Kuchean language explained
| Kuchean |
| Nativename: | Tocharian B
Kuśiññe |
| States: | Kucha |
| Region: | Tarim Basin |
| Ethnicity: | Tocharians |
| Extinct: | 9th century AD |
| Familycolor: | Indo-European |
| Fam2: | Tocharian |
| Ancestor: | Proto-Tocharian |
| Script: | |
| Iso3: | txb |
| Linglist: | xtb |
| Lingname: | Tocharian B |
| Glotto: | tokh1243 |
| Glottorefname: | Tokharian B |
| Notice: | IPA |
Kuchean (also known as Tocharian B or West Tocharian) was a Western member of the Tocharian branch of Indo-European languages, extinct from the ninth century. Once spoken in the Tarim Basin in Central Asia, Tocharian B shows an internal chronological development; three linguistic stages have been detected. The oldest stage is attested only in Kucha. There is also the middle ('classicalʼ), and the late stage.[1]
Nomenclature
According to Peyrot, the self-designation for the language was kuśi 'Kuča'.[2] In scholarly works, it is known as Tocharian B, sometimes referred to as West Tocharian or Kuchean.[3]
Overview
According to scholar Michael Peyrot, Tocharian B is dated between the 5th and 10th centuries AD, and was spread from Kuča to Yānqi and Turfan.[4] Paul Widmer, following Tamai's and Adams's studies, situates Tocharian B roughly between 400 and 1200, its oldest layer dating from ca. 400 to 600, around "Kucha and environs".[5]
Documentation
According to J. H. W. Penney, Tocharian B is reported to be documented as Buddhist religious literature, and as secular material "pertaining to everyday life".[6]
Bibliography
- Studies:
- Book: 10.1515/9783110523874-029 . Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics . 2017 . Penney . J. H. W. . 74. The documentation of Tocharian . 1298–1303 . 978-3-11-052387-4 .
- Book: 10.1163/9789004358218 . Variation and change in Tocharian B . 2008 . Peyrot . Michaël . 978-90-04-35821-8 .
- Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. pp. 83–101. .
- Book: 10.1515/9783110523874-034 . Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics . 2017 . Widmer . Paul . 79. The dialectology of Tocharian . 1389–1396 . 978-3-11-052387-4 .
- Tocharian literature:
- Lundysheva, Olga and Maue, Dieter. "An Old Uyghur text fragment related to the Tocharian B “History of Kuchean kings”". In: Religion and State in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC), Friedensau, Germany, August 18–23, 2019. Edited by Oliver Corff, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110730562-010
- Peyrot . Michaël . Wilkens . Jens . Two Tocharian B fragments parallel to the Hariścandra-Avadāna of the Old Uyghur Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā . Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae . September 2014 . 67 . 3 . 319–335 . 10.1556/aorient.67.2014.3.6 . 90004169 .
- Wilkens . Jens . Pinault . Georges-Jean . Peyrot . Michaël . A tocharian B parallel to the legend of kalmāṣapāda and sutasoma of the old uyghur daśakarmapathāvadānamālā . Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae . March 2014 . 67 . 1 . 1–18 . 10.1556/aorient.67.2014.1.1 . 90004088 .
Further reading
- Adams . Douglas Q. . Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary II: Words Pertaining to the Lower Limbs in Tocharian B . Journal of the American Oriental Society . July 1983 . 103 . 3 . 611–613 . 10.2307/602042 . 602042 .
- Adams . Douglas Q. . Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary III: Three Tocharian B Terms for Parts of the Upper Body . Journal of the American Oriental Society . October 1983 . 103 . 4 . 759–760 . 10.2307/602235 . 602235 .
- Adams . Douglas Q. . Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary IV: A Quartet of Words from a Tocharian B Magic Text . Journal of the American Oriental Society . April 1986 . 106 . 2 . 339–341 . 10.2307/601599 . 601599 .
