Selected Pashto Problems II. Historical Phonology 1: On Vocalism and Etyma

Iran and the Caucasus 15 (2011) 169-205

Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2011 DOI: 10.1163/157338411X12870596615557

Selected Pashto Problems II . Historical Phonology 1: On Vocalism and

Etyma

Johnny Cheung Leiden University

Abstract This study presents a new, systematic treatment of the Pashto continuations of the Old Iranian vocalism. The analysis is accompanied by an assessment of the etymo-logy of the Pashto forms mentioned in George Morgenstierne’s Etymological Voca-bulary of Pashto (EVP) and its postumously revised New Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto (NEVP). This contribution has also implications for our understanding of the historical morphology, notably the case system, of Pashto. Keywords Pashto, Historical Phonology, Iranian Etymology INTRODUCTION One of the greatest iranologists, Georg Morgenstierne, has contributed, through his numerous articles and publications, much to our under-standing of the history of the Pashto language and, indeed, of the Pashto speakers themselves. His Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto (EVP) and the New Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto (NEVP), reworked by three other eminent iranisants, remain our indispensable handbooks for any research on Pashto history. His contributions have remained basically unchallenged, cf. Skjærvø, CLI: 384-410; Grjunberg/Ėdel’man, Osn.: 44-153. While I was working on Ossetic and most recently, on the Pashto accent, I discovered that several of his assumptions on Pashto I came across by accident, may be rather tenuous, either because his followed approach to phonology or etymology was inconsistent, or simply, be-

J. Cheung / Iran and the Caucasus 15 (2011) 169-205

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cause no explanation at all was offered to many of the exceptional in-stances or their distribution.1

Some of his statements have also made their impact immediately outside Pashto scholarship. His assumption of the archaic character of carmən f. ʻskin, hideʼ and lamən f. ʻhem, border, skirtʼ is a point in case. For these two forms Morgenstierne postulated an original pl. neuter ending *-ani, which was subsequently accepted as fact by the great Dutch Indo-Europeanist and Sanskritist, F. B. J. Kuiper (Kuiper 1978). As for the latter example, the exact origin and morphological analysis of this lamən is uncertain. Although this form is well attested in the later Iranian dialects,2 the stem may contain almost any of the Ir. “dā-“ roots ‘to place, put’, ‘to bind’, ‘to distribute, divide’ (from *dā- ‘to divide’ ac-cording to Rastorgueva/Ėdel’man 2: 438 ff.), or “dam-” forms ‘to build’, ‘dwelling’, each of which still requires some semantic juggling.3 Also carmən is more likely a recent formation, with carm- from Pers. čarm-.4

It is for this reason that, first, we may want to take another look at Pashto phonology in a historical perspective, also in light of recent studies on the other East Iranian languages. We need to get the phono-logical developments on a more sound footing, which should also in-clude an assessment of the reliability of the quoted examples and their etymology.

One of the intricate problems of Pashto phonology is the treatment of the old vocalism that has been affected by stress or the surrounding

1 For instance, the frequent appearance of x for Persian borrowings with š, e.g.

poxawǝl ʻto wear, dress, clotheʼ (Pers. pōšīdan), x ād ʻjoyous, merryʼ (Pers. šād), x ār ʻtownʼ (Pers. šahr), xkār ʻchaseʼ (Pers. šikār).

2 Khw. δʼmny, MP, NP dāman, Kurd. dāw f. / dāwēn ʻid.ʼ (Cabolov 2001: 299 ff.), Siv. dāmen ‘down’, dāmene ‘underskirt’ (Lecocq 1979: 174a).

3 The formally similar Vedic form dhāman- ntr., pl. dhāmāni, is of little help here. Gondaʼs exhaustive philological analysis of this formation (Gonda 1966) seems to point to a meaning ʻabode, seat of divine power, essence or lightʼ. The formation dhāman- is usually considered to contain the root dhā- ʻto put, placeʼ (cf. Mayrhofer, KEWAia 1: 783 ff.). If the Iranian forms were, indeed, cognate, they might reflect a locative *dāmani.

4 One has to wonder why the plural would have been generalised in the first place for carmən, cf. lemə pl. tant. ʻeyesʼ (from an originally ntr. n-stem *daiman-, Av. daēman-). Also the stress on °ən has not been explained either; if carmən was, in-deed, an archaic formation, surely, we would expect initial stressing, in line with notably num ‘name’ < ntr. nom.-acc. *nāma, cf. Skt. nāma. I would rather analyse car-mən differently, considering it a formation with the suffix -mən. This relational (ad-jectival) suffix is quite productive and is always stressed (Grjunberg/Ėdel’man, l.c.: 149): e.g. barxamən ‘having a part, partial’ (bárxa f. ‘part’), rimən ‘purulent, unclean’ (rim ‘pus’), sobmən ‘victorious, conquering’ (sóba f. ‘victory’).


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consonants. The present study is primarily dedicated to the changes that have taken place in the vocalism of the Pashto forms. The outline of the historical phonology of Pashto, given by Skjærvø, CLI: 398 ff., is the starting point of the present study. STRESS

One of the obvious effects of the accent is either the “strengthening” of the vowel, when stressed, or the weakening and even total disappear-ance of the vowel, when unstressed.

The effect on these short vowels seems to have taken place after the Pashto Stress Rule (here abbreviated as PSR), which I postulated most re-cently (Cheung 20105). This rule entails the shift of the accent from a light syllable (i.e. containing a short vowel in open position) to the pre-ceding or following heavy syllable (i.e. containing a long vowel, or being closed6), which is most noticeable in disyllabic forms. The accent in these disyllabic forms would not shift if both syllables were of equal weight (either “light” or “heavy”). In trisyllabic forms the accent tended to be on the middle syllable, provided that the stressing was not on a heavy syllable already. *A

1. > (*)ā in closed and also stressed position7: - lārγa f. ʻdelayʼ < *lārγā < f. *dar(H)gā- (< PIIr./Pre-Ir. *dṛHghá-, f. *dṛHghā-), Old Av. darǝga-, Parth. drg, Skt. dīrghá- ʻlong (also of time)ʼ. - lās m. ‘hand’ < *d(z)ásta-, MP, NP dast, Av. zasta-, Skt. hásta- ‘id.’, etc. - γāṛa f. ʻneckʼ < *gárd/tā-, Sogd. γrδʼkh, Khw. γrδk, MP (Man.) grdn, NP gar-dan ʻid.ʼ. - mālga f. ʻsaltʼ < *namáδgā- (PSR) < *námadkā- or *namádkā-, Sogd. nmʼδkh, Khw. nmθk, M. namalgo, Parth. nmydk, MP (Man.) nmyhk, NP namak ʻid.ʼ. - māt m. ʻbrokenʼ < *mášta- (PSR) < *maštá-, past ptc. Orm. maṣt-, Parth. ʼmšt ʻbrokenʼ.

5 I am also taking the opportunity here to correct a number of erroneous as-sumptions encountered in that article.

6 A syllable generally remains open before *Cy in prehistoric Pashto, both con-sonants would be part of the adjacent syllable. In the case of tyš ʻemptyʼ we have to reconstruct a preform *tussyá-, which is supported by the Ossetic cognate tyssæg ʻid.ʼ (Cheung 2000: 67 ff.), i.e. the initial syllable is closed and therefore heavy, triggering the Pashto stress shift (PSR).

7 Whether a syllable becomes open or closed obviously depends on the develop-ment of specific consonant groups that would have been simplified at different stages in the history of Pashto. This will be discussed in a forthcoming article, Pashto Problems IV.


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- skām < skámba- (PSR) < *skambá-, Av. fraskǝmba- m. ʻfront hallʼ, Skt. skambhá- m. ‘prop, pillar’. - wāwra f. ʻsnowʼ < f. *wáfrā-, Sogd. wfrʼ f., Yi. wárfo f., Kurd. berf f., Zaz. vewr f., NP barf ʻid.ʼ. - zāma, (Eastern dialects) žāma f. ʻjaw; molar toothʼ < *zámbā-, Khot. ysi-mä ʻteethʼ, Skt. jámbha-. - zāṇa-, Waz. zōṇyē, Mahs. zūṇiyē f., zāṇay m. ʻcrane, storkʼ < *zarnā-, Khw. znwk m., Oss. zærnyg/zærnug ‘id.’ (cf. Gr. géranos ‘crane’). This rule also gives us a clue of the origin of plār ‘father’ (Av. pitar-, OP nom. sg. pitā, Sogd. ’ptr-, MP, NP pidar, Skt. pitár- ‘id.’, etc.). Rather than deriving it from the acc. ending *pitáram (Av. pitarǝm) (cf. Morgen-stierne 1942: 95), the alternative solution, from the vocative *pítar, sug-gested by Skjærvø, CLI: 406, is more preferable: *pítar > *pidár (PSR) > plār, Wan. p(i)yār.8 The acc. ending *pitáram would have resulted in Pashto †plar (Wan. †p(i)yar), with short a.

In unstressed, closed position *a has remained a in Pashto, which ap-plies to saṛáy m. ʻmanʼ < *sardáka- ʻfellow ?; the strong one ?ʼ, cf. Av. sa-rǝidiia- m. ʻfellow ?, rival, challenger ?ʼ, Skt. bāhu-śardhín- ʻhaving strong armsʼ, śárdha- m. ʻhost, troopʼ, cf. EWaia II: 619 f.

The form γārmə ʻheatʼ is also remarkable for its long ā. The stem vowel of γārmə may have been imported from sāṛə, both forms are or-iginally masculine plural adjectives in Pashto.

The stem vowel in the case of čāṛə, čāṛá f. ‘large knife, dagger’ (*kart-yā-, Khw. krc f., Kurd. kēr f. ‘knife’, MP, NP kārd ‘knife’, etc.) is odd, being long in the singular but short in the plural, čaṛé. A plausible explanation is currently wanting: the long ā in the sg. is perhaps due to the al-literation with the related form čāqú, čākú ‘penknife’ ?

A kind of vowel alternation can be observed in the forms ās, as m., pl. asúna, āsān ʻhorseʼ (< *áswa-, Av. aspa-, Sogd. ʼsp, Khot. aśśa-, etc.) and ás-pa, (Bellew: 4a) āspa f. ʻmareʼ (< f. *áswā-, Av. aspā- f., Skt. áśvā- f.). Evi-dently, the vocalism of ās / as and áspa / āspa shows mutual contamina-tion. The regular forms cannot be established with certainty.

8 Consequently, the other kinship terms may also derive from the vocative end-

ing: mor ‘mother’ < *mālr (loss of unstressed *a) < *mātar, wror < *wrolr < *brātar. In the case of lur ‘daughter’ any other ending than the vocative seems phonologically unlikely: *dúxtar (or *dúgdar) > *lúgdr > lur. Accusative *duxtáram/ dugdáram (cf. Skt. duhitáram) would have yielded Pashto †l(ǝ)wár, whereas the other dominant ending, the genitive *duxθráh would have become †lǝrə. Of course, the terms that indicate a more distant relationship do not necessarily go back to the vocative.


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2. > *ā > ó before bilabial *u, (*)w in closed position: - owə ʻsevenʼ < *(h)āwda (PSR) + -ə < < *haftá , Av. hapta, Sogd. ʼβd, Oss. avd, MP, NP haft, Skt. saptá ʻid.ʼ, etc. - óxa, úxka f. ʻtearʼ < f. or pl. n. *ásrukā(-), Khot. āṣka-2, Abyāne’i asl f., NP ašk, Av. asrū, Skt. áśru- n. ʻid.ʼ. - pox m. (f. paxá), pl. pāxə ʻripe, cookedʼ < *pāxwa- (PSR) < *paxwá-, Av. Khot. paha-, Oss. fyx/ funx, Skt. pakvá- ʻid.ʼ. - tod m. (f. tawdá) ʻhotʼ < *tāwda (PSR) < past ptc. *taftá-, Av. tafta-, Khot. ttauda-, Skt. taptá- ʻheatedʼ, etc. This rule does not apply if there is already another w present, i.e. wāwra ʻsnowʼ: a very labial form **wówra may have been difficult to pro-nounce. 3. > ó, in closed position, featuring the adjectives: - corb, Waz. cörb m. (pl. cārbə, f. carbá) ʻfatʼ < *cārba (PSR) < *čarpá-, Khot. tcārba-9, NP čarb ʻid.ʼ. - koṇ, kuṇ (f. kaṇá-) ʻdeafʼ < *kārna- (PSR) < *karná-, Av. karǝna-, Khw. kn ʻid.ʼ, Wakhi kĭr ʻcrop-eared (sheep)ʼ. - soṛ m. (f. saṛá), pl. sāṛə ʻcoldʼ < *sārda- (PSR) < PIr. *sar(H)tá- (< PIIr./Pre-Ir. *śṛHtá-), Av. sarǝta-, Wakhi sĭr, Oss. sald, MP, NP sard, Kurd. sār ʻcoldʼ. - xoǧ, f. xwaǧá ʻsweet, pleasant, dearʼ < *xwārza- (PSR), f. *xwarzā < *hwar-zá-, f. *hwarzā-, Av. xvarǝz°-, Khw. xž, Oss. xorz/xwarz, NP xuš ʻgood, agreableʼ. - zoṛ m. (f. zaṛá), pl. zāṛə ʻoldʼ < *zārda- (PSR) < PIr. *zar(H)tá- (< PIIr./Pre-Ir. *źṛHtá-), Av. zarǝta- ʻoldʼ, NP zāl ʻan old man, womanʼ (borrowed). This category consists solely of adjectives, which may indicates that the outcome o in the masculine direct case ending does not stem from a regular sound development. This is also shown by the oblique singular and plural of the masculine forms, which have long ā. This suggests that also the dir. sg. should have originally contain this ā as well. This secon-dary “ablaut” pattern10 may have risen on the basis of other adjectival forms, where o has developed regularly, e.g. in cat. 2., and in adjectives with original *ā.

