The Languages of Central Asian Archaeology (original) (raw)
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Language in ancient Asia and the Americas: an introduction
The Ancient Languages of Asia and the Americas
Language in Ancient Asia and the Americas: an introduction r o g e r d. w o o d a r d 1 O Br. haspati. When in giving names they first set forth the beginning of Language, Their most excellent and spotless secret was laid bare through love. 2 When the wise ones formed Language with their mind, purifying it like grain with a winnowing fan, Then friends knew friendships-an auspicious mark placed on their language. 3 Through sacrifice they tracked the path of Language, and within the poets found it. Bearing it, they spread it abroad-in many places; the seven singers together spoke it loud. 4 One looking did not see Language; another listening did not hear it; Language unfolds itself to another-like a wife, beautifully adorned and willing, to her husband. Rig-veda 10.71.1-4 The present volume covers far greater geographic space than any of its companion volumes: all of Asia is included-excepting the linguistically rich regions of Asia Minor, with Transcaucasia (see The Ancient Languages of Asia Minor) and southwest Asia (which readers will find covered within the volumes entitled The Ancient Languages of Mesopotamia, Egypt, and Aksum and The Ancient Languages of Syria-Palestine and Arabia)-as well as the American continents (or continent, as one prefers). Over half of the languages examined in the chapters that follow were spoken in ancient Iran, central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent; and of these, all were Indo-European languages, with the exception of the Dravidian language of Old Tamil. From more easterly Asian locales, the only language to be preserved out of antiquity is Chinese-the speech of a culture whose influence dominated ancient east Asia-occupying a position of prestige and primacy comparable to that of Egypt in the ancient Mediterranean world-and which, as the third millennium AD begins, gives every sign of being poised for resurgence in a world gone global. Continuing farther east, across the Bering Strait, one finds a place, the Americas, that provides only limited evidence for the linguistic life of its ancient peoples-all of it emanating from the cinctured waist of the continent(s) that is Central America. Of the languages described in the chapters that follow, the "oldest" is Sanskrit, an ancient language of India (see Ch. 2). Sanskrit is a member of the Indo-European language family, belonging to the subgroup called Indo-Iranian, which is itself divided into two branches: Indo-Aryan (or simply Indic) and Iranian. The earliest form of this "oldest" language, Sanskrit, is the one found in the ancient Brahmanic text called the Rig-veda, composed c. 1500 BC. The date makes Sanskrit one of the three earliest of the well-documented 1
Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations
collegecatalog.uchicago.edu
Majors in Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations (NELC) at the University of Chicago pursue rigorous knowledge about a region of the world that is known as "the cradle of civilization" and the home of several important religious and cultural traditions, as well as one of the most important geopolitical areas of our contemporary world. NELC majors acquire languages; learn how archaeologists, economists, historians, linguists, literary scholars, and careful readers of legal, religious, economic, and other kinds of texts critically evaluate evidence; and acquire, largely in small class settings, analytical writing, thinking, and research skills that will help prepare them for a variety of careers. Geographically centered on the Nile to Oxus and Danube to Indus region, NELC also embraces North Africa and Islamic Spain, as well as Central Asia and the Balkans in its ambit, from the early Bronze Age to the recent era of revolutions. Students can gain expertise in a wide variety of languages, including the living spoken tongues of the modern Middle East and Central Asia (Arabic, Armenian, modern Hebrew, Kazakh, Persian, Turkish, and Uzbek) or languages that open gateways onto the ancient past and the scriptures of contemporary religious traditions (Aramaic, Babylonian, Biblical Hebrew, Coptic, Egyptian Hieroglyphics, Elamite, Ge'ez, Hittite, Middle and Old Persian, Ottoman, Syriac, Ugaritic, etc.). In an interdisciplinary area studies department like NELC, majors learn about the region through primary sources (material, oral, or textual) and scholarly analysis, structuring their curriculum around various disciplines and methodologies, including stratigraphy and paleobotany, comparative literature, cultural and civilizational studies, economics and numismatics, gender studies, history (economic, political, religious, and social), human rights, public policy, and digital humanities approaches.
2. Language Ecology: Understanding Central Asian Multilingualism
Language Change in Central Asia, 2000
Central Asia is extremely multilingual. Each of the five republics is named for a titular nationality, with, in turn, its own titular language. Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Uzbek are classified as Turkic languages; however, Tajik is an Indo-Iranian language. Speakers of these languages are found not only in their titular republics, but also in the neighboring republics. Each language has a number of regional dialects with transitional varieties that share their features, creating complex Turkic and Iranian dialect continua. Adopting a language ecology framework, this chapter explores several diachronic stages of Central Asia's language history and ends examining contemporary Central Asia through an ecological lens. The chapter argues that an ecological approach to language change in Central Asia provides a richer lens for analysis. Furthermore, I argue that incorporating both comparative diachronic and synchronic perspectives provides deeper insight into the processes of change that may also shed some light on the current language dilemmas faced within the region.
2015
The region of Central Asia is highly multilingual: each of the republics of the region is named for a titular nationality, each in turn with its own language, similarly termed the titular language. Thus, we have Kazakh in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz in Kyrgyzstan, Tajik in Tajikistan, Turkmen in Turkmenistan, and Uzbek in Uzbekistan. Speakers of these languages are found not only in their titular republics, but also in the neighbouring republics. Of course, when we speak of these or any languages, we have problems of boundaries: where does one language start and another end? Kazakh, Kyrgyz, Turkmen and Uzbek are classified as members of the Turkic language family, while Tajik, an Iranian language, is considered to be a Central Asian variety of Persian. Each displays variation among regional dialects with transitional varieties that may share features with the above languages, leaving us with a complex Turkic and Iranian dialect continua with boundaries that may be fuzzier than the sharpness of political frontiers might suggest. This chapter explores several diachronic stages of Central Asia's language ecology focusing on multilingualism and languages of wider communication and the lenses of diglossia with or without bilingualism, ending with a sample of contemporary language ecology of Central Asia. The chapter argues that an ecological approach to the question of language change in Central Asia provides greater descriptive adequacy of analysis, while a comparative diachronic and synchronic approach provides insight into the processes of change that may also shed some light on current language dilemmas of the region.