e. For understandable
reasons it was remade by the addition of a final consonant If Old Persian dham had become
*dn, as suggested above, then the final -n can be explained as analogy with this form.
On
1st singular
pronoun an "I,"
y/ry.
<
is
-ydy
is
cf.
viyakanam
cf.
abiya-lab^dvayam
we note that
morpheme
morpheme
-yh- found
is like
the passive
Pahlavi Psalter
"it is
"let
him
bawZndS
Middle Persian
in
Parth. heb
(cf.
morphemes
36
two endings
m-aya, such
>
cf.
made known"
Avestan
(see below).
kiriieti.
would form
was preserved into the Islamic period, the 1st singular also ends in -*>.
Manichean T4, p. 32 lines 504-9 pd 'fyaj cy wy$wbyh['d) What will be destroyed through
the imperfect
29).
35.
176
*-0, *-i(n1)
>
middle *-{ay)ai
*-(ay)aya
sing, middle
The
be"
>
their) *creature.
We can
*-{ay)am
*--(ay)ayam
Otherwise, the choice of -n instead of -m as in the present indicative, may have been
supported on one hand by the 1st singular subjunctive ending -On (also a non-indicative) and,
position:
SKZ
"Now,
sing, active
active
As we
a subjunctive
1. sing,
Opt. 1.
is
Opt,
Persian Imperfect
19S3,
pt.
3.1, p. 69.
37. Cf.
this?"
On the Middle
P.O. SKLERV0
1) The passive morpheme -ydy of 'ktydy (akirty) is from Old Persian -iya> which after
n
a light syllable apparently became *-fya and was contracted to -t(y). A parallel for this
development is famished by Old Persian aniya". presumably *dnia- > dniya- > *<miya~ >
Middle Persian ani, spelled 'rty in Manichean Middle Persian and frequently ZfCy, i.e.,
*anf 9 (with ~'y < -ydy as in the 2nd singular verbal ending -'y < -ydy)* The same
development is seen in the descendants of Old Persian words in -ahgya-, e.g., why Iwahli
"better" (Manichean) beside wyh Iwehf < *vahayah-, dahfbed "ruler of the country" beside
tl
deh "country" < dahayau-, mahf "greater" beside meh. Note also Manichean dwdy fdudli
"secondly, again"
In addition,
Avestan
jiia-
>
*sidja-
<
<
duviziyam.
*sty-, skadta-
>
8.
assume
possible to
it
<
that
^sidia-*
in
Middle Persian
cited.
Vjf. Stems in
makes
represents *si$ia~
in I
d must have
-fy-, cf.
<
From
*nisida-.
ail
these
forms a passive morpheme -ty- was abstracted, written -ydy- according to the
orthographic rules of Middle Persian (cf. zyd'ny /ziyanf, Avestan ziidni-), whence the Psalter
various
bom,
>
>
aniya
<
anf,
it
merd? mard,
Book
< xSaya&iya,
cf.
<
(them) ..."
abtjdvaya.
may
The passive
no longer clear
BT 4, lines
well have
function
to us the suffix
morpheme
BT
-th-
*mi-v>ia~
>
4, line 2004-2006
make
Hoffmann, 1975,
II, p.
637
>
-Ika-
(> Mid.
became
p. 25).
reading of Man. 'ny as ant (and of hrw as fta/rz) was suggested by Baitholomae (1906, pp. 62-63,
Hoffmann, 1975, II, p. 637 n. 26). The reading as any (e.g., MacKenzie, 1971} gives an unusual final
consonant cluster (not so, however, in the case of harH/harw, cf- SOrw "cypress'?)- The Book Pahlavi spelling
The
cf.
(or only
in G1P I, p, 294)
homonymous with on
ZK: C. Salemann,
OPers. and
instr.-abl.,
cumulative *fuiw/hd
demonstrative companions In
(<
"I*
<
*on
(?)
>
178
a long
<
ZK was
...
and raise
be bom, were
all
extremely
living calls
...
and
light
...
'ystyh- "to
be made
a mere doublet of
andar istendd;
who
"Praised leader,
Kaw,
text g, line
is
80 [ni
...
rOsMn
djsmdn isShend
its
near
42. Cf. NybeTg, 1974, pp- 24, 282). Nyberg, however, assumes a general development of intervocalic
giiffy)
<
Av.