9 Both Khot. forms, tcārba- and āṣka-, have a secondarily lengthened *a > ā before

certain consonant clusters, thus resulting in a closed syllable (cf. Gercenberg 1965: 56; Emmerick, CLI: 211).

10 This model has also affected the form noǧ, f. naǧá ʻpure, unmixedʼ, which seems to be an early loanword from Pers. (MP / Parth. ?) nōš ʻsweet, pleasant; water of immortalityʼ.


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4. > a before n, in closed position: - wand m. ʻdam, dyke, bundʼ < *bandá-, Av. baṇda-, MP, NP band, Skt. ban-dhá- m. ʻchain, bondʼ (derivational formations, e.g. wandáy m. ʻropeʼ, wan-danáy m. ʻgrass band of a sheafʼ). - wandəl : wand- ʻto scold, insultʼ < *wi-wánda-, cf. Av. vaṇd-, MP (Man.) wnd- ʻpraiseʼ, Khot. vąn- ʻto honourʼ, Skt. vandi ʻto praise, honourʼ (deri-vational formations, e.g. wandəna ʻscoldingʼ11). - cang ʻside, flankʼ, cāng m ʻwingʼ, f. cānga, Waz. conga ʻbranch, twigʼ < *čánga-, Oss. cong ʻarm, twigʼ, NP čang ʻclawʼ, kang ʻwing, branchʼ. - γanəm, Wan. γandəm m. pl. ʻwheatʼ < *gantúma-, Av. gaṇtuma-, MP, NP gandum, Sogd. γntm ʻid.ʼ, etc. The vowel generally remains short. Two other forms that have been considered inherited by Morgenstierne, may be explained differently.

The verb γandəl12 : γand-, γānd- ʻto blame, condamn, criticiseʼ13 (γan-dəna f. ‘blame, probation, condamnation’) has been connected to NP gand ʻstenchʼ, Bal. gandag ʻbadʼ (Av. gaṇti- f. ‘bad smell’, OP gasta- ‘evil, repugnant’, etc.). The connection is awkward, especially considering the odd, presumed shift in meaning, despite Morgenstierne’s insistence (NEVP: 31). Perhaps a better etymology is a connection with *ǰan-/gan- ‘to slay, strike’, cf. Oss. qæn/ǧænæ ‘wound, fracture; shortcoming; (also in Dig.) guilt, transgression’, Skt. ghaná- (m.) ‘slaying’ (Av. ǰan- ‘to slay’, etc.). Alternatively, it may be an expressive formation, cf. Sariq. γind ‘mumble, mutter’, Khufi γinj ‘brief neighing of horses’ (Morgenstierne, EVS: 36), Wa. γinḍ-γónḍ car ‘to slur, hesitate’, γóṇd ‘snuffling’ (Steblin- Kamenskij 1999: 182). As for the pres. stem γānd-, the long -ā- may have been imported from semantically similar verbs, notably traṭəl ‘to reject, punish’, pres. trāṭ- (traṭəna f. ‘telling-off, rebuke; banishment’)

The form spānda (also ispánd) f. ʻwild rueʼ is more likely borrowed14 (cf. Steblin-Kamenskij 1999: 314 f.), than inherited (*spantā, NEVP: 75).

11 NEVP: 88, s.v. 2wand- also mentions wand (from Aslanov 1966: 956b) ʻreason, ar-

gumentʼ (and the verb wandaw- ʻto prove, give reasonsʼ), but this word is evidently a loan translation of Pers. band, whose wide range of meanings includes ʻidea, agree-mentʼ.

12 Also γəndəl ? (cf. Aslanov 1966: 611). 13 The meaning ‘to dislike’ is only found in older dictionaries compiled by Raver-

ty and Bellews, perhaps due to the confusion with γāndə ‘disagreable; loathsome’, which is rather a Persian loanword (gandah ‘rotten, stinking’), contaminated with the Arabic form γā’ít ‘faeces’.

14 Cf. Rosh. sepān, Wa. spandr, Yazgh. spandān, MP spandān, NP ispand, sipand, Bal. spantān ʻid.ʼ. Possibly from Middle Persian / Parthian, cf. Arm. LW spand ‘rue’, MP spandān ‘mustard seed’.


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5. > –i-, before n, in closed position, with i-umlaut (q.v.): - pinjə ʻfiveʼ < *pánča + pl. *-ah, Av. paṇca, Khot. paṃjsa, Sogd. pnc, Oss. fonj, Parth., MP, NP panč ‘id.’, etc. - skindá f. ʻsplintʼ < skandyā- ? (NEVP: 73, with initial stress skínda: wrong ?), Av. skǝṇda- ʻfractureʼ. - wínja- f. ʻslave-girlʼ < *bánda-čī- f. of *bándaka-, OP bandaka-, MP bandag, Khw. βndyk, NP bandah ‘servant, subject’. 6. > ǝ before n, in open stressed position, with i-umlaut (q.v.): - ǧdǝn m. (pl.), Wan. eždən ʻmilletʼ < *harzana-, NP arzan, Yi. yurzun, Khot. āʼysaṃ ʻid.ʼ. - ǰǝn f. ʻyoung girlʼ < *kanin-, Av. kainīn-, Skt. kanyā- ʻyoung womanʼ, ka-nīna- ʻyoungʼ. - plǝn, (Waz.) plan ʻbroad, wideʼ < *paθána- (PSR), Av. paθana-, Oss. fætæn, NP pahn ʻid.ʼ. - stǝn f., Bang stana, Wan. sǝnǰən ʻneedleʼ < *sučánya-, Khot. suṃjsañu, Sh. sij, Oss. suʒin/suʒinæ, MP, NP sōzan, Bal. sōčin, sūčin, etc., cf. Skt. sūcī- f. ‘id.’. - wəna, wúna f. ʻtreeʼ < *wanā- f., Av. vanā-, Sog. wn-, MP wan ʻid.ʼ, Sh. wān f. ʻwillowʼ; also in compounds °wan m. < ntr. *wána-, Skt. vána- ntr. ʻtree, wood(s)ʼ. - ž(ǝ)n- ʻto chop up, minceʼ < *ǰan-, MP, NP zan-/zadan ʻto strike, beatʼ. - zəna, Waz. zan(i)ye, Wan. zení f. ʻchinʼ < f. *zánu- + f. *-ā or *-yā- (?), Av. du. zanauua, Khot. zanuva, Sh. zingůn, Wakhi zǝngúl, Parth. znx, NP zanax, Skt. hánu- f. ʻchinʼ. This also includes (old) borrowings: - from Persian: duxmən, duxmán ‘enemy’ (Pers. dušman), qahrmən ‘cham-pion, hero’ (Pers. qahremān, ultim. < Turkic). - from Greek (one single example ?): mečən f. ‘hand-mill, quern’ (ultim. mēkanḗ). The origin of several forms is somewhat uncertain: - čəna f. ʻthe outside of a house wallʼ < borrowing ?, cf. Pers. čīnah ʻa course of bricks or stone in a wallʼ, Munj. čin- ʻto build a wallʼ (NEVP: 20: from *kanī- ?). - ǧmǝnj, (Wan.) wženz, wženj, uženz, žmenz < *pašána-čī ? The preform *fšan-čī- suggested in EVP: 106 (NEVP: 29; also Skjærvø, CLI: 404) is hardly satisfactory, without any morphological analysis being provided. It does not seem to have exact correspondences within Indo-Iranian, only somewhat similar forms have been cited: M. šfīn (Morgen-


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stierne, IIFL II: 250b), Sangl. afšūn, Ishk. šofūn, NP šānah. Perhaps, the Pashto form (and its variants) goes back to the *ana-formation of the root *paš ‘to comb’ (Oss. fasyn/fasun, Yaghn. nĭpóš, Yi. nuvāš ‘to comb’, Wa. nəbəsn ‘comb’, Cheung, EDIV: 29915).

The centralisation of the vowel *a > ə / ə, especially in the final sylla-ble is almost without exception. This development suggests that it must be due to the result of some sort of i- and/or u-epenthesis/umlaut. It can be noted that normally old *u, *ū, *i, *ī would have become ə. We can surmise that prior to the distorting effect of the strong stress, Pashto had the (thematic) case endings, nom. *i (< PIr. *-ah), gen. *-iya (< PIr. *-ahya), and acc. *-u (< PIr. *-am), a development that is similar to other East Iranian languages (Sogd., Khot., Oss.). The corresponding feminine endings would have been nom. (*)-a (< PIr. *-ā) and gen. *-(a)ya or -(a)yi (< PIr. *-āyāh), *-o (< PIr. *- ām)16. Of course, it is also possible that the feminine has simply adopted (most of) the masculine endings. Regardless what has taken place in the feminine, we no longer need to postulate the presence of an ad hoc relational suffix *-ya / -yā.

Forms such as plən /plan ‘wide’, duxmən/duxmán ‘enemy’ can be ac-counted for if we assume that that the variant °an (often preserved in the dialects) goes back to the acc. *-u (< *-am), whereas the more ubi-quitous °ən derives from the nom. and/or gen. On the effect of i- and/or u-epenthesis/umlaut, see further down below. 7. > a in open, stressed position: - γar m. ʻmountainʼ < *gári-, cf. Av. gairi- m., khot. gara-, ggari-, Sogd. γr-, Skt. girí- m. ‘mountain, hill’. - las ʻtenʼ < *dása, Av. dasa, Khot., dasau, Sh. δīs, Yi. los, Wakhi δas, MP, NP dah, Skt. dáśa ʻid.ʼ, etc. (cf. lās < *dásta-). - xar m., pl. xrə ‘ass, donkey’ < *xára-, Av. xara-, Khot. khara-, Sogd. xr-, Parth., MP, NP xar ‘id.’, etc. 8. *a > ø in open, unstressed position: - bən f. ‘co-wife’ < *hapáθnī-, Av. hapaθnī-, Skt. sapátni- f. ‘id.’. - swa f. ʻhoofʼ < *safā-, Av. safa- m., Skt. sapha- m. ʻid.ʼ. - zǝ ʻIʼ < *azám, Av. azǝm, Khot. aysu, Sogd. zw, Kurd. az, Skt. ahám ʻid.ʼ passim.

15 The meanings, ‘to shave’ and ‘to shear’ assigned to the (only East Iranian ?)

root *paš in this work are evidently erroneous, as all the attested Iranian cor-respondences point to ‘to comb’.

16 The change to *o is assumed on the basis of the Khot. evidence, but this would no doubt be replaced later on in Pashto, as it would coincide with the oblique pl. –o.


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*Ā

1. > o in stressed position: - bob ʻpure, unmixed, unalloyedʼ < *abāba- (PSR) < *apāpa- or *apāpá- (*apa-āpa- ʻdevoid of waterʼ), cf. Bact. ababgo ʻwaterlessʼ. - calór ʻfourʼ < *čaθwāra-, Khot. tcahora-, Sogd. ctβ’r, Oss. cyppar / cuppar, Parth. cf’r, MP, NP čahār, Skt. catvāraḥ, etc. - dwólas ‘twelve’ < *dwādasa, Khot. dvāsä, Parth. dw’dys, NP dawāzdah, Av. duuadasa, Skt. dvādaśa. - lor m. ‘sickle’ < ntr. *dāθram, Wa. δĭtr, dǝtr, MP, NP dās, Skt. n. dātram ‘id.’, etc. - óspǝna, óspina f. ʻironʼ < *āswanyā- (initial stressing is original ?), Khw. ʼspny, Sh. sipin, MP, NP āhan ʻid.ʼ (also zerograde *āsuna- in MP (Man.) ’’hwn, Parth. ’’swn, Kurd. āsin m.). - por m. ʻloan, debtʼ < *pāra- (PSR) < *pārá- or *pāra-, Av. pāra- ʻguilt, debtʼ - póre ʻacross, beyondʼ < *pār° (PSR) < *pārá-, Av. pāra-, Khot. pāra- ʻbor-derʼ, Skt. pārá- ʻgoing beyond; opposite bankʼ. - stóray m. ʻstarʼ < *stāraka-, Khot. stāraa-, Khw. stʼryk m., M. storǝy, MP stārag, Skt. tārakā- f. ʻid.ʼ. - wróγ m. ʻcrowʼ < *warāγa- (PSR), cf. Khw. wrʼγ, MP warāγ, Bal. gurāg ʻid.ʼ. - wo m. ‘wind’ < * wāta-, MP wād, NP bād, Skt. vāta- m. ‘id.’, etc. 2. > u before N: - lúma17 f. ‘snare, noose’ < *dāma + f. -a, Sogd. (Man.) δʼmʼ, Parth. dʼmg, MP, NP dām ʻsnare, trapʼ, Skt. dāman- ʻchain, bondʼ. - mlúna f., Waz. vlīna, Wan. awlūn ʻbridleʼ < f. *abi-dānā-, Av. °aiβiδāna-, Sogd. βδʼʼnh, Khot. byāna-, M. avlān, Sariq. viδun, Yazgh. avδen, Oss. (w)i-don / jidonæ ʻid.ʼ. - num m. ‘name’ < *nāma, Av. nāman- ntr., OP nāman-, Khot. nāma, Sogd. nʼm, Sh. nům, Rosh. nom, Sariq. num, Oss. nom, MP, NP nām, Skt. nāman- ʻid.ʼ, etc. - patún m. ʻthighʼ < *pati-štāna-, Av. paitištāna- ntr., MP padištān ʻlegʼ, Sogd. ptštʼn, Sh. bix ůn, M. píšken ʻthighʼ. - šum- ʻto drink, gulpʼ < *čyām-, Av. ṧam-, Khot. tsām- ʻto swallowʼ, Sogd. šʼm ʻto swallow, gulpʼ, Oss. cymyn/cumun ʻto gulp, sipʼ, NP āšāmidan ʻto drinkʼ, Skt. ā-cām- ʻto gulpʼ, etc. - um, om (Khl.), (y)īm (Waz.) ‘raw, unripe’ < *āma- (PSR) < PIr. *Hāmá-, Khot. hāma-, Oss. xom, NP xām, Skt. āmá- ‘id.’.

