Tocharian Online

Laryngeals

Since voiceless aspirates were finally removed from the PIE stop inventory, scholars were forced to explain the origin of the voiceless aspirates in Sanskrit. For this Hittite again led the way. Hittite preserved consonants, now called laryngeals and denoted *h₁, *h₂, *h₃ (or collectively just *H), which were unattested in any of the other daughter languages. These consonants, when following voiceless non-aspirates in Sanskrit, resulted in the corresponding aspirate: PIE *-tH- > Skt. -tʰ-. Laryngeals also had the following effects:

• Coloring: laryngeals change the quality, or "color," of an adjacent PIE short *e;
• Contraction: laryngeals contract with a preceding vowel to give a long vowel of the same quality;
• Vocalization: a laryngeal between consonants yields a vowel.

The following chart illustrates Laryngeal coloring.

The chart below shows the laryngeal contraction that follows coloring.

The vocalization of laryngeals differed according to language, as shown in the following chart.

After coloring and contraction, the laryngeals themselves were subsequently lost in all languages except Hittite. The following chart compares the outcomes of some PIE roots in Hittite and Latin.

The table below gives some typical examples of the sequence of changes leading from PIE forms containing laryngeals to their remnants in other daughter languages.

Vowels

As with the PIE stop inventory, the PIE vocalic system was originally assumed to be quite robust. The original assumption was that it contained all the "continental" vowels -- *a, *e, *i, *o, *u -- together with their lengthened counterparts -- *ā, *ē, *ī, *ō, *ū. Upon further investigation, it was found that the evidence for PIE *a is in fact sparse. The advent of laryngeal theory in turn allowed for even greater simplification, since both PIE *a and *o could be assumed to derive from earlier PIE *eh₂ and *eh₃, respectively. The lengthened vowels could likewise be derived from laryngeal contraction. Thus the PIE vowel system seemed to devolve into merely *e plus the semivowels *i and *u. This position seems so extreme, however -- there are no extant languages with solely one vowel -- that most historical linguists take the core PIE vowels to be *e, *a, *o (the latter two being rarer than the first), plus the semivowels *i, *u. The lengthened grades are typically seen as the result of laryngeal contraction, though there does seem to be evidence from patterns of vocalic alternation (ablaut) that some long vowels were original in PIE.

Resonants

The resonants of PIE are the typical *r, *l, *n, *m. Each of these can function as consonant, beginning or ending a syllable, or as forming the nucleus of a syllable, like a vowel. In the latter role they are often denoted *ṛ, *ḷ, *ṇ, *ṃ. As an example, compare the first l- of the English word little, which as a consonant begins the first syllable, to the second -l-, which as a vowel forms the nucleus of the second syllable.

Given the ability of the laryngeals to vocalize between consonants, it is occasionally convenient to think of the laryngeals likewise as resonants.

Affricates

PIE had the sole sibilant *s. In certain environments this may have become voiced, but this was an allophonic change, not phonemic.

Proto-Indo-European Phonology: a Summary

The basic idea of PIE phonology is to posit a phonological system of the parent language Proto-Indo-European, and to state explicitly different groups of rules, whereby the phonemes of PIE changed regularly into those of the various daughter languages. For instance, one set of rules should say how those phonemes changed into the phonemic inventory of Proto-Germanic; another should describe how the PIE phonemes changed into those of Proto-Italic; and so on. From there, one repeats the procedure, e.g. stating rules by which the phonemes of Proto-Italic developed into those of Latin. The Tocharianist of course desires to apply the same methodology to Tocharian A and B, first deciding how PIE phonemes became those of Proto-Tocharian, and how these latter became the phonemes seen in Tocharian A and Tocharian B themselves.