'yst-
vowel like
(<
*an
>
stand"
""
haft istOn
<
...
bora?) again."
r
Sdb. corn.
ZK'y
who by
"And by means of
ystyn- "to
39.
...
sddth
"to stand.
113,
bud
"Those powers, who
of
etc. (cf,
t&-iz
happy."
marfka-
u-Sdn parwarS
"Thus you,
ending altogether.
thus have developed into early Middle Persian *abffdw, a form that
Manichean
as opposed to
An Old
lost their
may
$tih
Pahlavi
Middle Persian
passives in -yd-.
xwBbas
Persian imperfect
gae~$iia- as *gytydy
y >
h in Book Pahlavi.
43- Nyberg. 1974, p. 282.
later
date and
may
in part
44. Cf.
Homing, 1943,
p.
61 n- 13.
179
On the Middle
P.O. SKLERV0
in the skies"
(Heuning, 1943,
p.
"He
61)
reflects:
When
will
it
be
Persian Imperfect
be healed, so that he
will
be healthy and
BT 4,
lines
>
<
frightened (away)."
lines
lines
rt
"What time
BT 4,
BT 4,
wizend kunind
"The angels frighten 4 * the demons (away): wherever they come they cause damage
46
to trees and (Jiving) creatures."
garden of mine?*
MM
iii,
who
"But know that there will never be [rather than: there has never been] anyone
the house (of the teacher) (fully) educated; instead he learns (something
comes from
Note also Manichean Middle Persian ddnfh-:
MM u,
make known"
make known/'
9.
where
lines
irfft wdwartjt
ud
deeds."
[ne~?]-ii imtn panf *tr&n kaSdi andar im zddmurd winddd kargnd,
-ag ahad, ud imtn [arddwTJtfi padytnvdh ...
"[Nor] will tbey ever be able to find these five things in this (cycle of) birth (and)
.*
death, but he who may be fortunate and ... and accepts these *righteous ones
BT
in
1 1 ,
Parthian
me. 47
= future
in
W. Sundermann
bynynd as
Sundenaana, byyh-
translates
"fesseln*; the
p. 120.
A different
word is byn(*berm- "to bind" < *boiulaya~) in Kaw, text e, lines 116-117 Cdn ahungar [kB wxadj bennsd ud wxad widh&
"like a blacksmith [who] binds and loosens' (Hearting, 1943, p. 62); Sundennann, 1979, pp. 777-87 u-IMihryazd
benndd pad hQn bann tg hfisttgdn "thea Mihryazd will bind him in a strong prison.
47. On the uses of the subjunctive in Middle Persian and Parthian see Bmnner, 1977, pp. 201-05.
46. Alternately, with
180
'to be chased
andar
fast
Bema,
lines
victory (etc.)
have committed!"
iii, text b lines 44-45 ast *iamdn [kad
MM
...]
ahad
..."
...)
pawdg ahad
k[...J
me
the sin I
"There
is
may
a time
will be pure."
in
is
the
following:
BT 11,
"I
45.
may be sown
whom
main clauses
lines
"(Those) in
BT 4,
...
Sermon, paragraph 54
[when?
Subjunctive
lines 1754-6
beikifarrox ud
281-6 kspad wisp sahr man. udpddgOs ast ahind kepad bay rdSn zdwar
ahad pad kirbag kirdagdn afiydd bawind
"... who are (to be found) in every land, marsh, and province, who(ever) may hare
pious
faith in the power and wisdom of the light god, (they) are commemorated for
BBB,
lines
know
we may compare
example (introduction to
a letter)
181
SKUERV0
P.O.
BBB,
On the Middle
karw
Sn mizdagrdzr az man padirift had ud
kirdagan t-m-i$ nilist hunsand bad had
lines 13-18
in afrdh ud idrbag
everyone who may have received {= receives) this gospel from me and may
in these doctrines and pious works which I taught him ..."
"...
become contented
Here
BT 1 1
is
to
in
a main clause,
On
[invenerit] salavation."
know
to
SKZ
in
-i
l-dl
in -d,
of the subjunctive of "to be" as
>
*<2t
>
NPi 3-4/3
Mid. Pers.
[...]
(OBYDWNn)
Parth.
ud
aSysn
...
