Tocharian languages

Tocharian is one of the most obscure branches of the Indo-European language group. The two languages -- Tocharian A (Turfanian or East Tocharian) and Tocharian B (Kuchean or West Tocharian) -- that made up this group have both been long extinct. The languages themselves bear a closer relationship to the Celtic or early Germanic languages than to other Indo-European languages. Both languages were once spoken in the Tarim Basin in Central Asia, now the Xinjiang province of China. The speakers of these languages have been identified with the Tocharoi mentioned in Greek sources. The name "Tocharian" itself is speculative. Chinese records of the time also mention this group, as nomadic barbarians. Tocharian is documented in manuscript fragments, mostly from the 7th and 8th centuries CE (with a few earlier ones) that were written on palm leaves, wooden tablets and Chinese paper, which had been preserved by the extremely dry climate of the Tarim Basin. The language was already old enough by the 6th century to have split into the two dialects, or separate languages, that are preserved in the manuscripts. Wooden plate with inscriptions in [[Tocharian. Kucha, China, 5th-8th century. Tokyo National Museum.]] The existence of the Tocharian languages and alphabet was not even guessed at, until chance discoveries in the early 20th century brought to light fragments of manuscripts in a then unknown alphabetic syllabary that proved, astonishingly, to be in a hitherto unknown branch of the Indo-European family of languages, which has been named Tocharian. The alphabet they were using is derived from the North Indian Brahmi alphabetic syllabary. It soon became apparent that a large proportion of the manuscripts were translations of known Buddhist works in Sanskrit and some of them were even bilingual, thus providing a kind of Rosetta stone that has facilitated decipherment of the new language. Besides the Buddhist and Manichaean religious texts, there were also monastery correspondence and accounts, commercial documents, caravan permits, and medical and magical texts. Many Tocharians embraced Manichaean duality or Buddhism. Tocharian has upset some theories about the relations of Indo-European languages and is revitalizing linguistic studies. The Tocharian languages are a major geographic exception to the usual pattern of Indo-European branches, being the only one that spread directly east from the theoretical Indo-European starting point in the Pontic steppe. Tocharian was the language of the short-lived, yet influential Kushan empire. Tocharian probably died out under Uighur rule, which commenced after the Arab conquest of Tokharestan in the 9th century. This theory is supported by the discovery of translations of Tokharestan texts into Uighur. During Uighur rule, the peoples mixed with the Uighurs to produce much of the modern population of Xinjiang. Samples of the language have been discovered at sites in Kucha and Karasahr, including many mural inscriptions.

See also

• Language families and languages
• Tocharians

External links

• Tocharian alphabet.
• Tocharian alphabet
• Modern studies are developing a Tocharian dictionary.
• Mark Dickens, Everything you always wanted to know about Tocharian.

de:Tocharische Sprache id:Bahasa Tokharia ja:トカラ語 nl:Tochaars pl:Języki tocharskie sv:Tochariska språk Category:Extinct languages Category:Indo-European languages Category:Languages of China

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