Tocharian A, also known as Tokharian A, Eastern Tocharian, Agnean (), Karashahrian or Turfanian is a dead language that was in use in the 1st millennium AD in the

Karashahr Karasahr or Karashar (), which was originally known in the Tocharian languages as ''Ārśi'' (or Arshi), Qarašähär, or Agni or the Chinese derivative Yanqi ( zh, s=焉耆, p=Yānqí, w=Yen-ch'i), is an ancient town on the Silk Road and the capi ...

and

Turfan Turpan () or Turfan ( zh, s=吐鲁番) is a prefecture-level city located in the east of the autonomous region of Xinjiang, China. It has an area of and a population of 693,988 (2020). The historical center of the prefectural area has shifted ...

region of the

Tarim Basin The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, Northwestern China occupying an area of about and one of the largest basins in Northwest China.Chen, Yaning, et al. "Regional climate change and its effects on river runoff in the Tarim Basin, Ch ...

, present-day

Xinjiang Xinjiang,; , SASM/GNC romanization, SASM/GNC: Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Sinkiang, officially the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region (XUAR), is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People' ...

Western China Western China ( zh, s=中国西部, l=, labels=no or zh, s=华西, l=, labels=no) is the west of China. It consists of Southwestern China and Northwestern China. In the definition of the Chinese government, Western China covers six provinces ...

. First discovered from

Buddhist texts Buddhist texts are religious texts that belong to, or are associated with, Buddhism and Schools of Buddhism, its traditions. There is no single textual collection for all of Buddhism. Instead, there are three main Buddhist Canons: the Pāli C ...

dating back to around the 7th century AD, it coexisted with a related language,

Tocharian B Tocharian B (also known as Kuchean 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 The Tarim Basin is an endorheic basin in Xinjiang, N ...

that together possibly with Kroränian form the Tocharian branch of the

Indo-European languages The Indo-European languages are a language family native to the northern Indian subcontinent, most of Europe, and the Iranian plateau with additional native branches found in regions such as Sri Lanka, the Maldives, parts of Central Asia (e. ...

. This language was notably used in what China's

Han dynasty The Han dynasty was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC9 AD, 25–220 AD) established by Liu Bang and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by the short-lived Qin dynasty (221–206 BC ...

then called the Kiu-che Kingdom (known as the

Kushan Empire The Kushan Empire (– CE) was a Syncretism, syncretic empire formed by the Yuezhi in the Bactrian territories in the early 1st century. It spread to encompass much of what is now Afghanistan, Eastern Iran, India, Pakistan, Tajikistan and Uzbe ...

). It is believed that Tocharian A died out with the other Tocharian languages when the

Uyghurs The Uyghurs,. alternatively spelled Uighurs, Uygurs or Uigurs, are a Turkic peoples, Turkic ethnic group originating from and culturally affiliated with the general region of Central Asia and East Asia. The Uyghurs are recognized as the ti ...

and the

Yenisei Kyrgyz The Yenisei Kyrgyz () were an ancient Turkic people who dwelled along the upper Yenisei River in the southern portion of the Minusinsk Depression from the 3rd century BCE to the 13th century CE. The heart of their homeland was the forested T ...

moved into the

Writing

Tocharian A is known from around the 2000 manuscripts found. From these series of texts which are majority Buddhist liturgical texts are transcribed in a script derived from

Brahmi Brahmi ( ; ; ISO: ''Brāhmī'') is a writing system from ancient India. "Until the late nineteenth century, the script of the Aśokan (non-Kharosthi) inscriptions and its immediate derivatives was referred to by various names such as 'lath' or ...

. Unlike Tocharian B, there are no secular texts in Tocharian A. One possible explanation is that at the time these texts were written, Tocharian A survived only as a

liturgical language A sacred language, liturgical language or holy language is a language that is cultivated and used primarily for religious reasons (like church service) by people who speak another, primary language in their daily lives. Some religions, or part ...

and Tocharian B would still have been a living language. Another hypothesis, however, is that this absence is simply explained by the very fragmentary attestation of Tocharian languages in general. From the work of Georges-Jean Pinault and Melanie Malzahn in 2007, it is now recognized that it was also a living, spoken language.

Morphology

Nouns

The Tocharian A word for horse (yuk) is declined as follows:

Pronunciation

One of the innovations of Tocharian A is the presence of a sibilant consonant ''ṣ''.