"And
then
...
dastkerd kardn
(OBDWn) u-m
[...] CstTgOn
OsftTgOn...]
kerd
ahM
want kundn
(OBDt HWYt
[...]
shall
make
...
HWE
Parth.
(will)
have made
...
(my) DroDertv
*^ "
HWYt
MacKenzie
orthographically
HHSNtn) udfram&dan
may be Lord of?] the Realm and (its various) districts [who] will be able
keep and govern the realm."
NPi 39/36 Parth. [...Jhdkgpadyazddn rasi-fkerdagdn ... huJnarGwand ahad {HWYt)
"he who will perform the most correct services for the gods and
be virtuous."
"so that [he
seems
to
of Abnun-
inscription
I
would
is
like to
"both
make
grammatically
and
inscription
Only
in
by courtly scribes. Abnun used scribes accustomed to slightly different scribal conventions,
as we see from the use of AP for W. It should be kept in mind that most of the words in
Abnun 's inscription are found in the other inscriptions with the same spelling.
The fact that the inscription has no archaizing spellings, such as g'sy for g'hy (as I
noted in my article), does not necessarily mean that it contains no archaic forms. As a matter
of fact the inscription does contain the spelling prmtr (= Aramaic and Parthian spelling of this
word), which
and
we do
is
not
know how
the
word was
MacKenzie reads pbn'd(t) "he would say" for pim'dyn but comments "The verb looks
Wat pim'dyn." 51
10: MacKenzie trans literates 0MEN(!) for 0$MEn. It is true that the Paikub inscriptions
contains the form oSTENd, indicating a heterogram 0$TEN- } but the inscription of
3:
Sabuhr
at Persepolis has
NPi 39/37 Parth. ant-uSn ked hamyOnag n bud [kS ...] yazddn *pargasad
ahad
(HWYt) "nobody else has been similar to you [whom] the god may have favored ..."
HWYt
inscription
The
1.
(?
to
The form
...
irreproachable.
1,
Mr
as well;
HWE from
10.
the other
way
it
I have expressed my ideas about the origin of the Middle Persian and Parthian verbal
heterograms elsewhere. The above interpretation of Middle Persian HWYTN and Parthian
HWE as imperfects are in perfect agreement with the derivation of Middle Persian HWYTN
be used
Persian Imperfect
"ANE must
(u-s ntin
andar im
. .
53
NPi 42/39
The author kindly sent me a copy of the manuscript of this article. [MacKenzie 1993, p. 106J.
51. Livshits-Nikitin, 1991, p. 41, read pim'dyn, transcribe fram&yHn, and apparenUy translate '"carrying the
50.
orders.
52.
It is
IfWENd (cf.
rIarper-Skj*rV0 forthcoming),.
pt. 3,1, p.
HWEnd,
propo$ed a reading
OSTENd
Parthian
183
SKLERV0
P.O.
I.
On the Middle
13:
marked 3rd pi. verb. " Needless to say, there is no evidence in die inscriptions
that the
choice of the form of the noun with the "plural marker" was dictated
by the lack of
a "plural marker" on the verb.
1.
14;
MacKenzie's
17:
MacKenzie
interpretation
written
interprets
YHEWNst
oiADYNn
108) dismisses
my
reding
YHMTWN m
question
11.
is
The Parthian
inscription
on
12 as "impossible",
a matter of fact, the letter
I.
AHR
(fig. 8-a)
and quite
-Wand
mtrdr
final
-r:
54
tyry
bgny
HQAYMW
I.
in -t, that
*nitoniaiiaiy.
f-dSn/y cf.
184
By the orthographic
+ ddn
do we find
this
however,
it
of *pni
in the
this
Old Iranian
PaihUi inscription
<
*pant6h).
only
BSOAS 56/2,
New
with Notes
(Acta
York, 1977.
Gershevitch,
"Sogdians on a Frogplain,"
in
Melanges linguistiques
offerts
a Ernie
Mage
Kirdlr. Textes et
P. O. Harper and P. O. Skjasrve, "The Earliest Datable Inscription on a Sasanian Bowl: Two
Silver Bowls in the J- Paul Getty Museum", Bulletin of the Asia Institute 7, 1993
[1994], pp. 181-192.
W.
MacKenzie
is
Old Persian
...
