Parthian language
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Parthian is a now-extinct ancient Northwestern Iranian language that originated in Parthia (a region in modern Iran roughly corresponding to modern Khorasan) and was the official language of the Parthian Empire under the Arsacid Dynasty (248 BC - 224 AD).
Origin And Etymology
Parthian was the eastern most of the Western Middle Iranian langauges. This feature made Parthian retain many archaic Eastern Iranian features. This retention was probably due to the fact that the Parthian dynasty was founded by the Parni tribe. The tribe had migrated from the steppes of Central Asia into Parthia. The Parni or Parnae originally were speakers of an Northeastern Iranian language closely related with other langauges of the area such as Scythian, Sogdian and Bactrian. The study of the Indo-Iranian tribes reveal that it was not uncommon for the tribes to adopt the local langauge, beliefs and customs of the peoples among whom they had settled whether through migration or conquest. This was especially true of the nomadic steppe tribes who formed the core of the Indo-Iranian world. A good example of this phenomenon in the words of University of London Professor Mary Boyce were "the Parni, merging themselves with the Parthians." (i:e the peoples already present in the province of Parthia). To distinguish the eastern Iranian speech of the Parni, it is thus referred to as Parnian.Written Parthian
The language was written with the Parthian script, an alphabet derived the Aramaic alphabet and it incorporated heterograms. Our main sources for studying Parthian are the few remaining inscriptions from Nisa and Hecatompolis, Manichean texts, Sasanian multi-lingual inscriptions, and remains of Parthian literaturein the succeeding Middle Persian. Among these, the Manichean texts, composed shortly after the demise of the Parthian power, play an important role for reconstructing the Parthian language.Extinct Language
Parthian was later succeeded by a related langauge: the Middle Persian. In 224 AD, Ardashir, the local ruler of Pars, deposed and replaced Ardavan IV, the last Parthian Emperor, and founded the forth Iranian dynasty, the Sassanian Empire.
References
- http://www.danceage.com/biography/sdmc_Iranian_peoples
- http://encyclopedia.jrank.org/PAI_PAS/PARTHIA.html
- http://www.jstor.org/view/00030279/ap020237/02a00240/0
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