17 The synonymous femin. forms taláka and kuṛakǝy may have given rise to the

different variants of lúma: lumǝka, lumǝy.


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- zum m. ʻson-in-lawʼ < *zām°, Av. zāmātar-, Sogd. (Man.) z’mt’yty, MP, NP dāmād, Abyāne’i zūmōy (m.), Bal. zāmāt, Skt. jāmātar-, Askhun zamā ‘id.’, etc.

A problematic instance is obǝ f. pl. ‘water’ (cf. Skt. áp- f., sg. nom. āp, gen. apáḥ, etc.), which is a plurale tantum. Morgenstierne 1983: 171 con-sidered the form a direct continuation of the old plural of *ap-: “Nom. Plur. Mask. auf -ə darf man wohl direkt auf *-āh zurückführen. Vgl. auch obə f. plur. “Wasser” < *āpāh (für -ah)”. Rather, the original form may simply be *ob from older *āp, to which the (stressed) -ǝ has been added secondarily and interpreted as a pl. ending.18

3. > a in open, unstressed position: - aγúnd-: aγustəl ʻto put on, donʼ < *ā-gúnda-, Sogd. ’’γwnt, (Man.) ’’γwnd/ ’’γwst ‘to cover, dress’ with different prefix, Par. āγun- / āγust- ‘to dress, put on’, Oss. aγoyndyn/aγoyst ‘to cover a building’. - kará ʻin/from the houseʼ < abl.19 *kārāt, OP kāra- ʻarmy, peopleʼ. Also the frequently unstressed final feminine *-ā may have become shortened to -a in Pashto. This outcome would have been generalised, at the expense of stressed f. *-ā > Pashto -ó.20

4. > ā in closed, unstressed position: - wrārǝ ‘nephew, brother’s son’ < *βrālrúya- (PSR) < *brāθruyá-, Av. brāt-ruiia- m. ‘brother’s son’, Skt. bhrātṛvya- ‘id.’. *U AND *Ū

According to Skjærvø, CLI: 400, PIr. *u would have yielded: - a, in hask ʻtall, highʼ (*uskah), cf. Geiger 1893: 10. - stressed ə, in wrəǧa f. ʻfleaʼ (*frušā-). - ø, in nǧor ʻdaughter-in-lawʼ (*(s)nušā- + -or). - with secondary lengthening *ū > Pash. u, in sur ʻredʼ (*suxrá-).

In final position, *-u would have resulted in: - *uw > Pash. -ǝ, in psǝ ʻsheepʼ (*pasú(š)).

18 Comparable (liquid) mass nouns are, as a rule, pluralia tantum in Pashto, such as gǝnāški f. pl. ʻslow, flowing waterʼ, gwaṛí m. pl. ʻgheeʼ, māstǝ m. pl. ʻcurdsʼ (NEVP: 52), mǝtiāzi, mǝtiāze f. pl. ʻurineʼ (NEVP: 54, s.v. mež- : mit-), mu m. pl. ʻcongealed fatʼ (NEVP: 48), orǝ m. pl. ʻflourʼ (NEVP: 10), šawdǝ, šodǝ m. pl., šudé f. pl., (Western dial.) šidé f. pl. ʻmilkʼ (NEVP: 80). Even recent borrowings such as āyl m. ʻoil, greaseʼ (< Engl. oil), tel m. ʻbutter, oilʼ (< Lahnda, Punjabi tel) have been re-interpreted as a plurale tantum.

19 The form kor ʻhouseʼ, on the other hand, reflects nom./acc. *kāráh/kārám (> *kār°, PSR).

20 The most likely reason is to avoid convergence with the oblique pl. ending -o.


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This rather awkward outcome may be simplified as follows. 1. > ǝ (generally) in stressed, open position: - γanəm, Wan. γandəm m. pl. ʻwheatʼ < *gantúma-, Av. gaṇtuma-, MP, NP gandum, Sogd. γntm ʻid.ʼ, etc. - lǝm m. ʻ(sheep) tailʼ < *dúma-21, Av. duma-, Sogd. (Man.) δwm, Khot. du-maa-, Oss. dymæg/dumæg, NP dum(b) ʻtailʼ, etc. - psǝ ʻsheepʼ < acc. *pasúm, Av. pasu-, Khot. pasa-, Oss. fys/fus, Skt. paśú-, etc. - səǧay m. ʻlungsʼ < du. *suši + -ay, Av. suši, Khot. suvʼä, MP, NP šuš ʻid.ʼ, etc. - təš, Wan. təs ‘empty’ < *túsya- (PSR) < *tussyá-22, cf. Khot. tuśśaa-, Oss. (Iron) tyssæg, Parth. twsyk, MP tuhig, NP tuhī, Skt. tucchyá- ʻid.ʼ. - wrārǝ ‘nephew, brother’s son’ < *βrālrúya- (PSR) < *brāθruyá-, Av. brāt-ruiia- m. ‘brother’s son’, Skt. bhrātṛvya- ‘id.’. - wrəǧa f. ʻfleaʼ <*frúši- + f. *-ā 23, Sogd. ʼβšʼʼh f., Yi. friγo, Skt. plúṣi- m. ʻid.ʼ. - wǝz m. ʻgoatʼ < *búza- m., Av. būza-, MP, NP buz ʻid.ʼ.

The delabialisation of short *u is of recent date, which can be found in recent loanwords as well, e.g. uləs ʻpeople, folksʼ (< Turkic ūlus), sǝstí ʻweakness, impotenceʼ (< Pers. sustī). 2. > ø in unstressed, open position: - bar ʻtop, summitʼ< *ubára- (PSR) < *úpara-, Av. upara- ʻhigherʼ, MP, NP bar ʻonʼ, Skt. úpara- ʻ superiorʼ, etc. - sra f. ʻredʼ < f. *suxrā-, Skt. f. śukrā-, see also sur m. (q.v.). - w(u)zá f. ʻnanny-goatʼ < *βuzā (PSR) < *búzā- m., Av. būza-, MP, NP buz ʻid.ʼ. 3. > u in closed position: - aγúnd-: aγustəl ʻto put on, donʼ < *ā-gúnda-, Sogd. ’’γwnt, (Man.) ’’γwnd / ’’γwst ‘to cover, dress’ with different prefix, Par. āγun- / āγust- ‘to dress, put on’, Oss. aγoyndyn/aγoyst ‘to cover a building’. - búr, f. búra ‘having lost a son, childless’ < *apúθra-, cf. Skt. apútra- ʻwith-out sonʼ.

21 Final stressed **dumá- would have become Pash. **l(ə)mə, cf. psə ‘sheep’ < *pa-sú-.

22 On the preform *tussya-(ka-) see Cheung 2000: 69 ff. Obviously, the consonant cluster *ssy would have seen further simplification prior to *u > ə.

23 The accent of wrəǧa is unexpected, as we would expect **w(ǝ)rǧá, but it can be noticed that designations for ʻsmall verminʼ, such as məǧa ʻratʼ, ǧγānja, káyka ʻfleaʼ, ričá ʻnitʼ are generally feminine. Similarly wrəǧa may have been feminised after the PSR stage, parallel to the Sogd. cognate form.


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- gúta f., Wan. nəgút ʻfinger’ < *angúštā-, Av. angušta- m. ʻtoeʼ, MP, NP an-gušt, Skt. aṅgúṣṭha-, aṅgúli- f. ‘finger, toe’. - lur f. ʻdaughterʼ < voc. *dúxtar, cf. Av. dugǝdar-, duγdar-, Khot. dutar-, Waxi δǝγd, Yazg. δoγd, plur. δǝdar, M. ləγda, Yi. lúγdo, MP duxtar, duxt, NP duxtar ʻid.ʼ, Skt. voc. dúhitar ʻoh daughter!ʼ, etc. - púča, pəča f., Wan. pukē ʻdroppings of sheep, goat and camelʼ < *puškā- (?), M. puška, Sh. paxč, Wa. pǝšk ʻdroppings of sheep or camelʼ, NP pušk ʻsheep or camelʼs dungʼ, cf. Khot. pulske ʻexcrementsʼ, etc. (DKS: 246, Steblin-Kamenskij 1999: 280). - ruǧd ʻhabituated, accustomedʼ < *fra-(y)ux(š)ta- ʻtrained, used toʼ, Sogd. yxs- ‘to acquire, contract a habit’, ywxs-, ywxs- ‘to learn, study, be taught’, Yi. yůxs-/yůxt-, M. yúxs-/yuxt- (inch.) ‘to learn’, Yaghn. yūxs-/ yūxta- ‘to get used, accustomed to, to contract an (annoying) habit’, Wa. yǝxk (ppp.) ‘learned’.24 - sur m. ʻredʼ < *súxra- (PSR) < *suxrá-, Av. suxra-, Oss. syrx/surx, MP suxr, NP surx ʻredʼ, Skt. śukrá- ʻshining (white)ʼ, etc. - ux m. ʻcamelʼ < *úštra- m., Av. uštra-, Sogd. xwštr, NP šutur, Skt. úṣṭra- m., etc. - wuč ʻdryʼ < *huška-, Av. huška-, Khot. huṣka-, MP, NP xušk, Skt. śuska- ʻid.ʼ, etc. The outcome a is rarely found, notably in hask, and should not be con-sidered in our survey. It is more likely that hask is merely a contracted form of deictic ha- ʻthatʼ and *usk (< *uska-, Av. uskāt , Khot. uska, Khw. ʼsk, etc.).

Another putative example, páča (see pəča, α.), cannot be used here either, as the form has probably been translitterated inaccurately (cited by Geiger 1893: 18). The standard form, as found in Aslanov and Kabir/ Wardak 1999 is either pəča or púča (cf. Aslanov 1966: 160b, Bellew 1901).

4. PIr. *-am > *u > ə in stressed position: - o(w)rə, warə ʻa cloudʼ < *aβrú < ntr. *abrám, Av. aβram ntr., MP, NP abr, Skt. abhrám ntr. ‘id.’, also Oss. arv ʻskyʼ (*ha-abra-, cf. Cheung 2002: 154). - zǝ ʻIʼ < *azú < *azám, Av. azǝm, OP adam, Sogd. ’zw, Khot. aysu, Oss. æz, Skt. ahám ʻIʼ, etc. The development PIr. *-am > *u can be found in several East Iranian lan-guages, probably also including Pashto.

24 Not from *fra-wrzda-, Skt. pravṛddha- ʻgrown up, fully developedʼ (NEVP: 69).


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5. Old *ū may have merged with short *u, but only after PSR: - məǧa f. ʻratʼ < *mūš- + f. *-ā, cf. Khw. mwf f., Oss. myst/mistæ ʻmouseʼ, MP, NP mūš, Skt. mūṣ- m., f. ʻmouse, ratʼ. - nən ‘today’ < *nūnu (PSR) < *nūnám, cf. MP, NP nūn, Skt. nūnám ʻnowʼ. - stǝn f. ʻpost, pillarʼ < *stūni-, Av. stuna-, stūna-, Khot. stūnā-, OP stūnā-, MP stūn, NP sitūn, Skt. sthūṇā- ʻid.ʼ, etc. - stər ‘big, large’ < *stūra- (PSR) < *stūrá-, cf. Av. °stūra-, Khot. stura-, Oss. æstyr/ æstur, Skt. sthūrá- ‘id.’. - wrəja, wrúja25 f. ʻeyebrowʼ < *brū-čī- + f. *-ā, Ishk. vric, cf. Av. dat. pl. f. bruuat.biiąm, Sogd. βrʼwkh, Khw. βrwc, Wakhi vrǝw, MP brūg, NP abrū, Skt. bhrū- f. ʻid.ʼ, etc.

There are two instances that would show final -u in Pashto. The form lu pl. tant. m. ‘smoke’ < *dūta- (Sh. δūd, Sariq. δůd, Yazgh. δod, MP, NP dūd ʻsmokeʼ) usually occurs as the diminutive formation lugáy. This for-mation may go back to earlier < *lúdgay or *lúlgay. As the stem vowel was in front of the medial consonant cluster (and hence, closed sylla-ble), it would have become Pashto u. Subsequently, a simple form lu would have been abstracted from this dimin. formation.

The other form mu m. pl. tant. ‘congealed fat’ is more likely to be a borrowing from Indo-Aryan (cf. Waig. muī ʻmarrowʼ, Phal. mī m. ʻmar-rowʼ, Shina. mī f. ʻfatʼ), rather than inherited (~Av. mūθra- ‘excrements’, NEVP: 48).

