Tocharian D

Tocharian D
Täma Wiθan
Pronunciation	[/təma wiθan/]
Created by	User:Ogogogouy
Date	2022
Language family	Indo-European Tocharian Tocharian D

Tocharian D is a language that was spoken until around the 6th century in the region straddling southeastern Kazakhstan and northern Kyrgyzstan (Kurguzstan). It is classified in the Tocharian branch of the Indo-European language family. The language is known to have had an agglutinative character. It is one of the dead languages. Johann S. Munchausen, a researcher of Tocharian D, claims that it is the language of Wusun, which existed around Lake Issyk (present-day Kyrgyzstan). A manuscript dating from 300-500 A.D., written in the Greek-like Wusun script and the Brahmi-like Tocharian script, has been found in the ruins of a fortress at the bottom of Lake Balhash and in the remains of a city at the northern foot of the Tien Shan Mountains.

Phonology

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i		u
Mid	e	ä	o
Open		a

Tocharian D also has the diphthongs, ay, ey, oy, uy, äy

Consonants

	Bilabial	Dental	Alveolar	Alveolo-palatal	Palatal	Velar
Plosive	p /p/	t /t/		c /tɕ/		k /k/
Affricate			ts /ts/
Fricative	f /f/	θ /θ/	s /s/	ś /ɕ/		h /h/
Nasal	m /m/	n /n/			ñ /ɲ/
Trill			r /r/
Approximant	w /w/				y /j/
Lateral approximant			l /l/		ly /ʎ/

Morphology

Unlike Tocharian A and B, Tocharian D has largely inherited the Indo-European ancestral language system.

Noun

In addition to the six cases inherited from the Proto Indo-European Language (nominative, accusative, genitive, dative, instrumental, vocative), secondary cases are formed by suffixes. For example, the Tocharian D word yähwa "horse" < PIE *eḱwos is declined as follows:

Case	Tocharian D
	w:Suffix	Singular	w:Plural
Nominative	—	yähwa	yähwi
Vocative	—	yahw	—
Accusative	—	yähwa	yähwan
Genitive	—	yähway	yähwan
Dative	—	yähway	yähwama
Instrumental	—	yähwa	yähwami
Perlative	-sa	yähwasa	yähwantsa
Comitative	-aśśäl	yähwaśśäl	yähwanaśśäl
Allative	-ś(c)	yähwaś(c)	yähwanś(c)
Ablative	-äś	yähwaś	yähwanäś
Locative	-ne	yähwane	yähwanne
Causative	-ñ	yähwañ	yähwanñ

Verb

Tocharian verbs are conjugated in the following categories:

• Mood: indicative, subjunctive, imperative.
• Tense: present, past.
• Voice: active, passive.
• Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
• Number: singular, dual, plural.
• Non-finite: active participle, passive participle.

An example verb: ñämana "to take"

		Indicative		Subjunctive		Imperative
		Active	Passive	Active	Passive	Active
Present	1st sing	ñäma	ñämay	ñämo	ñämay	—
	2nd sing	ñämiś	ñämasayäso	ñämays	ñämayäso	päñäm
	3rd sing	ñämic	ñämasayäto	ñämayt	ñämayäto	päñämato
	1st dual	ñämaw	ñämantay	ñämayäw	ñämayänto	—
	2nd dual	ñämac		ñämayäc		päñämac
	1st plur	ñämama		ñämayäm		—
	2nd plur	ñämi		ñämay		päñämi
	3rd plur	ñämanc		ñämayanc		päñämanto
Past	1st sing	naf	—	ñemi	—
	2nd sing	nafs		ñemis
	3rd sing	naft		ñemit
	1st dual	ñemu		ñemiw
	2nd dual	ñemäc		ñemic
	1st plur	ñemäm		ñemim
	2nd plur	ñemu		ñemi
	3rd plur	ñemänc		ñeminc
Infinitive		ñämana
Present Participle		ñäma
Past Participle		nmana