- Book: Arndt . Walter W. . Brosman Jr. . Paul W. . Coenen . Frederic E. . Friedrich . Werner P. . On the Interrelationship of the Tocharian Dialects . 105–134 . 10.5149/9781469657035_arndt.13 . Studies in Historical Linguistics in Honor of George Sherman Lane: Festschrift for George S. Lane . 1967 . 58 . The University of North Carolina Press . 978-1-4696-5703-5 . 10.1353/book.75772 . 20.500.12657/39808 .
- 10.13173/centasiaj.63.1-2.0071 . Paper in Eighth-Century Kucha: Discovery of Cotton Fibres within Chinese and Kuchean Documents . 2020 . Chao-Jung . 慶昭蓉 . Enami Kazuyuki . 江南和幸 . Okada Yoshihiro . 岡田至弘 . Central Asiatic Journal . 63 . 1–2 . 71 . 236875646 .
- 10.13173/centasiaj.61.2.0217 . Vignettes of Buddhist Asceticism: Jottings on Six Fragments in Tocharian B . 2018 . Chen . 陳瑞翾 . Central Asiatic Journal . 61 . 2 . 217 . 198766202 .
- Hilmarsson . Jörundur . West Tocharian lyauto 'hole, opening' and related words . Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics . 1988 . 101 . 1 . 166–169 . 40848921 .
- Kim . Ronald I. . Another Look at Tocharian B ṣarya . Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics . 2009 . 122 . 111–117 . 10.13109/hisp.2009.122.1.111 . 41430701 .
- Book: Malzahn . Melanie . Now you see it, now you don't – Bewegliches -o in Tocharisch B . 33–82 . j.ctt3fgk5q.5 . Multilingualism and History of Knowledge, Vol. 2: Linguistic Developments Along the Silkroad: Archaism and Innovation in Tocharian . 2012 . 12 . Austrian Academy of Sciences Press . 10.2307/j.ctt3fgk5q.5 . 978-3-7001-7304-5 . Melanie Malzahn.
- Book: Ogihara . Hirotoshi . Two Fragments of Tocharian B laissez-passers Kept in the Berlin Collection . 33–45 . 10.1163/9789004362253_004 . Great Journeys across the Pamir Mountains . 2018 . 978-90-04-36222-2 .
- Pinault, Georges-Jean. "Surveying the Tocharian B Lexicon". In: Orientalistische Literaturzeitung, vol. 114, no. 2, 2019, pp. 91–97. https://doi.org/10.1515/olzg-2019-0030
- Stumpf . Peter . Westtocharisch se-seṃ: zwei Paradigmen oder nur eines? . Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung . 1976 . 90 . 1/2 . 114–127 . 40848492 .
- Winter . Werner . A Linguistic Classification of 'Tocharian' B Texts . Journal of the American Oriental Society . October 1955 . 75 . 4 . 216–225 . 10.2307/595385 . 595385 . Werner Winter (linguist).
- Winter . Werner . Lexical Interchange between 'Tocharian' A and B . Journal of the American Oriental Society . August 1961 . 81 . 3 . 271–280 . 10.2307/595658 . 595658 .
- Woolner . A. C. . Sanskrit Names of Drugs in Kuchean . The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland . 1925 . 57 . 4 . 623–638 . 10.1017/S0035869X00168807 . 25220813 . 162418763 .
External links
Notes and References
- Encyclopedia: Peyrot . Michaël . Tocharian Language . Encyclopædia Iranica . 2015 .
- Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. p. 83. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.006.
- Book: Fortson, Benjamin W.. Indo-European Language and Culture. Blackwell Publishing. 2004. 351. 1-4051-0316-7. Benjamin W. Fortson IV.
- Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. p. 83. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.006.
- Book: 10.1515/9783110523874-034 . Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics . 2017 . Widmer . Paul . 79. The dialectology of Tocharian . 1392–1393 . 978-3-11-052387-4 .
- Book: 10.1515/9783110523874-029 . Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics . 2017 . Penney . J. H. W. . 74. The documentation of Tocharian . 1299 . 978-3-11-052387-4 .