An interesting borrowing can be mentioned here as well: - həg m. ‘pig’ < MP/Parth. hwg [hūg] ‘id.’ (Sundermann 1981: 162), cf. NP xūg ‘id.’.26 (not in EVP / NEVP). 6. > wə, (w)u after velar: - γwəl, γwul m. pl. ‘shit’ < *gūθa-, Av. gūθa-, guθa- ‘faeces’, Khot. gū-, Khw. γwθ, Sh. γaθ, gi (contaminated with NP gūh ?, Steblin-Kamenskij 1999: 177), MP, NP gūh, Skt. (late) gūtha- m. / ntr. - kwəna f. ‘backside’ < f. *kūnā-, Kurd. kūn f., Abuzeydabadi, Abyanei kǖn f., MP, NP kūn ‘id.’, etc.

Pashto kwəna f. ‘backside’ has been omitted in NEVP, presumably be-cause it might be a loanword from Persian (EVP: 32). The feminine char-acter of the form, which is also attested in the West Iranian languages

25 Wrúja is the more common variant, as wrəja is also homonymous with wrəja

ʻ(sheep) tickʼ: the vocalism of wrúja may come from the NP borrowing abrū or reflect a pl. form *bruwah ?

26 A genuine Pashto form would have been †wəg or †wəy. Pashto has also bor-rowed NP xūg.


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that distinguish gender, may suggest that it is inherited rather than borrowed.27 *I AND *Ī

The vowels *i and *ī would have merged, similar to *u and *ū.

1. > ǝ in an open, stressed position: - bǝl, Wan. bī (f. bəla, Wan. biyā) ʻsecond, otherʼ < *dwitiya-, cf. Av. bitiia-, Sogd. δβtyk ‘second’, etc., or < *dwita-, cf. Khot. śäta- ‘second’, Parth. byd ʻagain’, Skt. (adv.) dvitā ʻfor the second time, as beforeʼ. - šəga, Wan. sǝga f. ʻsand, gravelʼ < *sikā- ?, OP θika°, Khot. siyatā-, Orm. sigo, saga ʻsandʼ, Oss. sygyt/sigit ʻsoilʼ, also Phalura šíga ‘sand’ (from older Pashto). - x əl, also m. xal (Aslanov 1966: 566b) ‘stairway of stones and earth’ < *srita-, *sriti-, Yazgh. xad ‘ladder’, Khw. ’šc f. ‘ladder’, Skt. śritá- ‘situated, depended on’, etc. Absolutely unambiguous instances of short *i becoming ǝ are difficult to find in Pashto, as *i is often in an unstressed syllable, and therefore lia-ble to loss. Even the forms quoted here are problematic, as it cannot be excluded that ǝ in some of these instances is anatyptic, serving to allevi-ate the pronounciation of an awkward cluster.

The preform of bǝl, Wan. bī (f. bəla, Wan. biyā) ʻsecond, otherʼ is somewhat unclear. It is derived from *dwitiya- or *dwita-. Both recon-structions *dwitīya- and *dwitá- would have been acceptable, in my opinion: * dwitīya- (PSR) could have yielded Pashto *blǝ (= Wan. bī), but this cluster would have been metathesized to bǝl, cf. sǝl ‘hundred’ < *slǝ < *satám (Cheung 2010: 115).

The outcome, the initial b-, has not been explained sofar: the old *dw appears to have yielded w- in war ʻdoorʼ (*dwar-) and dw- in dwa ʻtwoʼ (*duwā), besides b-. Perhaps, it may be imported from byā ‘again, anew’ (< Indo-Aryan, cf. Punjabi, Lahnda biā ‘again’) ?

The form x əl and its apparent variant xal are derived from a ntr. or masc. form *sritá-, which would have become †xlə, which again has an inadmissible initial cluster group *xl.

Finally, the preform *sikā-, with the assumed accent on long ˚ā (PSR), should have yielded †šgá. Even with an anatyptic vowel, the form should have remained final-stressed **šǝgá. As the ‘sand’ forms are typi-cal Wanderwörter, also Pashto šəga could be an old borrowing, for in-

27 Evidently the derivative formation kwəní ‘(homosexual) passive’ is a loan

translation of Pers. kūnī.


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stance from Parth. or MP, which tend to have initial stress, cf. MP, Parth. sygd [sígad], MP sygyn [sígēn], [ségēn] ‘stony, of stone’ (Durkin-Meisterernst 2004: 312). The loss of final ˚d would have occurred at a later stage, resulting in the feminine assignment of šəga. 2. > ø in unstressed, open position: - mlúna f., Waz. vlīna, Wan. awlūn ʻbridleʼ < f. *abi-dānā-, Av. °aiβiδāna-, Sogd. βδʼʼnh, Khot. byāna-, M. avlān, Sariq. viδun, Yazgh. avδen, Oss. (w)i-don/jidonæ ʻid.ʼ. - patún m. ʻthighʼ < *pati-štāna-, Av. paitištāna- ntr., MP padištān ʻlegʼ, Sogd. ptštʼn, Sh. bix ůn, M. píšken ʻthighʼ. - weǧd m. ‘pillow’ < nom. sg. *βárzi (PSR) < *barzíš-, Av. barəziš- ntr. ‘pil-low, cushion’, Wakhi vorz, Oss. baz ‘cushion’, MP, NP bāliš ‘pillow, cush-ion’, etc., Skt. barhíṣ- ntr. ‘sacrificial straw’. - wlešt, Wan. lwast f. ‘span between the thumb and little finger’ < *wi-táisti- (PSR) < *wí-tasti-, Av. vītasti-, Oss. wydisn(y) / uʒesnæ, MP widest, NP bidast, Skt. vítasti- f. ‘id.’. 3. > i in a closed position: - writ m., f. writá ʻroasted, friedʼ < *βríγta- (PSR), f. *βriγtá- < *brixtá-, f. *brixtā-, Wa. vrǝšt-, Bal. brēxta, ‘id.’, Khw. βryγ ʻkebabʼ, MP brištan, NP bi-rištan ‘to roast, fry’, Skt. bhṛṣṭá- ‘roasted’, etc. - wit ‘open, wide, ajar’ < *wíšta- (PSR) < *wištá-, OP višta- ‘unbound’ (in °aspa- personal name), cf. MP wišā-, NP gušāy- ‘to release’, Sh. wixi(y)- : wixid, Rosh. wixay- : wixid, Bart. wixī- : wixīd ‘to open, unlock’, etc. (Cheung, EDIV: 135 f.). 4. *ī > ǝ: - rǝma f. (usually pl. rǝme) ʻfluid excrement, diarrhoeaʼ < f. / pl. *rīmā, Khot. rrīma- ʻfaeces, filth, dirtʼ, Sogd. (Bud.) rym, rymh, NP. rīm ʻpusʼ, Av. irimaṇt- ʻfull of filthʼ. - x ǝja f. ʻwomanʼ < *strī-čī- + f. *-ā, Sogd. ʼstryc (*strī-čī-ā-, Sims-Williams, CLI: 190, Sangl. ṣǝc, Av. strī- f., Skt. strī- f. ʻid.ʼ. - žər, zər ’quick’ < *ǰīra- (PSR) < *ǰīrá-, Av. jira- ‘quick, quick witted’, NP, MP zīrak ‘clever, astute’, Skt. jīrá-‘quick, quick witted’. Also in borrowings from Persian, e.g.: - enjǝr m. ‘fig’ (variant anjír m.) < Pers. anǰīr ‘id.’ 5. Final PIr. *-ah > *ī: - meṛǝ m. (voc. máṛa) ‘husband; manly, brave, generous’ < *mārdī < nom. *martáh, cf. Av. marəta- m. (< *martá-), MP, NP mard ʻmanʼ.


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- udə, Kandahari bidə (Waz. wewd, Mahs. wȫwd)28 ‘asleep’ < *(h)uβdī < nom. *huftáh, Skt. suptá- ‘id.’. - zǝr ʻthousandʼ < *(h)azīrī < *hazáhrah, Av. pl. hazaŋrō, Sogd. zʼr, MP, NP hazār, Skt. sahásram ʻthousandʼ, etc. Final PIr. *-ah may have resulted in *ī, which is a common East Iranian development. Subsequently, it would have become ə in Pashto, if stressed (see further i-umlaut, q.v.).

In the case of marγə, murγə, mərγə m. ‘bird’ < *mṛgá-, cf. Skt. mṛgá- m. ‘wild animal’, the variants may reflect the generalisation of different case endings, on which see further below. *AU

1. > wa - γwaǧ, dial. γweǧ m. ʻearʼ < *gauša-, Av. gaoša-, Sogd. γwš, MP, NP gōš ʻid.ʼ, etc., Skt. ghóṣa- m. ʻnoise, soundʼ. - lwaγ, (Khushhal Khan) lweγ ʻmilkingʼ < *dáuga-, Sh. δůγ, NP dōγ ʻbutter-milk, a kind of yoghurt drinkʼ, Skt. dóha- m. ʻmilkingʼ. - lwaš-, dial. (a)lweš- ʻto milkʼ < *dáučya- (not *dauxšaya-, Skærvø, CLI: 400). - rwaj, Waz. wrǝz, Wan. wrez, f. ʻdayʼ < *raučah-, Av. raocah- ntr. ‘light’, OP raučah-, MP, NP rōz, Kurd. rōj ‘day’, Skt. rócas- ntr. ʻlightʼ. The diphthongs may have gone first to monophthongised *ō, and sub-sequently, the diphthongisation wa, wǝ, we would have occurred in the different Pashto dialects.

The forms xol m., Waz. xēl ʻhelmetʼ, xwála f. ʻhatʼ are unclear: they are either from *xauda- or a borrowing from another Ir. language (e.g. Bactrian), which seems all the more likely in view of the variety of the forms. The form šómle f. pl. ʻbuttermilkʼ can hardly derive from *xšau-dah-, Av. xšaodah- ʻstream, currentʼ. 2. > u - γúna f. ʻcolour, complexion; body hairʼ < ntr. pl. ? *gáunā, Av. gaona-, Khot. ggūna-, Khw. γwn ʻcolourʼ, MP, NP gūn ʻcolour, kind, mannerʼ. - ruṇ, f. rúṇa ʻbrightʼ < *ráuxšna-, Av. raoxšna-, Sog. (Man.) rwxšn, MP, NP rōšan, Wa. ruxn ‘id.’.

28 Some dialect variants that appear to show i-umlaut, may reflect the old nomi-

native: *(h)uβdī > *wiwdí > common Pash. *wyəwdə. Other variants appear to be based on the accusative: *(h)úβdu > common Pash. *wuwd.


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- yun m. ʻmovement; gait, stepʼ < *yauna-, Av. yaona-, Khot. gyūna-, jūna- ʻmovement, gaitʼ.

In front of -n, the monophthongised *ō appears to have joined *ā and has thus become u.

Some forms are difficult to explain. The form xna f. ʻleg, hipboneʼ is usually connected to Av. sraoni, Khot. ṣṣūñi ʻloinsʼ, Sogd. (Buddh.) šwn, Sh. x ūn, Skt. śróṇi- f. (usually du.) ʻhipʼ, cf. NEVP: 98. We would expect a form like †xún(a). In Cheung 2010: 114, I have assumed a contamination with pxa ʻfootʼ, but see further below. There is also an apparent com-pounded formation xánga ʻlegʼ, with °anga from Indo-Aryan ?, cf. Skt. áṅga- ntr. ʻlimbʼ.

Also unclear are: - niz, nyuz, nyoz m. ʻflood, torrentʼ < *ni-yauza- ? - zwǝǧ m., Waz. (Raverty) zwaǧ ʻbitterness, distress; gallʼ < *a-zauša-?, cf. Pers. zōš ʻwicked, violentʼ, Arm. LW zoš ʻuglyʼ (rather ~ Pers. zišt ʻid.ʼ ?).

*AI

1. > e: - γelé f. pl. ‘flocks’ < pl. *gaiθāh, Av. pl. instr. pl. gaēθābiš ‘living beings’, OP gaēθā- f. ‘cattle, flocks’, MP gēhān, NP ǰihān ‘world’, cf. Skt. gehá- ntr. ‘dwelling, house’. - lemə m. pl. ʻeyesʼ < ntr. *daima + pl. -ə, cf. Av. daēman- ntr. ʻeyeʼ, MP, NP dēm ʻface, countenance, cheekʼ. - lewár m. ‘husband’s brother’ < *daiwár-, Yaghn. séwir, siwir, Ishk. sew, Oss. tiw/tew, Skt. devár-, devara- ‘id.’, etc. - lewə m. ‘beast of prey’ < *daiwíya- or *daiwáya- ‘daevic animal’. - me encl. pron. ʻme, of meʼ < *mai, Av. mē, mōi, OP -maiy, Khot. -mä, MP, NP -m, Skt. -me ‘id.’. - meǧ, Afr. myag (influenced by m. ?), Wan. myež f. ʻeweʼ < *maišī-, Av. maēšī-, Abyane’i meš f., Skt. meṣī- ʻid.ʼ. - melmá m. ‘guest’ < *maiθmán-, Parth. myhm’n, MP, NP mehmān, Yazgh. miθmen ‘id.’. - welá29 ‘advantage, profit, gain’ < pl. ntr. *wáidā, Av. vaēδah- ntr. ‘posses-sions’, Skt. védas- ntr. ‘possessions’. - wex m. ‘root, base’ < *waixa-, Sogd. wyx, Parth. wyx, NP bēx ‘id.’. - xež- : xat- ‘to rise’, *xaiza-, Khw. m|xyz- ‘to rise, get up’, Oss. xizyn/xezun ‘to climb’, NP xēz- ‘to rise, get up’, cf. MP Man. (+ *awa-) ’wxyz- ‘to des-cend’, Parth. (+ *ā-) ’xyz- ‘to rise’.