Comparison to other Indo-European languages

Tocharian vocabulary (sample)
English	Tocharian D	Tocharian A	Tocharian B	w:Ancient Greek	Sanskrit	w:Latin	Proto-Germanic	Gothic	w:Old Irish	Proto-Slavic	Proto-Indo-European
one	aynä	sas	ṣe	heîs, hen	sa(kṛ́t)	semel	*simla	simle	samail	*sǫ-	*sḗm> PToch *sems
two	way	wu	wi	dúo	dvā́	duo	*twai	twái	dá	*dъva	*dwóh₁
three	θŕä	tre	trai	treîs	tráyas	trēs	*þrīz	þreis	trí	*trьje	*tréyes
four	fidär	śtwar	śtwer	téttares, téssares	catvā́ras, catúras	quattuor	*fedwōr	fidwōr	cethair	*četỳre	*kʷetwóres
five	fim	päñ	piś	pénte	páñca	quīnque	*fimf	fimf	cóic	*pętь	*pénkʷe
six	tsäh	ṣäk	ṣkas	héx	ṣáṣ	sex	*sehs	saihs	sé	*šestь	*swéḱs
seven	tsäp	ṣpät	ṣukt	heptá	saptá	septem	*sebun	sibun	secht	*sedmь	*septḿ̥
eight	ahto	okät	okt	oktṓ	aṣṭáu, aṣṭá	octō	*ahtōu	ahtau	ocht	*osmь	*oḱtṓw
nine	ño	ñu	ñu	ennéa	náva	novem	*newun	niun	noí	*dȅvętь	*h₁néwn̥
ten	cäh	śäk	śak	déka	dáśa	decem	*tehun	taihun	deich	*dȅsętь	*déḱm̥t
hundred	hwänta	känt	kante	hekatón	śatām	centum	*hundą	hund	cét	*sъto	*ḱm̥tóm
father	facer	pācar	pācer	patḗr	pitṛ	pater	*fadēr	fadar	athair	–	*ph₂tḗr
mother	macer	mācar	mācer	mḗtēr	mātṛ	māter	*mōdēr	mōdar	máthair	*màti	*méh₂tēr
brother	pracer	pracar	procer	phrā́tēr	bhrātṛ	frāter	*brōþēr	brōþar	bráthair	*bràtrъ	*bʰréh₂tēr
sister	tsäster	ṣar	ṣer	éor	svásṛ	soror	*swestēr	swistar	siur	*sestrà	*swésōr
horse	yähwa	yuk	yakwe	híppos	áśva-	equus	*ehwaz	aiƕs	ech	(Balto-Slavic *áśwāˀ)	*h₁éḱwos
cow	ku	ko	keu	boûs	gaúṣ	bōs	*kūz	(OE cū)	bó	*govę̀do	*gʷṓws
voice	wahma	vak	vek	épos	vāk	vōx	*wōhmaz	(Du gewag)	foccul	*vikъ	*wṓkʷs
name	nam	ñom	ñem	ónoma	nāman-	nōmen	*namô	namō	ainmm	*jь̏mę	*h₁nómn̥
to milk	milkana	mālkā	mālkant	amélgein	–	mulgēre	*melkaną	miluks	bligid (MIr)	*melzti	*h₂melǵ-eye

Sample

Schleicher's fable in Tocharian D:

scepa špä yähwimpa

scepa, kuse ñä wälla hafacet, yähwan šehwt; ayna swerana wakna waht, ayna mitsälana perpent, ayna kwämanu ramer waht. scepa yähwan sascet: “mina tsärta mik smircac, ente yähwan tŕipa kwämanu šähwa .” yähwi satsetanc: “pähluš, scep! wänšära tsärti wä smircanc ente θana šähwama: ente kwäma, käššä, scepay wälla yäna warmana wetsice skapic. špä scepa ñä wälla hapic.” ente θa hoša, scepa mišanë floht.