W.
rukdn/nigSn 'treasure'
all
one form
SPAW,
1954.
clearly that the forms in ~W, that is, forms from the present stem
and
presumably imperfects, are used for the sequential narrative, while the
II,
Back, Die sassanidischen Staatsinschrifien (Acta Iranica 18), Tehran and Liege, 1978.
C. Bartholomae, Zum Altiranischen Worterbuch, Strassburg, 1906.
BBB, see Henning, 1936.
C. Beck, Mitteliranische manicMsche Montags- und Bemahymnen. Edition und Kommeniar,
BT
Here we see
AU
SPAW, phil.-hist.
55.
pp 294-363; HI,
M,
Bema,
"He drove
Ph.D.
the Heracles statue
Several articles have already been devoted to this inscription, most recently by
LipinsM
(1993), and I would only like to draw attention the the distribution of the heteroprams with
final
SPAW,
846-912.
The
itself
as infinitive *ni$astan.
in other inscriptions,
[MacKenzie (1993),
participle), is
Bibliography
YTYBWNn
Persian Imperfect
B. Henning, "Das Verbum des Mittelpersischen der Turfantexte, " Zeuschrift fur Indologie
und Iranistik 9, 1933, pp. 158-253 (repr, in Selected Papers I, Acta Iranica 14, 1977).
B. Henning, Bin manichaisches Bet- und Belchtbuch
(repr. in Selected
W.
B. Henning,
Papers
II,
Papers
I,
Acta Iranica
(AbhPAW,
phil.-hist. Kl.),
1936
14, 1977).
The Book of the Giants," BSOAS 11/1, 1943, pp. 52-74 (repr. in Selected
Acta Iranica 15, 1977, pp. 115-37).
tt
For -dn
185
P.O. SKJ-CRV0
W,
B, Henning, "Mitteliranisch," in
Bandbuch der
3. 1,
1.
Abschn.
Restored Text
Wiesbaden, 1974,
H, $. Nyberg, A Manual of Pahlavi. Pan II: Glossary,
L. R. Palmer, The Latin Language, Faber and Faber, London, 1961.
Psalter, see Andreas, 1933, ed. Barr.
S, see
Salemann, 1912.
Stib.
Kaw,
C. Salemann, "Mittelpersisch," in
C. Salemann, "Manichaica HI,"
Kellens,
KSM (the inscriptions of Kerdir at NaqS-e Pva/ab, NaqS-e Rostam, and Sar-e
Mashad), see Back, 1978, pp, 384-488; MacKenzie, 1989, Gignoux, 1991.
G. Lazard, "Notes de vieux-perse," BSLll, 1976, pp. 175-92.
G. Lazard, "Les modes de la virtualit en moyen-iranien occidental," in W. Skalmowski and
A. van Tongerloo, eds., Middle Iranian Studies. Proceedings of the International
KNRb, KNRm,
Symposium Organized by
Nikitin,
in. s.,
"Some Notes on
500-34.
11"
[glossary
and
plates],
BSOAS
43/2,
1980, pp.
288-310.
D.N. MacKenzie,
"HWYTN:
D.N. MacKenzie, in Iranische Denkmdler. Lieferung 13. Reihe II: hanische Felsreliefsl. The
Sasanian Rock Reliefs at Naqsh-i Rustam, Berlin, 1989, pp. 35-72.
D.N. MacKenzie, "The Fire Altar of Happy *Frayosh, Bulletin of the Asia Institute, n.s.,
ri
MM
iii,
NPi (The
inscription
of Narseh
at Paikuli), see
Humbach and
Skjaervo, 1983.
Bulletin
de
VAcademic
Imp&riale
des
Sciences de
333-54.
in R. E. Emmenck and
P.O. Skj<erv0, "Middle Persian andd, andnd, in Corolla Iranica,"
N. MacKenzie on the
D. Weber, eds., Corolla Iranica: Papers in honour of Prof. D.
etc., 1991, pp. 190-97.
Frankfurt,
April
8th,
1991,
on
birthday
his
65th
occasion of
Studia Iranica 21/2,
P.O. Skjarvtf, "L'inscription d'Abmin et l'imparfait en moveo-perse,"
1992, pp. 153-60.
SKZ
(the inscription of
Sabuhr/SapOr
M.