29 The accent of welá is from bahrá f. (< Arab.-Pers.), sarfá (< Arab.-Pers.), xa f. ‘ad-vantage, profit, gain’ ?


186

The exceptions to this development are: - maǧ, Wan. myaž m. ʻramʼ < *máiša- (PSR) < *maišá- m., Av. maēša- m. ʻsheepʼ, Khw. ʼmh f. ʻeweʼ, MP, NP mēš ʻsheep, ramʼ, Skt. meṣá- m. ʻramʼ. - wəla, wála, wúla f. ʻwillowʼ < *waiti- + f. -a, Av. vaēti-, M. wīya, NP bēd, Bal. gēt ʻid.ʼ. - xwalá f., Waz. xēla, Bang. xolyá, Ghilz. xwolyé, Sher. xwǝlye (usually pl. xwalé) ‘sweat’ < *hwaidā-, Kurd. xwih f. (< f. *hwidā- ?), cf. Av. xvaēδa- m., Sh. xēδ, Skt. svéda- m. ʻid.ʼ, etc. - yaw, yow m., f. yawá, Afr. iwá, Bang. ewá ʻoneʼ < *aiwá-, *aiwā-, Av. aēuua- m., aēuuā- f., Khot. śśau, Sogd. ʼyw, Oss. iw/(j)ew, MP, NP yek ʻid.ʼ, etc.

In the case of yaw, it can be noted that in many Ir. languages, most pro-minently in Persian, a prothetic y- has developed for which there is no doubt a phonetic reason: the unique, monosyllabic *ēw may have been quite challenging to pronounce, resulting into a diphthongisation of *ew > *yew > *yǝw or yaw.

As noted by Morgenstierne (NEVP: 48; EVP: 49) the vocalism of maǧ is difficult to account for. It may have been influenced by similar forms, such as warg m. ‘3-year old ram’.

The wəla, wála, wúla forms are semantically and formally very similar to wána, wúna f. ‘tree’, to which they may have been contaminated.

Finally, xwalá and all its divergent variants, which are difficult to re-concile, are perhaps borrowings from certain Pamir languages, cf. Orm. xola, Yidya xul, Yazg. xwiδ ʻid.ʼ. The suggested preform *xwaidiyā- (NEVP: 97) has no further correspondence in (Indo-)Iranian. 2. > i before -n: - spin m., f. spína ʻwhiteʼ < (<) *spáila (PSR) < *swaitá-, Av. spaēta-, Khot. śśita-/śśiiya-, Sogd. spytk, Yi. spī, Parth. ʻspyd, MP spēd, NP (LW) sipēd ʻid.ʼ, etc. - šin m. ʻgreen, blueʼ < *axšáina- (PSR) < *axšainá-, Av. axšaēna-, Khot. āṣ-ṣeina-, Oss. æxsin, Kurd. šīn ‘id.ʼ. - win- ʻto seeʼ < *wáina-, Av. vaēna-, OP vain-, Sogd. wyn, Parth., MP wyn-, NP bīn- ‘id.’, etc. The connection of the Pashto form spin m., f. spína with the rare Rig-vedic formation śvítna- ʻwhiteʼ (attested only twice ) that was suggested by Morgenstierne (NEVP: 75; EVP: 68), is rather spurious, cf. Mayrhofer, KEWAia II: 678. The Pashto form is more likely cognate with Av. spaēta- etc., which is well attested in (Indo-)Iranian. The expected Pashto out-come †spel may have been influenced by the ʻblue, greenʼ word sin: >> spin.


187

3. > ø in unstressed position: - f. šna ʻgreen, blueʼ < f. *axšainā-30, cf. šin m. *Ṛ

Old vocalic *ṛ is extremely susceptible to its surroundings.

1. > ǝṛ in stressed syllable (before *t), > ǝṇ (before *n), > ǝ (before sibilant): - mǝṛ ʻdeadʼ < *mṛtá-, Sogd. mrt-, Oss. mard, NP murdah, Skt. mṛtá- ʻid.ʼ, etc. - pǝṇ ʻfullʼ < *pṛná-, Av. pǝrǝna-, OP paru-, Oss. fyr / fur, MP, NP purr, Skt. pūrṇá- ʻid.ʼ, etc. - pǝṛ ʻbeaten, defeated, worsted, found guiltyʼ < *pṛtá-, Av. pǝṣa- ʻguiltyʼ - stəṛay (orig. past ptc.) ʻtired, wearyʼ31 < *stṛta- ʻthrownʼ + -ay, Av. stǝrǝta- ʻthrown downʼ (Hoffmann/Forssman 1996: 90 f.), Parachi astar- ‘to rub, wipe away’. - wəṛay (past ptc. of wṛ-) ʻcarriedʼ < *bṛta- + -ay, Av. bǝrǝta-, Khot. buḍa-, Bal. burta, MP, NP burd, Skt. bhṛtá- ʻid.ʼ, etc. - yǝǧ m, f. yəǧa ʻbearʼ < *iṛža (PSR) < *Hṛθsa-, Av. arša-, Sogd. ’ššh, Khw. hrs, Khot. arrä, Sh. yūrš, Yi. yērš, Oss. ars, NP xirs, Kurd. hirč, Skt. ṛkṣa- ʻid.ʼ, etc. 2. > ø in unstressed syllable: - zṛǝ m. ʻheartʼ < ntr. *zṛdáya-, Av. zǝrǝδaiia-, Khw. zrz(y), Khot. ysära-, Parth. zyrd, MP, NP dil, Skt. hṛdaya- ntr. ʻid.ʼ. 3. > i before nasal, in closed syllable, with i-umlaut: - činjáy m. ʻwormʼ < *kṛmi-čī- + -ay, Sogd. (Man.) kyrm ʻsnakeʼ, Munj. kǝrm, Yaghn. kirm ʻwormʼ, Oss. kalm ʻsnake, wormʼ, MP, NP kirm ʻwormʼ, Skt. kṛmi- m. ʻworm, maggotʼ. 4. in closed syllable, with u-umlaut

> ur, > u before sibilant:

- murγə, marγə m. ‘bird’ < *mṛγī < nom. *mṛgáh, Av. mǝrǝγa- m., Sogd. mrγ-, Khw. ’mγ-, Oss. marǧ, Parth. mwrg, MP murw ʻbirdʼ, cf. Skt. mṛgá- m. ‘wild animal’ (see below).

30 A better explanation than I assumed in Cheung 2010: 114, is that the accent was originally on the last syllable. The accent on this syllable would not shift in the f. form, having a heavy syllable (*°nā-), whereas the accent in the m., with its light final syllable, would retract to the second syllable.

31 Semantically, perhaps influenced by Pers. xvastah ʻbeat up; tired, boredʼ.


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- puxt- ʻto askʼ, puxtəna f. ʻquestionʼ < *pṛsa-, Av. pərəsa-, OP prs-, Khot. puls-, Sogd. ’prs-, Sh. pēxc-, Sariq. pars-, Yazgh. pis-, Parth., MP, NP purs-, etc. Skt. praś, pres. pṛcchá- ‘id.’. - puxtəy f. ʻribʼ < *pṛsú-kā-32, Khot. pālsuā- ‘rib’, Yi. pərsəγë, M. pūsäγä, Oss. færsk/færsk’æ ‘rib’, MP pahlūg, NP pahlū ‘side, rib’, cf. Av. pərəsu- m. ‘rib’, Wa. pĭrs, Skt. pṛṣṭí-, párśu- f. ‘rib’. - úǧa, Wan. murža f. ʻgarlicʼ < *bṛžn°, Sogd. ʼβzn-, Yi. wεẓnu, ʻid.ʼ. - úǧd, f. úǧdá, Waz. wīžd, f. wužda ‘long’ < nom. sg. * bṛzáh, Av. bərəzaṇt- ‘great, high’, Khot. bulysa-, Sogd. (Buddh.) βrz, Sh. vūγj, f. vōγj, Bart. vūz, Yazgh. vəz ‘long’, Oss. bærzond ‘high’, MP, NP buland ‘high, loud’, Skt. bṛhánt- ‘big, large, vast’.

In conclusion, vocalic *ṛ may have been vocalised to *ir or *ur, both of which would have become normally Pashto ǝr.33

In the case of yǝǧ m, f. yəǧa, the previous stage must have been *ir, in order to explain the glide y-.

As for činjáy, the vocalisation of *ṛ to *ir triggered the palatalisation of the initial velar *k- > č-, simultaneously, the i-element has been ʻʻstrengthenedʼʼ to -i- in Pashto before the consonant group °nj° (ob-viously simplified from *°rmj° < *°rmi-č°).

The variants murγə, mǝrγə (eastern dial.) marγə, mārγə ʻbirdʼ may be explained as follows. In the first place the form murγə may have derived from the accusative: *mṛgám > *mṛγu (PSR) > *múrγu (u-umlaut) > *murγ (strengthening of *u in front of CC). The variant mǝrγə on the other hand, may reflect the genitive or the nominative, thus resulting in i-umlaut, and subsequent centralisation of this (unstressed) secondary *i > ǝ. The Eastern forms may be abstracted from the pl., in which *ṛ would have developed into *ar, due to the long, stressed ā in the following syllable: *mṛgānām > *marγānām. This form has become the stem marγ° in the Eastern dialects.34 I-UMLAUT AND EPENTHESIS

As shown, the development of old *a > ə in front of *n may be due to the effect of i-/u-epenthesis. This effect is not limited to the nasal, the other liquid sounds have also been affected.

32 On *rs > xt, see Morgenstierne 1940: 168 ff., Skjærvø, CLI: 404. 33 The vocalisation of *ṛ > *ar appears only before a consonant group *HC ? 34 The implication of this explanation is that Proto-Pashto, prior to its breakup

into the numerous dialects, had retained grosso modo the Old Iranian case-endings, a feature shared with the other Eastern Iranian languages (notably Khotanese, Sog-dian, Khwarezmian and Ossetic). These languages still had a full-fledged inflexional system, albeit somewhat simplified, until the later stages of their development.


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*A

1. > *i > ǝ - əní Wan. ‘other’ < *inyí < *anyá-, Av. aniia-, etc. - bən f. ‘co-wife’ < *bin < *hapáθnī-, Av. hapaθnī- ‘id.’. - nər, nar ‘man, manly’ < *nir < *nári < nom. nárah.35 - stən f. ‘needle’ < *sojín < *saučánya- f., NP sōzan, Khot. saujsaña-, Oss. su-ʒin/soʒinæ ‘id.’. - yəwe f. pl. ʻplough, ploughingʼ < *yáwyā- ʻrelated to grainʼ.

A peculiar form is zyaṛ, Wan. z(i)yaṛ ‘yellow; pale’, which is compared to Av. zairita-, MP, NP zard ʻyellowʼ, Skt. hárita-. This form appears to show some sort of dipthongisation of an intermediary *e > ya. Interesting en-ough, the zeṛ-variant is also found in derivational formations: zeṛəka, zéṛ-ka f. ʻ red-headed bunting (Emberiza bruniceps)ʼ, zeṛáy ʻjaundiceʼ. Other etymologically related forms or variants are žaṛ ʻbrass; yellowʼ and žyaṛ ʻbrass; yellow, paleʼ. Obviously, we have to establish the regular form(s). The ʻʻvocalismʼʼ -iya- or ya is reminiscent of one of its antonyms s(i)yāh ʻblackʼ (< Pers. siyāh), so it is conceivable that zyaṛ and žyaṛ may show some kind of influence from this antonym. On the other hand, the wide range of phonetically irreconcilable variants, zyaṛ, Wan. z(i)yaṛ, žaṛ, žyaṛ, zeṛ, suggests independent borrowing in the different Pashto dialects, perhaps from Nuristani *źa(i)rita- ?, cf. Kati zəŕə, Bashgalī zĩr and Prasun žiərä ʻyellowʼ. The forms zǝrj ʻhazel-brown, chestnut, mauveʼ, zərka f. ʻGreek partridgeʼ may be inherited, from *zari-čī- (Av. zairicī- ʻname of a womanʼ, NEVP: 103) and *zari (+ dimin. ka-suff.) respectively.

Another odd form is w(ə)ryaj, w(ə)ryej f. ‘cloud(s)’, for which a pre-form *abra-čī- is given (NEVP: 10). Actually, the preform may be rather *abr(i)ya-čī (cf. Skt. abhríya-, abhriyá- ʻpertaining to cloudsʼ, which would have developed into *iwryéj > common Pash. *əwryéj. 2. > i before n, in closed position: - pinjə ʻfiveʼ < *pánča + *ī (< pl. *-ah), cf. Cheung 2010: 114, fn. 21. - skindá f. ʻsplintʼ < skandyā- ? (NEVP: 73, with initial stress skínda: wrong ?), Av. skǝṇda- ʻfractureʼ. - wínja- f. ʻslave-girlʼ < *bánda-čī- f. of *bándaka-, OP bandaka-, MP bandag, Khw. βndyk, NP bandah ‘servant, subject’. 3. > e before sibilant, in closed position: - lex- ʻto load (a beast of burden)ʼ < *darzaya-, Av. darǝzaiia-, ptc. dṛšta- ʻto attachʼ, Khw. δžy- ‘to (up)loadʼ.

