Khwarezmian language explained

Khwārezmian
Also Known As:	Chorasmian
Nativename:	زڨاك ای خوارزم
State:	Khwarezm
Region:	Central Asia
Era:	550 BCE – 1200 CE
Ref:	linglist
Familycolor:	Indo-European
Fam2:	Indo-Iranian
Fam3:	Iranian
Fam4:	Eastern Iranian
Iso3:	xco
Glotto:	khwa1238
Glottorefname:	Khwarezmian
Linglist:	xco
Script:	Chorasmian script, Aramaic alphabet, Sogdian alphabet, Pahlavi script, Arabic script

Khwārezmian (Khwarezmian: زڨاک‌ای خوارزم|transl=zβ'k 'y xw'rzm, zβ'k 'y xw'rzm;^[1] also transliterated Khwarazmian, Chorasmian, Khorezmian) is an extinct Eastern Iranian language^{[2] [3] [4] [5]} closely related to Sogdian. The language was spoken in the area of Khwarezm (Chorasmia), centered in the lower Amu Darya south of the Aral Sea (the northern part of the modern Republic of Uzbekistan and the adjacent areas of Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan).

Knowledge of Khwarezmian is limited to its Middle Iranian stage and, as with Sogdian, little is known of its ancient form. Based on the writings of Khwarezmian scholars Al-Biruni and Zamakhshari, the language was in use at least until the 13th century, when it was gradually replaced by Persian for the most part, as well as several dialects of Turkic.^[6]

Sources of Khwarezmian include astronomical terms used by al-Biruni, Zamakhshari's Arabic–Persian–Khwarezmian dictionary and several legal texts that use Khwarezmian terms and quotations to explain certain legal concepts, most notably the Qunyat al-Munya of Mukhtār al-Zāhidī al-Ghazmīnī (d. 1259/60).^[7]

The noted scholar W.B. Henning was preparing a dictionary of Khwarezmian when he died, leaving it unfinished. A fragment of this dictionary was published posthumously by D.N. MacKenzie in 1971.^[8]

Writing system

Chorasmian
Qid:	Q72386710
Unicode:	U+10FB0–U+10FDF
Iso15924:	Chrs
Note:	none

Before the advance of Islam in Transoxiana (early 8th century), Khwarezmian was written in a script close to that of Sogdian and Pahlavi with its roots in the Imperial Aramaic script. From the few surviving examples of this script on coins and artifacts, it has been observed that written Khwarezmian included Aramaic logograms or ideograms, that is Aramaic words written to represent native spoken ones e.g. (ŠNT) for سرذ, sarδ, "year", (NPŠY) for خداك, xudāk, "self" and (MLK') for اى شاه, ī šah, "the king".^[9]

Letter		Sound Value		Imperial Aramaic equivalent	Phoenician equivalent
Name	Unicode	Transliteration	IPA
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link/	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:
			/pronounced as /link//	Official Aramaic (700-300 BCE);; Imperial Aramaic (700-300 BCE);:

After the advance of Islam, Khwarezmian was written using an adapted version of the Perso-Arabic alphabet with a few extra signs to reflect specific Khwarezmian sounds, such as the letter

څ which represents /ts/ and /dz/, as in the traditional Pashto orthography.^[10]

Unicode

See main article: Chorasmian (Unicode block). Khwarezmian script was added to the Unicode Standard in March, 2020 with the release of version 13.0.

The Unicode block for Khwarezmian, called Chorasmian, is U+10FB0–U+10FDF:

See also

• Afrighids
• al-Khwārizmī
• Ancient Iranian peoples
• Al-Biruni
• Central Asia
• Iranian peoples
• Iranian languages
• Khwarezm
• Zoroastrianism
• Zamakhshari

Literature

The Khwarezmian Glossary:

• MacKenzie . D. N. . The Khwarezmian Glossary--I . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . University of London . 33 . 3 . 1970 . 540–59 . 10.1017/S0041977X00126552 . 614521. .
• MacKenzie . D. N. . The Khwarezmian Glossary--II . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . University of London . 34 . 1 . 1971 . 74–90 . 10.1017/S0041977X00141588 . 614624. .
• MacKenzie . D. N. . The Khwarezmian Glossary--III . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . University of London . 34 . 2 . 1971 . 314–30 . 10.1017/S0041977X00129568 . 612694. .
• MacKenzie . D. N. . The Khwarezmian Glossary--IV . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . University of London . 34 . 3 . 1971 . 521–37 . 10.1017/S0041977X00128526 . 613900. .
• MacKenzie . D. N. . The Khwarezmian Glossary--V . Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies . University of London . 35 . 1 . 1972 . 56–73 . 10.1017/S0041977X00107360 . 612794. .

Further reading

• Livshits . Vladimir . Three Silver Bowls from the Isakovka Burial-Ground No. 1 with Khwarezmian and Parthian Inscriptions . Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia . 9 . 1–2 . 2003 . 147–172 . 10.1163/157005703322114874. .
• Lurje . Pavel B. . 2018 . Some New Readings of Chorasmian Inscriptions on Silver Vessels and Their Relevance to the Chorasmian Era . Ancient Civilizations from Scythia to Siberia . 24 . 1–2 . 279–306 . 10.1163/15700577-12341333. .

External links

• Encyclopedia Iranica, "The Chorasmian language" by D.N. Mackenzie
• https://web.archive.org/web/20040201160726/http://iranianlanguages.com/
• https://web.archive.org/web/20041009124244/http://www.iranologie.com/history/ilf.html

Notes and References

1. Book: Chwarezmischer Wortindex. 686, 711.
2. D. N. Mackenzie. "The Chorasmian Language" In: Encyclopedia Iranica. Online access at June, 2011.
3. [Andrew Dalby]
4. MacKenzie, D. N. "Khwarazmian Language and Literature," in E. Yarshater ed. Cambridge History of Iran, Vol. III, Part 2, Cambridge 1983, pp. 1244–1249.
5. http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/293577/Iranian-languages Encyclopædia Britannica, "Iranian languages"
6. http://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/chorasmia-iii CHORASMIA iii. The Chorasmian Language
7. Book: MacKenzie, D. N.. The Khwarezmian Element in the Qunyat Al-munya. 1990. Psychology Press. 9780728601611. en.
8. Book: A fragment of a Khwarezmian dictionary. Henning. Walter Bruno. MacKenzie. D. N.. 1971. Lund Humphries. 9780853312925. en.
9. Web site: Proposal to encode the Khwarezmian script in Unicode. Pandey. Anshuman.
10. THE KHWAREZMIAN GLOSSARY—I, D. N. MacKenzie Link