GIPIA,
Sprengling,
American Journal of
34M29.
M.
Ps
I (the inscription
and
492-94.
of Sabuhr/Sapur Sagan sah at Persepolis), see Back, 1978, pp.
495-97.
Back,
1978,
see
Persepolis),
pp.
Selok
at
of
inscription
Ps H (the
parabeltexte der
W. Sundermann, Minelpersische und parthische kosmogonische und
Manichder, Berliner Turfantexte 4, Berlin, 1973Five Sons of the Manichaean God Mithra,"
W. Sundermann, "The
W.
in
U. Bianchi, ed.,
1992.
W. Sundermann, Der Sermon vom Licht-Nous, Berliner Turfantexte 17, Berlin,
of Shapur
M. Tavoosi and R. N. Frye, "An Inscribed Capital Dating from the Time
Bulletin of the Asia Institute, n.s., 3, 1989, pp. 25-38.
Persian Inscriptions,
B. Utas, "Verbal Forms and Ideograms in the Middle
I",
Acta Orientalia
187
P.O.
SiORV0
g^:,
^^'^j-V
-J
'ft&.~7~i*&%*-~
A. plm'dyn (BAI
3, p.
32 Fig. 3)
B.
plm 1 t(&4/3,
p.
32 Fig, 2)
1.- When you read the Indian rules of logic worked out by Gautama and their
commentaries (the Nyfya-bhdfya of Paksilasvamin Vatsyayana and the NySya-vQntika of
Uddyotakara), or the ritual treatise (Bhdsya) on of Sahara, you are struck by the great number
of negations and the action they have on the uttering of the thought, The pages below are an
attempt to check how far these negative devices are already present in the Upanisads,.
Thirteen of these latter have been reviewed, namely the Brhaddranyaka- Chdndogya,
and Mahdnarfyana-up., the largest ones; the Aitareya-, Tainirtya-, Praina-, Kena-, ISSr,
Katha-, Mundaka- ,and M&ndukya-up. (notably shorter); the Maitrt- and SvetdSvaiam-up.
(comparatively late inside the group).
Between
BMsya,
there
the earliest Vp. (the first three above) and the beginnings of the philosophical
is
a span
I.The Uponisads
C. p't[w]yhyn (BAI 3, p. 32 Fig.
I)
The
2.-
prayers. Therein
we do
is
loose.
The
These
made up of
praises
and
not examine the phrases containing just one negation, but those with
privative term beginning with the prefix a- (an-
an adjective, occasionally used substantively, contrasted with its positive form occurring in
the close context or also inserted in a series. Exx. as&dhu "not good" (ChU nil); an&dimat
-
D. (hlwm)'dyn (BAI
3, p, 33 Fig. 5-b)
E.
YATWN
(BAI
3, p,
37 Fig. 13)
"begirrrungless" (SvetU
-
IV 4)
etc,
(ChU
III
17 4)
F.
YTYBWN'n
(4/
3, p. 33 Fig. 5-b)
G.
AMT
(BAI 3,
p.
34 Fig. 8-a)
rules
in.
order to
make
alomoka "without
the privative?
188
189
AVANT-PROPOS
< v
du Perse T&spes et
avait-il
celle
3es zones d' ombre dans 1'analyse de la syntaxe des diaLecres indo-iraniens anciens et de leurs
prolongements mdivaux. sont encore nombreuses.
Les organ izateurs du Colloque international de Silge (Palau Maricel, les 4 et 5 mai
1993) n'avaient d'autres pretentions que celle de favoriser le progres des eo renaissances en la
1
matiere, mais aussi celle de faire renaitre les etudes d'indo-iranologie ancienne a Barcetone.
L'Insritut Interuniveisitaire d'Etudes du Proche Orient Ancien exprirae sa profonde
reconnaissance aux participants du colloque pour leur contribution, leur patience et ieur
amabiu'c*!
t. Pirart
<
l
.
et
de
University de Barcelona.
'Education
$i
de
la
Science, de
AULA ORIENTALIS-SUPPLEMENTA
Director: G. del
Colloque international
mai 1993
01 mo Lete
J.
1997 by Editorial
AUSA
08280
EDITORIAL AUSA
Apdo. 101
08280
Institut del
SABADELL BARCELONA
-