35 The variant nar probably goes back to the accusative: *náru < *náram.


190

- calwéxt ʻfourtyʼ < *čaθwársadi- (PSR) < *čaθwarsáti-, Av. caθβarǝsat- f., Khot. tcahaulsä, MP, NP čihil, Skt. catvāriṃśát- f. ʻid.ʼ. - meǧāna, Wan. merǰāne ʻcayenne pepperʼ < *marži-° < Indo-Aryan, cf. ma-rīca- ʻpepperʼ. - reǧd- ʻto tremble, quiverʼ < denomin. *rarzaya-, Yazgh. riwz-, MP, NP lar-zīdan, BSogd. wyr’rz, CSogd. wlrz, CSogd. wdrz ‘to tremble, shakeʼ, Khw. βržyk ‘shaking fever, agueʼ. - špetə ʻsixtyʼ < *xwášti- (PSR) < *xwaští-, Av. xuuašti, Khot. kṣaṣṭä, Sogd. xwššty, MP, NP šast, Skt. ṣaṣtí- ‘id.’, etc. - text-eǧ-, Waz. tašt, Wan. tešt- (pres. st. terš-) ʻto fleeʼ < *t(a)rš(a)ya- ?, (Waz.: *t(a)rsa- ?), Sogd. trš, Sogd. (Chr.) tš ‘to fleeʼ, Oss. tærs-/tærs- ‘to be afraidʼ, MP, NP tarsīdan, Kurd. tirsīn : tirs- ʻto be afraidʼ, etc. - weš m. ʻsharing, distributionʼ, weš- ʻto divide, distributeʼ < *baxšya-, Av. baxš- ‘to divide, have a share’, Sogd. βxš-, (Buddh.) βxš-, (Man.) βxš ‘to give, distributeʼ, Khot. būṣṣ- ʻto giveʼ, NP baxšūdan/baxšāy- ‘to grant, be-stow’, etc. - weǧd m. ‘pillow’ < *barzíš-, Av. barəziš- ntr. ‘pillow, cushion’, Wakhi vorz, Oss. baz ‘cushion’, MP, NP bāliš ‘pillow, cushion’, etc., Skt. barhíṣ- ntr. ‘sacrificial straw’. - wlešt, Wan. lwast f. ‘span between the thumb and little finger’ < *wi-táisti- < *wí-tasti-, Av. vītasti-, Oss. wydisn(y) / uʒesnæ, MP widest, NP bidast, Skt. vítasti- f. ‘id.’. 4. > ǝ in other instances: - kišəp, (Waz.) kašáp36 m. ʻtortoiseʼ < *kasyápa-, Av. kasiiapa-, Sogd. kyšph, NP kašaf (old LW ?), Skt. kaśyápa- m. ʻid.ʼ. - kəš(ǝ)r ʻyounger (brother)ʼ, f. kəšra ʻyounger (sister, daughter)ʼ < *kas-yah- + comparative/ contrastive *-tara, Av. kasiiah- ‘small’, MP kēh, NP kih ‘small(er)’, cf. Oss. kæstær ʻjunior personʼ, Bal. kastir ʻsmallerʼ (in some Pers. dialects kester, keser ʻyoungerʼ). - kašáy m. ʻonly sonʼ, f. kašəy ʻonly daughterʼ < *kasyá-ka-, f. *kasyákī- or *kaswáka-, f. *kaswakī - ? - mǝǧ- : mǝx-, ʻto rub, wipe, smearʼ, Wan. murš-en- : murš- ʻto rubʼ < *m(a)r-ša- (with -š- from *mṛštá-), pass. ptc. *mṛštá- < *Hmarza- ʻto wipe, rubʼ

36 The form cited here is according to Aslanov 1966: 713b and is the (almost) ex-

pected standard Pashto outcome of *kasyápa-: > *kešíb > kišəp. However, the indi-genous Pashto forms or variants, such as kišáb, kašáp, may almost certainly have been influenced by (obsolete) Pers. kašaf, in which final –f is regularly adapted as -p in Pashto (the pronounciation of f is a sign of educated speech among the Pashtuns). Pers. kašaf is quite often pronounced as kašaw in colloquial Dari / Eastern Persian, cf. āwγānistān for Afghanistan.


191

and *Hmars- ʻto rub, touchʼ (cf. Cheung, EDIV: 180 f.), Av. marǝz- ‘to wipe, rub’, Oss. mærz- ‘to wipe, brushʼ, MP, NP māl- ʻto rubʼ and Khot. ggumäls- (gūmaly-) ‘to besmear’, Wa. mĭrs-/morst ‘to feel; touch’, Skt. marś ‘to touch, to handle’. - məš(ə)r, məš(ə)ra f. ʻelder, senior (person)ʼ < *masiiah- + comp. *-tara. - mǝšáy m. ʻ(little) fishʼ < *masyáka-37, Parth. mʼsyg, MP māhīg, NP māhī, cf. Av. masiia- m., Skt. mátsya- m. ʻid.ʼ, mātsyá- ʻbelonging to fishʼ, etc. The outcome differs in these instances, (generally) resulting in ǝ. It can be noticed that consonant group *sy has yielded š in Pashto. The i-vo-calism in kišəp is unexplicable.

The forms kəš(ǝ)r and its antonym məš(ə)r ʻelder, senior (person)ʼ have a strange (stressed) ə. This ǝ can hardly go back to *i (after i-um-laut from *a), which would subsequently have developed into e in front of a sibilant (not to mention *k- would have been subjected to palatali-sation, becoming č-). Instead, this central vowel may reflect the effect of u-umlaut (in the presence of the initial labial *m-): *masya° > *mušša° > məša°. This vowel has been exported to kəš°.

The effect of u-umlaut can also be noted in the verb mǝǧ-: mǝx-, ʻto rub, wipe, smearʼ, where the archaic Wanetsi cognate murš-en- : murš- confirms the former existence of the umlauted vowel u. We can also note that it occurred in a closed syllable. 5. > i before final *-ti: - -i 3sg. pres. < thematic *-ati, cf. Av. 3sg. pres. them. -aiti, MP, NP -ad, Skt. -ati ʻid.ʼ, etc. - nawí, nǝwí38 ʻninetyʼ < *nawád < *navatí-, cf. Av. nauuaiti-, MP, NP navad, Skt. navatí- ʻid.ʼ, etc.

It seems that the umlauted vowel has developed differently when the dental has not developed into l, as it is the case with šǝl ʻtwentyʼ < *winsati- (q.v.). 6. secondary *i > ø in unstressed position: - mla f. ʻwaistʼ < (Jaji Khatak) mǝlyā < *milyā < *milyā- (PSR) < *mádyā-, cf. Av. maiδiia-, Sh. mīδ, Rosh. mēδ, Skt. mádhya- ʻmiddleʼ, etc.

37 The Pashto and the WIr. forms may rather go back to a relational formation

with long stem vowel *ā, cognate with Skt. mātsyá-. 38 The forms nǝwe, nawē, as cited by Morgenstierne with final -e, are far less com-

mon (if attested at all), they are no doubt influenced by Geigerʼs preferred transcrip-tion of this form (nave): the final vowel might reflect a more archaic stage (*)-ey, cf. nawey or nawi in Raverty 1901.


192

- pla ʻsinew, tendon, nerveʼ < pǝlyā < *pilyā (PSR) < *pádyā-, Av. paiδiiā- f., Khw. pzy ʻtendonʼ, Skt. pádya- ʻrelated to the footʼ.

Apparently, a short syllable does not become closed (and thus “heavy”) before a consonant group *Cy.

The form pxa, (Northern dial.) xpa, Wan. špa f. ʻfootʼ was already con-nected by Darmesteter to Av. pāšna- ʻheelʼ, Skt. pārṣṇi- ʻid.ʼ, despite the phonologically difficulties (cf. NEVP: 67). The IIr. ʻheelʼ form may indeed have been continued by púnda, Waz. pīnda f. ʻheelʼ < *pāršni-tā (*-tā < ?), cf. Skjærvø, CLI: 405. The form pxa, on the other hand, is actually more likely to be an old borrowing, from Pers. pušt-i pā ‘upper part of the foot’ (lit. ‘back foot’), an expression also borrowed in Sanglechi with the meaning ‘instep, upper part of the foot’ (Morgenstierne, IIFL II: 409a).39

*Ā

1. > e - ména f. ‘house, habitation’ < f. *dmānyā-, cf. Av. nmāniiya- m. ‘belonging to the house’, OP māniya- m. ‘household slave’, Oss. moj / mojnæ ‘hus-band’. - wéra f. ‘fear’ < *awaharyā-, Parth. whyrd, MP (Man.) whwr- ‘to confuse, disturb’, Arm. (LW) veher ‘vacillating; unsturdy; fearing’. - wreγ40 m. ‘dye, paint’ < nom. *abi-rāgī (<PIr. *abi-rāgah), cf. Khot. rrāsa- ‘dark coloured’, Rosh. rēz-, Yzgh. rǝž- ‘to colour the eyes’, NP razīdan/ ‘to colour, dye, taint, tinge’, NP rang ‘colour’, Skt. raj- ‘to colour, become red’, rāgin- ‘coloured’, abhi-rañj- caus. ‘to colour’ (late). vi-rañj- ‘to dis-colour, fade’ (late), vi-rāga- m. ‘loss or fading of colour’ (late). - wrerá f. ‘niece’ < * βrā(l)ryā (syncope) < f. *brāθruyā-, Av. brātruiiā- f. ‘brother’s daughter’, Skt. bhrātṛvya- ‘(father’s) brother’s son, nephew; rival’,41 a-bhrātṛvyá - ‘having no rival’.

39 This obviates the need to postulate a special, common development (Cheung 2010: 114), for xna ʻleg, hipboneʼ, xpa ʻfootʼ, sna f. ʻblue, greenʼ and also pinjə ʻfiveʼ. In the case of pinjə, I still think we need to postulate a pl. *-ah > *-ī > -ǝ (from pl. *čaθwā-rah > *calwārī > calór ʻfourʼ), in order to explain the preceding -i- in pinjə. But the ac-cent shift is purely for rhythmic reasons, the accent of the numerals 4-8 usually falls on the final syllable: calór, pinjə, špaǧ, owə (cf. Skt. saptá), atə (cf. Skt. aṣṭā).

40 No correspondences are given in NEVP: 90, only a totally hypothetical preform **w/b/fraiga- ? Actually, the presence of several derivative formations of the Skt. cognate raj- provides us with the ansatz of a plausible preform.

41 The original accent in Skt. remains uncertain, bhrātṛvya- may have been influ-enced by bhrātar- ‘brother’. For its Pashto correspondence wrārə we have to assume stress in the middle syllable during the PSR stage, therefore accounting for the lack of i-umlaut: *brāθruyá- > *βrālrúya- > * wrārú > wrārə. Pashto has better preserved the older Indo-Iranian stressing ?: *bhrātruyá-, f. *bhrātruyā-.The pl. form obviously goes back to the gen. pl.


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- wrerúna dir. pl. (sg. wrārǝ) ‘nephews’ < *βrā(l)ryānā (syncope) < *brāθru-yānām, Av. brātruiia- m. ‘brother’s son’, etc. Compare also the causative verbs : - ceṛ- ‘to discuss, study’ < *(wi-)čāraya-, MP w(y)c’r- ‘to separate, inter-pret’. - tej- ‘to cause to run, hasten’ < *tāčaya-.

The stressed obl. pl. ending –ó has apparently not been affected by i-umlaut, if we accept a derivation from *-ābiš (cf. Morgenstierne 1942: 95). A special case is meṛə, Wan. māṛǝ, voc. mǝṛa,42 pl. maṛúna, meṛúna ʻman, husbandʼ < nom. sg. m. *martáh, Av. marǝta- (< *martá-), Parth. mrd, MP, NP mard ʻmanʼ, etc. Skt. márta- m. ʻman, mortalʼ.

The suggested preform *martiya- (NEVP: 52) for meṛə would not ex-plain the vocative mǝṛa and the pl. variant maṛúna: there is no com-pelling reason why the old IIr. formations *marta- and *mart(i)ya- would have been enmeshed in one single paradigm in the history of Pashto.

It is possible that the stem meṛ- came from the singular nominative *-ī (< *-ah) and also genitive *-īya (< *-ahya), whereas maṛ- would reflect the accusative, vocative and the genitive plural. The variant forms with the a-vowel suggest that they have developed from the lengthened (stressed) *ā before *rC, e.g. from the accus. sg. *martám > márdu (PSR) > *mārdu. The long vowel would have been generalised in the sg., thus also in the nomin. and gen. (retained in the Wanetsi dialect). This nor-malized nomin. and form mārdī would then be subjected to i-umlaut > meṛə.

In the plural on the other hand, this lengthening may not have taken place, on account of a different accentuation: the gen. *martānām has developed regularly into Pashto dir. pl. maṛúna (meṛúna, with -e- from the sg.). The vocative form mǝṛa ʻoh man!ʼ may derive from the original nominative form, thereby replacing the original vocative *márta: nomi-native *martáh > *mirdī >> vocative mírda (with added or restored -a) > mǝṛa. The alternative form maṛá ʻoh pal, boy!ʼ (Aslanov 1966: 817a) seems to derive from the plural form, which would also explain the final stressing.

The initial i- in irá f., pl. iré ʻashesʼ < pl. ntr. *āθryā, Av. ātriia- ntr., Sh. θīr ‘id.’ is exceptional, it may be a contracted form of initial ya˚, yǝ˚ < *e˚

42 As cited by Kabir/Wardak 1999. The form maṛa mentioned by Morgenstierne appears to be cited from Bellews, who did not distinguish between ǝ and a in his transcription of Pashto words though.