Tocharian Glossary

Tocharian Words

The following are some examples of Tocharian A words with English words: The following is also a comparison of some numbers in Tocharian A and other Indo-European languages:

Maitreyasamitināṭaka

The

Maitreyasamitināṭaka ''Maitreyasamitināṭaka'' is a Buddhist drama in the language known as Tocharian A. It dates to the eighth century and survives only in fragments. The drama revolves around the Buddhahood, Buddha Maitreya, the future saviour of the world.Peyrot ...

is a Buddhist drama about the life of the

Maitreya Maitreya (Sanskrit) or Metteyya (Pali), is a bodhisattva who is regarded as the future Buddhahood, Buddha of this world in all schools of Buddhism, prophesied to become Maitreya Buddha or Metteyya Buddha.Williams, Paul. ''Mahayana Buddhism: Th ...

written in Tocharian A and is the most well-known Tocharian text about Maitreya. It was translated into

Old Uyghur Old Uyghur () was a Turkic language spoken in Qocho from the 9th–14th centuries as well as in Gansu. History Old Uyghur evolved from Old Turkic, a Siberian Turkic language, after the Uyghur Khaganate broke up and remnants of it migrated ...

(which is named Maitrisimit), which has been used to interpret Tocharian A. The Maitrisimit is not an exact translation as it was adapted to meet the requirements of Old Uyghur and the Maitreyasamitināṭaka was written in the campū style, which has a mixture

prose Prose is language that follows the natural flow or rhythm of speech, ordinary grammatical structures, or, in writing, typical conventions and formatting. Thus, prose ranges from informal speaking to formal academic writing. Prose differs most n ...

and verse. The following is one of the translations of the Tocharian A manuscript of Maitreyasamitināṭaka: klā k. SA (23 syllables) (me)trakṣināṃ opṣlyā plāc weñeñc¨ˎkāvvintu yāmeñc¨ˎ/// : �� through Metrak’s opṣly they would tell a speech (and) make verses. ///:ñ¨ ��klyoMA T� (20 syllables) (k)ly(o)MAnTˎ metraKAṃ oñantyo tri ñemintwaṃ KAlymeyā spārtwe(ñc¨ˎ) /// : ��noble /// beginning with noble Metrak in three jewels they would turn in the right manner ///:Pˎ metRAkyāp (18 syllables) ps. lāntuneṣi bhi��eKˎ artantRA•kus pat nu tanā SArki tu .i/// : f Metrak /// they praise anointing of sovereignty•hereafter ///:s weñeñc¨ˎ klyo(señc¨ˎ klyoMAnt metra) ◯ ��(i)nā(ṃ) plāc¨ˎ metRA(kyāPˎ) yärkanTˎ ārtantRA pālantRA anumodin yāmeñc¨ˎ pukāk ṣakk ats /// : hey would speak (panegyric(?) and hear) the speech (of noble Metrak,) praise (much) the respect (of) Metrak, make gratification absolutely (and) surely ///:t pi koriSˎ ṢAk-KAnTˎ (w)r(asañ¨ˎ taṃ)◯ne KAtkeñc¨ˎ kātka �� PAlketSˎ?) ārkiśoṣṣaṃ PAttāñKATˎ: śmantRA cem wrasañ¨ˎ tām praṣṭaśśä ../// : 9)600 millions (people) would go across (in such a way). The brilliant(?) Buddha would stand in the world : The people would come in (proper?) time ///:kyo napeṃsaṃ : ṣo«me» metRA yāPˎ) (kl) oeñc¨ ˎ MArkampaL*ˎ tSAlpeñc¨ˎ kloPA(ṣ ṣome?) yomneñc¨ˎ puttiśparnac¨ˎ vyākariTˎ: TAmyo metRAkyāp kā /// (PA)- : ith … in (the world of?) people : Some would hear Dharma of Metrak, would be free (from) suffering, (some?) would get the prophecy for the worth of Buddha : Then Metrak's ///:ls suntāPˎ skaMˎ skenaLˎ : 1 (4x25) , , sātāgiri tRAṅKAṢˎ kāsu weñā(ṢTˎ)++Rˎ TAmyo TAṣ metRAkyāp waSA p�tṣiṃ opṣlyac poñcäṃ ārki(ṣṣaṃ) /// : , Sā tagiri says, “You said good … then so for opṣ aly of attainment of Metrak (in) complete world:(purṇak)e t(RA)ṅKAṢˎ ceṣ ṣome ñäktañ¨ˎ epreRAṢˎ kāKArpuRAṢ*ˎ dak(ṣ)i(ṇāpapatha) �ˎ yiñc¨ˎ ṣome nu pāṣānak ��uac¨ˎ yiñc¨ˎ , , sātā(giri tRAṅKAṢˎ dakṣiṇāpathˎ KAlymeyaṃ bādhari prāmne) : , Sāta(giri says, “In Dakṣiṇāpatha region(← direction) Brahmin Bādhari is):

References

Bibliography

* * * (Collection of the House of the Ancient Mediterranean Orient. Literary and Philosophical Series, 35) *

External links

* Tocharian A lemmas in

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{{Indo-European languages Extinct languages of Asia Indo-European languages Languages of Xinjiang Languages extinct in the 9th century