194

(cf. yaw m. ‘one’ < *ew < *aiwa-). Note also the dialectal Wanetsi variant aré. 2. > yā before (pretonic ?) *t, *s: - tiyārá, t(i)yārǝ f. (adj. tor m., tóra f. ʻblackʼ), Wan. tārā ʻdarknessʼ, cf. Khot. ttāḍe ‘darkness’. - atyā, Wan. atā ʻeightyʼ < *aštāti, cf. Av. aštāiti, Sogd. ’št’, Oss. æstaj, MP, NP haštād. - awyā, Wan. awā ʻseventyʼ < *haftāti, Av. haptāti, Khot. haudātä, MP, NP haftād, Skt. saptatí- ‘id.’, etc. - myāšt, Wan. māst f. ʻmonthʼ < *māsti-, cf. Khot. māstä, Sh., Rosh. mēst, Sariq., Bart. most, Yazgh. māst ʻidʼ (not in WIr. nor in other, closely re-lated EIr. languages, e.g. Wa. mĭy). The numerals go back to preforms containing a final segment *°tāti, which is also identical to the abstract-collective suffix *-tāti. Precisely this suffix would have become the Pashto abstract suffix -tyā according to Morgenstierne 1942: 93, presumably as follows: *tāti> *tāidi > *tiād > *tyā.43 This would also explain the development of the numerals. In the case of myāšt (and also māšay ?, see below) we have to assume a similar development before *s as well.

A remarkable case is tiyārá, t(i)yārǝ, which may have been suffixed with *-tāti, which would be a precise corresponce of Khotanese ttāḍe: *tār + -tyā > tyār-tā (anticipation of the palatal feature) > tiyārá (dis-similation of t … t). As the outcome is no longer analysable the final vowel can be adapted, e.g. re-interpreted as a nom. pl. –ǝ. The antonym raṇá, Kak. roṇyá, Wan. rúṇa ‘brightness’ would also have been suffixed with *-tāti, the outcome of which seems to have been influenced by tiyārá, t(i)yārǝ and/or the adj. counterpart rúṇ, f. raṇá.

Finally, although māšay, myāša, Waz. myāsay m., Kak. māsa, Wan. mésa, f. myāša ‘mosquito’ appears to have participated in this develop-ment, the form and its dialectal variants may actually suggest borrow-ing from Indo-Aryan, cf. Skt. maśáka- m. ‘fly, mosquito’. For a genuine, inherited form, we would rather expect the outcome †méšay etc. *AU

1. > (*o >) e: - rebǝj m. Waz. rēbǝz, rēbuz f. ʻbroomʼ < *raupī-čī- (?), Yaghn. rōpč ʻbroomʼ, Yazgh. rǝbág ʻ'wooden shovelʼ.

43 The conditions of *t > (*)d or l will be discussed in a forthcoming article.


195

- meǧáy m., Wan. merža ‘ant’ < *maurijaka- (methathesis of *rw > *wr) < *marwičaka-, Khot. muṃjaka-, Sh. mūrjak, NP mōrčah ‘id.’. 2. > (*u >) i: - wína (pl. wíne) f. ʻbloodʼ < *wáhuni-, Av. vohuni-, Sangl. wēn, NP xūn.

The intervocalic *h would have disappeared at a very early stage, in line with other East Iranian languages. 3. secondary *i > ø: - xna f. ʻleg, hipboneʼ < *xiná << *xína < *xuni- + f. *-ā < *sráuni- + f. *-ā < *šuní-ā (cf. γúna < ntr. pl. *gáunā).

The form may have borrowed its final accentuation from the desig-nations of the other bodyparts, such as pxa ‘foot’, patún m. ‘thigh’, mla f. ‘waist’, pla f. ‘sinew’. PALATALISATION

Another effect of the i-umlaut is the palatalisation of certain con-sonants. 1. *s > š: The effect on *s > š has been noted above, notably in kišəp m. ʻtortoiseʼ (*kasyápa-), kəš(ǝ)r ʻyoungerʼ (*kásyah-). Other examples include: - məš(ə)r, məš(ə)ra f. ʻelder, senior (person)ʼ < *masiiah- + comp. *-tara. - mǝšáy m. ʻ(little) fishʼ < *masyáka-, Parth. mʼsyg, MP māhīg, NP māhī, cf. Av. masiia- m., Skt. mátsya- m. ʻid.ʼ, mātsyá- ʻbelonging to fishʼ, etc. - (w)šəl, Wan. šwī ‘twenty’ < *winsati-, Av. vīsaiti, Sogd. (Chr.) wyst°, Khot. bistä, Oss. (y)ssæʒ/insæj, NP, bīst, Skt. viṃśatí- f. ʻid.ʼ, etc. - šəga, Wan. səga44 f. ʻsand, gravelʼ < *sikā-, OP θika°, Khot. siyatā-, MP (Man.), Parth. sygd, Orm. sigo, saga ʻsandʼ, Oss. sygyt/sigit ʻsoilʼ, Skt. síkatā- f. ‘sand, grind’. - təš, Wan. təs ‘empty’ < *tussyá-, cf. Khot. tuśśaa-, Parth. twsyk, MP tuhig, NP tuhī, Skt. tucchyá- ʻid.ʼ. 2. *z > ž: - niždé, nəždé45 ‘near’ < comparative *nazdyah-, Av. nazdiiō ‘nearer’, MP, NP nazdīk ‘near’.

44 This form does not show the expected Pashto Stress Rule of the initial stressing

to the following heavy syllable in *ā: †š(ə)gá. As the ‘sand’ form is a typical “Wander-wort”, Pashto šəga is possibly a loanword, rather than inherited ?


196

- žay m. ʻleather bag, mussuckʼ < *izyaka- ?, Av. izaēna- ʻleather-ʼ, Yi. ízë, M. yij(i)ya ʻgoatskin bagʼ. 3. *k > č (ǰ after voiced consonant): - činjáy m. ʻwormʼ < *kṛmi-čī- + -ay, cf. Sogd. (Man.) kyrm ʻsnakeʼ, M. kǝrm ʻwormʼ, Oss. kalm ʻsnake, wormʼ, MP, NP kirm ʻsnake, wormʼ, Skt. kṛmi- m. ʻwormʼ , etc.46 - čāṛə, čāṛá f. ‘large knife, dagger’ < *kartyā-, Khw. krc f., Sh. čǟd f., Ab-yane’i kārd f., Kurd. kēr f. ‘knife’, MP, NP kārd ‘knife’. - če rel. pcl. ‘that’ < *káhya, cf. Pers. kih relative particle (not borrowed from Pers.47, NEVP: 20). - čərg m. ‘cock’ < *kargī < nom. *karkah, Av. kahrka-, Ishk. kǝrk ʻhenʼ, Sh. čux, f. čax, Yazgh. čix, f. karj ʻcock, henʼ, Oss. kark ʻhenʼ, MP, NP kark ʻdomestic fowlʼ, etc. - ǰǝn f. ʻyoung girlʼ (< *nǰǝn < *čnǝn) < *kanin-, Av. kainīn-, Skt. kanyā- ʻyoung womanʼ, kanīna- ʻyoungʼ. - mečən f. ‘hand-mill, quern’ < ultimately Gr. mēkhanḗ. For kišəp, kašáp m. ʻtortoiseʼ and kəš(ǝ)r ʻyoungerʼ, see above. U-UMLAUT

Far less noticeable is the effect of u-umlaut, as in many instances the umlauted *u has become the central vowel ǝ, making it indistingui-shable from ǝ < *i. *A

1. > ǝ, after m: - mǝǧ- : mǝx- ʻto rub, wipe, smearʼ, Wan. murš-en- : murš- ʻto rubʼ < *m(a)r-ša- (with -š- from *mṛštá-), pass. ptc. *mṛštá- < *Hmarza- ʻto wipe, rubʼ and *Hmars- ʻto rub, touchʼ (cf. Cheung, EDIV: 180 f.), Av. marǝz- ‘to wipe, rub’, Oss. mærz- ‘to wipe, brushʼ, MP, NP māl- ʻto rubʼ. - məš(ə)r, məš(ə)ra f. ʻelder, senior (person)ʼ < *masiiah- + comp. *-tara. - mǝšáy m. ʻ(little) fishʼ < *masyáka-, Parth. mʼsyg, MP māhīg, NP māhī, cf. Av. masiia- m., Skt. mátsya- m. ʻid.ʼ, mātsyá- ʻbelonging to fishʼ, etc.

45 The variants with -z-, for instance nizdé, is no doubt influenced by the (near-) synonymous nazd, which could be Persian borrowing.

46 According to Morgenstierne (EVP: 21), the lizard form f. čarmǝx(k)əy might contain kṛmi-: ʻʻa derivation from *kṛmi-wṛsu-kī- ʻworm-greedyʼ is possibleʼʼ. This sug-gested preform is rather too fanciful to me.

47 One would rather expect the ubiquitous Persian relative particle kih (modern Persian ke) to have been borrowed: > Turk. ki, Urdu ke, etc.


197

As the i-umlauted vowel *a would have yielded e in Pashto, the out-come ǝ in these instances should be ascribed to a different development, here due to a form of u-umlaut, probably caused by the presence of the initial m.

This kind of u-umlaut would also have affected some (old) loanwords as well, e.g. - mǝč m. ‘fly’ < Indo-Aryan, cf. RV mákṣ- (probably m.), mákṣā- f. ‘fly, bee’. 2. > *ā > ó before bilabial *u, (*)w (< PIr. < *f or *w), in closed position: - owə ʻsevenʼ < *(h)āwda (PSR) + -ə < < *haftá, Av. hapta, Sogd. ʼβd, Oss. avd, MP, NP haft, Skt. saptá ʻid.ʼ, etc. - óxa, úxka f. ʻtearʼ, < f. or pl. n. *asrukā, Khot. āṣka-, Wa. yāšk, Sariq. yux(k), Yi. yāšk, Sh. yūxk, Oss, syg/sug, NP ašk ʻid.ʼ, etc. - pox m. (f. paxá), pl. pāxə ʻripe, cookedʼ < *pāxwa- (PSR) < *paxwá-, Khot. paha-, Sh. pēx, Yazgh. půx, Oss. fyx/ funx, Skt. pakvá- ʻid.ʼ. - tod m. (f. tawdá) ʻhotʼ < *tāwda (PSR) < past ptc. *taftá-, Av. tafta-, Khot. ttauda- ʻhotʼ, Oss. tævd/tævdæ ʻhot, heat, Skt. taptá- ʻheatedʼ, etc. The noun óxa, úxka f. ʻtearʼ (*asrukā, Khot. āṣka-, Abyane’i asl f., Pers. ašk ‘id.’) is somewhat ambiguous. The variant forms óxa, óxka appear to be Eastern dialect forms. In the absence of variants with a or ā the labial vowel is best to be explained as the result of u-umlaut. *Ṛ

1. > u: - (w)úǧa, Wan. múrža f. ʻgarlicʼ < *bṛžn°, Sogd. ʼβzn-, Yi. wεẓnu, ʻid.ʼ. - úǧd, f. úǧdá, Waz. wīžd, f. wužda ‘long’ < nom. sg. * bṛzáh, Av. bərəzaṇt- ‘great, high’, Khot. bulysa-, Sogd. (Buddh.) βrz, Sh. vūγj, f. vōγj, Bart. vūz, Yazgh. vəz ‘long’, MP, NP buland ‘high, loud’, Skt. bṛhánt- ‘big, large, vast’. - puxt- ʻto askʼ, puxtəna f. ʻquestionʼ < *pṛsa-, Av. pərəsa-, OP prs-, Khot. puls-, Sogd. ’prs-, Sh. pēxc-, Sariq. pars-, Yazgh. pis-, Parth., MP, NP purs-, etc. Skt. praś, pres. pṛcchá- ‘id.’. - puxtəy f. ʻribʼ < *pṛsú-kā,48 Khot. pālsuā- ‘rib’, Yi. pərsəγë, M. pūsäγä, Oss. færsk/færsk’æ ‘rib’, MP pahlūg, NP pahlū ‘side, rib’, cf. Av. pərəsu- m. ‘rib’, Wa. pĭrs, Skt. pṛṣṭí-, párśu- f. ‘rib’. The vocalisation of *ṛ would have been *ur: the *u vowel has strength-ened before a consonant group, resulting in Pashto u.

In the case of (w)úǧa, the preform may have been *bṛžnā- > *βurǧā- > Pashto (w)úǧa (Wan. múrža).

48 On *rs > xt, see Morgenstierne 1940: 168 ff., Skjærvø, CLI: 404.


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SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS

On the whole, the vowels of Pashto are quite susceptible to the influence of the accent or the nature of the adjacent consonant or consonant clusters. A few general observations can be made here. Unstressed short vowels would quite naturally have disappeared, while unstressed long vowels would have been shortened. A vowel under the stress or before a consonant cluster tended to be lengthened. *A

The vowel *a has become in Pashto:

- ø in an unstressed, open syllable, in bən f. ‘co-wife’ (*hapáθnī-), mālga f. ʻsaltʼ (*namáδgā- PSR), zǝ ʻIʼ (*azám), etc.

- a in a stressed, open syllable, γar m. ʻmountainʼ (*gári-), las ʻtenʼ (*dása), xar m. ‘ass, donkey’ (*xára-).

- ā in a stressed, closed syllable, in lās m. ‘hand’ (*(d(z)ásta-), γāṛa f. ʻneckʼ (*gárd/tā-), mālga (*namáδgā- PSR), plār ‘father’ (*pidár < *pítar), etc.

> o (in front of a labial), in corb ʻfatʼ (*cārba PSR), óxa f. ʻtearʼ (*ásrukā-), pox m.ʻripe, cookedʼ (*pāxwa- PSR) etc.

> a (in front of a nasal, irrespective of stress), in cang ʻside, flank’ (*čánga-), γan(d)əm ʻwheatʼ (*gantúma-), wand m. ʻdam, dykeʼ (*banda-), wand- ʻto scold, insultʼ (*wi-wánda-). - ə in a stressed syllable with umlaut, see below. *Ā

The vowel *ā has become in Pashto:

- a in an unstressed, open syllable, in aγúnd- ‘to put on, don’ (*ā-gúnda-), kará ʻin/from the houseʼ (*kārāt).

- ā in an unstressed, closed syllable, in wrārǝ ‘nephew, brother’s son’ (*brāθruyá-). - o in a stressed syllable, in calór ʻfourʼ (*čaθwāra-), dwólas ‘twelve’ (*dwā-dasa), lor m. ‘sickle’ (*dāθram), wo m. ‘wind’ (* wāta-), etc.

> u (in front of a nasal), in lúma f. ‘snare, noose’ (*dāma + f. -a), num m. ‘name’ (*nāma), šum- ʻto drink, gulpʼ (*čyām-), zum m. ʻson-in-lawʼ (*zām°), etc. *Ṛ

> ø in unstressed syllable, in zṛǝ m. ʻheartʼ (*zṛdáya-).


199

> ǝṛ before *t, in mǝṛ ʻdeadʼ (*mṛta-), pǝṛ ʻbeaten, defeated, worsted, found guiltyʼ (*pṛta-), stəṛay ʻtired, wearyʼ (*stṛta- + ay), wəṛay ʻcarriedʼ (*bṛta- + -ay); > ǝṇ before *n, in pǝṇ ʻfullʼ (*pṛna-); > ǝ before sibilant, in yǝǧ m ʻbearʼ (*iṛža < *Hṛθsa-).

> i before nasal, in closed syllable, with i-umlaut, in činjáy m. ʻwormʼ (*kṛmi-čī- + -ay).

> u in closed syllable, with u-umlaut, before sibilant, in úǧa, Wan. murža f. ʻgarlicʼ (*bṛžn°), úǧd ‘long’ (* bṛzah), puxt- ʻto ask’ (*pṛsa-), puxtəy f. ʻribʼ (*pṛsú-kā-). > ur before velar, in murγə m. ‘bird’ < *murγú (< *mṛgám). *U / Ū AND *I / Ī

The old high vowels *i / ī and *u / ū have generally merged into an in-distinct ə, a development also found in notably Kurdish and Iron Ossetic. Well before this, the vowels *ī and *ū had lost their long pronunciation. Similar to many other Iranian languages, these vowels have frequently affected the preceding vowel or consonant(s). The vowels *i / ī would have triggered i-umlaut and palatalisation respectively. The effect of the labial vowels *u / ū is more limited in scope. We can summarize the developments as follows.

The vowels *u / ū have become in Pashto:

- ø in an unstressed, open syllable, in bar ʻtop, summitʼ (*ubára- PSR), sra f. ʻredʼ (*suxrā-).

- ə in a stressed, open syllable, in γanəm, Wan. γandəm (*gantúma-), lǝm m. ʻ(sheep) tailʼ (*dúma-), psǝ ʻsheepʼ (*pasúm), wrəǧa f. ʻfleaʼ (*frúši- + f. *-ā), etc. from *-am, in o(w)rə, warə ʻa cloudʼ (*abrám), zǝ ʻIʼ (*azám). from *ū, in məǧa f. ʻratʼ (*mūš- + f. *-ā), nən ‘today’ (*nūnu PSR < *nūnám), stǝn f. ʻpost, pillarʼ (*stūni-), stər ‘big, large’ (*stūra- PSR), wrəja, wrúja f. ʻeyebrowʼ (*brū-čī- + f. *-ā).

- u in a closed syllable, in aγúnd- (*ā-gúnda-), búr ‘having lost a son, childless’ (*apúθra-), gúta f., Wan. nəgút ʻfinger’ (*angúštā-), lur f. ʻdaughterʼ (*dúxtar), etc. The vowels *i / ī have become in Pashto:

- ø in an unstressed, open syllable, in mlúna f., Waz. vlīna, Wan. awlūn ʻbridleʼ (*abi-dānā-), wlešt, Wan. lwast f. ‘span between the thumb and little finger’ (*witáisti- PSR).


200

- ə in a stressed syllable, in bǝl, Wan. bī ʻsecond, otherʼ (*dwitiya-,*dwita-), rǝma f. ʻfluid excrement, diarrhoeaʼ (*rīmā), x ǝja f. ʻwomanʼ (*strī-čī- + f. *-ā), žər, zər ’quick’ (*ǰīra- PSR).

- i in a closed syllable, in writ m. ʻroasted, friedʼ ( *brixta-), wit ‘open, wide, ajar’ (*wišta-). The effects of i-umlaut are most noticeable in:

- *a > *i, which would be further treated as old *i, see above;

- *a > i before *-ti, in 3sg. pres. –i (*-ati), nawí ‘ninety’ (*nawati-);

- *a > *ā in stressed, closed syllable, treated as old *ā, see below;

- *ā > e (stressed), i (unstressed);

- *ā before *(s)ti > yā, in atyā ʻeightyʼ (*aštāti), awyā ʻseventyʼ (*haftāti), myāšt f. ʻmonthʼ (*māsti-), abstr. suff. -tyā (*-tāti);

- *au > e, in rebǝj m. ʻbroomʼ (*raupī-čī-), meǧáy m. ‘ant’ (< *maurijaka-);

- *au > *i > ø, in unstressed syllable, xna f. ʻleg, hipboneʼ (*srauni- + f. *-ā);

- *ahu > i in front of n, in wína f. ʻbloodʼ (*wáhuni-);

- *ṛ > *ir, the vowel would be treated as old *i, see above. Palatalisation has affected the consonants:

- *k > č, in činjáy m. ʻwormʼ (*kṛmi-čī- + -ay), čərg m. ‘cock’ (*kargī < nom. *karkah), mečən f. ‘hand-mill, quern’ (Gr. mēkhanḗ), etc.

- *s > š, in kišəp m. ʻtortoiseʼ (*kasyápa-), mǝšáy m. ʻ(little) fishʼ (*mas-yáka-), (w)šəl ‘twenty’ (*winsati-), etc.

- *z > ž, in niždé, nəždé ‘near’ (*nazdyah-), žay m. ʻleather bag, mussuckʼ (*izyaka-). The effect of u-umlaut is most noticeable in:

- *a > *ā in stressed, closed position > ó (treated as old stressed *ā, see above).

- *ṛ > (*)ur, the vowel would be treated as old *u, see above. A different kind of u-umlaut may have been caused by the presence of m, in view of circumstantial evidence: - *a in closed syllable > *u > ə, in mǝǧ-, Wan. murš- ʻto rubʼ (*m(a)rša-), məš(ə)r ʻelder, senior (person)ʼ (*masiiah- + *-tara), mǝšáy m. ʻ(little) fishʼ (*masyáka-).


201

*AI AND *AU

As a rule, the diphthongs *ai and *au would have gone first to mono-phthongisation to e and *o respectively. *ai has become in Pashto:

- ø in unstressed position, in šna f. ‘green, blue’ (*axšainā-).

- e, e.g. in γelé f. pl. ‘flocks’, lemə m. pl. ʻeyesʼ (ntr. *daima + -ə), lewár m. ‘husband’s brother’ (*daiwár-), wex m. ‘root, base’ (*waixa-), etc.

- i in front of n, in šin m. ‘green, blue’ (*axšaína-), win- ‘to see’ (*waina-). *au has become in Pashto:

- wa, in γwaǧ m. ʻearʼ (*gauša-), lwaγ ʻmilkingʼ (*dáuga-), lwaš-ʻto milkʼ (*dáučya-), rwaj f. ʻdayʼ (*raučah-).

- u before n, in γúna f. ʻcolour, complexionʼ (*gáunā), ruṇ ʻbrightʼ (*ráux-šna-), yun m. ʻmovement; gait, stepʼ (*yauna-).

- ya in initial position, yaw m., f. yawá ʻoneʼ (*aiwá-). ON THE PROTO-PASHTO INFLECTIONAL CASE SYSTEM: SOME OBSERVATIONS

From all these phonological developments it can be deduced that Pashto at an earlier stage retained the inflectional case system inherited from Proto-Iranian, of course with some simplifications. Proto-Pashto pro-bably possessed the following (singular) case endings:49 - vocative, as inferred from lur f. ʻdaughterʼ < *dúxtar, plār ‘father’ < *pi-dár (PSR) < *pítar, and máṛa ‘oh man’ < *márta + voc. pcl. *ā.

- nominative masculine *-ī (< PIr. *-ah), cf. meṛǝ m. ‘husband; manly, brave, generous’ < *mārdī (< *martáh), udə, bidə ‘asleep’ < *(h)uβdī (< *huf-táh), nər < *nárī (< *nárah).

- nominative feminine -a < unstressed *- ā.

- accusative masculine / neuter *-u (< PIr. *-am), cf. o(w)rə, warə ʻa cloudʼ < *aβrú (< ntr. *abrám), murγə m. ‘bird’ < *murγú (< *mṛgám).

- genitive > Pashto obl. ending -ə < *īya (< *-ahya). On non-final *-ah- > Proto-Pashto *ī, cf. zǝr ʻthousandʼ < *(h)azīrī (< *hazáhrah).

- ablative, cf. kará ʻin/from the houseʼ < *kārāt.

49 The dative may have disappeared at an earlier stage, having merged with the

genitive (cf. Khot. and OP).


202

ETYMA REVISED

The phonological rules formulated here also allow us to reconsider the etymologies of several Pashto forms proposed by Geiger 1893 and Mor-genstierne (EVP; NEVP). The following form(ation)s are probably neither old nor inherited: - spānda f. ‘wild rue’ < early Persian / Parthian ? - čəna f. ʻthe outside of a house wallʼ < borrowing ?, cf. Pers. čīnah. - carmən f. ‘skin, hide’ < Pers. čarm + suff. -mən. - mu m. pl. ‘fat’ < Indo-Ary., cf. Waig. muī, Phal. mī ‘marrow’. - māšay, myāša ‘mosquito’ < Indo-Aryan ?, cf. Skt. maśáka- m. ‘fly, mos-quito’. - pxa f. ‘foot’ < Pers. pušt-i pā. - šəga f. ‘sand’ < MP, Parth. sygd [sígad]. - hask ʻtall, highʼ < ha- ‘that’ + *uska- (rather than solely *uskah). An old borrowing, not noticed previously, is - həg m. ‘pig’ < MP/Parth. hwg [hūg] ‘id.’. The following forms may have a different origin than suggested previ-ously: - γand- ‘to blame, criticise, condamn’ (< *gana- ‘slaying’ or expressive ?); - ǧmǝnj, (Wan.) wženz, wženj, uženz, žmenz ‘comb’(< *pašána-čī ?); - kwəna f. ‘backside’ (< f. *kūnā-, not borrowed from Pers.). RELATIVE CHRONOLOGY OF THE SOUND DEVELOPMENTS: PRELIMINARY OBSERVATIONS

Pending a full investigation in the historical consonantism of Pashto, we may already suggest a relative chronological order for the following selected developments.

- Pashto Stress Rule (PSR)

- au > *o > *wa > Pashto wa, wǝ

- stressed *ā > Pashto o

- merger of long *ī and *ū with their short counterpart *i and *u respectively

- u-umlaut, notably *a > *u after m

- i-umlaut

- lengthening of (short) *a, *i, *u in closed (often) stressed position

- centralisation of *i and *u > ǝ


203

Abbreviations abl. = ablative, acc. = accusative, adv. = adverb, Afgh. = Afghan, Afr. = Afridi (Pashto dialect), Av. = Avestan, Bal. = Balochi, Bang. = Bangash (Pashto dialect), Buddh. = Buddhist, f(em). = feminine, comp. = comparative, Ghilz. = Ghilzay (Pashto dialect), Gr. = Greek, Ir. = Iranian, Kak. = Kakari (Pashto dialect), Khot. = Khotanese, Khw. = Khwarezmian, Kurd. = Kurdish, m(asc). = masculine, M. = Munji, Mahs. = Mahsudi (Pashto dialect), Man. = Mani-chaean, MP = Middle Persian, nom. = nominative, NP = New Persian, ntr. = neuter, OP = Old Persian, Par. = Parachi, Parth. = Parthian, pcl. = particle, Pers. = (especially classical) Persian, PIIr. = Proto-Indo-Iranian, pl. = plu-ral, Psh. = Pashto, Oss. = Ossetic, Sariq. = Sariqoli, sg. = singular, Sher = (Pashto dialect), Shugh. = Shughni, Skt. = Sanskrit, Sogd. = Sogdian, Wa. = Wakhi, Wan. = Wanetsi (Pashto dialect), Waz. = Waziri (Pashto dialect), Yaghn. = Yaghnobi, Yazgh. = Yazghulami, Yi. = Yidgha, Zaz. = Zazaki.

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Selected Pashto Problems II. Historical Phonology 1: On Vocalism and Etyma

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