Lest the reader receive the impression that this is in some sense a merely linguistic pursuit devoid of application to matters of Tocharian society and culture, consider the following. In the early period of Tocharian studies, it was not clear what relative status to give to the two languages Tocharian A and Tocharian B. Scholars were not clear as to whether they are mere dialects, two separate languages in their own right, or if one is the linguistic ancestor of the other. It is primarily through studies of phonology that one attempts to decide the question: for the most part is has become clear that the two languages have phonological rules distinct enough that it is difficult to say one derives from the other. And in many instances it is quite difficult to imagine that they were mutually intelligible at the time they were spoken. (However assertions of this sort are notoriously dubious, since there are ancient references that Old English and Old Norse were mutually intelligible, something that rarely occurs to modern scholars as they attempt to learn the two languages.) At present there is general concensus that Tocharian A and Tocharian B are in fact two distinct languages, likely spoken concurrently by different groups of speakers. This conclusion must be taken into account, then, when one discusses the curious fact that the Tocharian A documents found thus far are all translations of foreign Buddhist literature, while Tocharian B shows at least some documents of native Tocharian composition. If one were to look at a similar situation in the present day, noting that Latin is used almost solely as a liturgical language, while Italian has a robust native literature, one might surmise that as Italian descends from Latin, so must Tocharian B from Tocharian A. But this is not borne out by linguistic inquiry. One must ask then what societal conditions would lead to the Tocharian A speakers writing solely liturgical documents, while Tocharian B speakers left documents on a much wider variety of matters of daily life?

Moreover, in terms of scientific inquiry, laryngeal theory has provided the greatest historical linguistic instance of scientific prediction. Saussure in essence developed the initial idea of laryngeals as a means to explain certain irregularities in Sanskrit root formations: in particular, some roots take a linking -i- between root and suffix, while others do not, without any obvious underlying pattern. Saussure hypothesized that if there were PIE consonants obeying certain rules, then these consonants would explain the resultant situation in Sanskrit. This theory actually preceded the discovery of Hittite, and so such consonants were relegated at the time to the status of mere formal speculation. But with the subsequent decipherment of Hittite, scholars realized that Hittite preserved Saussure's hitherto unattested consonants!

Reading and Textual Analysis

The following text is a continuation of the previous excerpt from the Buddhist Puṇyavanta-Jātaka.

Note the use in verse 20 of näṃ, a shortened form for naṣ-äṃ, the third person singular present of the copula, followed by the enclitic pronoun, here 'is for them'. Such constructions with copula and pronoun are common ways of representing possession in Indo-European languages, for example Lat. mihi nōmen est... 'to me is the name...', i.e. 'I have the name...'.

Verse 21 is somewhat problematic, with scholarly opinion divided as to whether one should read kälpitär 'should attain (for oneself)' or käl(y)itär 'should exist'. The form amok 'skill' is unfortunately of no help, being the same in nominative and oblique. The reading kälpitär is presented in the selection given below, following the text of Krause & Thomas (Tocharisches Elementarbuch). The translation however gives the rendering according to Lane, and so appropriate to a reading käl(y)itär. See the grammatical notes accompanying the gloss for more details.

The reading selection illustrates in verse 22 the typical Indo-European use of the neuter accusative of an adjective in the role of an adverb, here kāsu 'carefully'. Since masculine and neuter have fallen together in Tocharian, this neuter accusative adverb has form identical with the nominative singular masculine.

15 - Śilpavāṃ träṅkäṣ : amok wrasaśśi p_ukaṃ pruccamo, kyalte : Kuma -- -- --

• Śilpavāṃ -- noun; masculine singular nominative of <Śilpavāṃ> Shilpavant (name of a prince) -- Shilpavant
• träṅkäṣ -- verb suppletive base present first; third singular active of <träṅk-> say -- says # The verb träṅk- is used for the (base) present stem, weñ- being employed for all other tenses and moods.
• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <amok> art, skill -- Skill
• wrasaśśi -- noun; masculine plural genitive of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- of men
• p_ukaṃ -- substantive adjective third; masculine singular locative of <puk> all, every, whole -- altogether
• pruccamo -- adjective fourth; masculine singular nominative of <pruccamo> excellent, superior -- (is)... the best (thing)
• kyalte -- conjunction; <k_uyalte> because, for -- for
• Kuma -- noun; singular locative of <kuma...>... (name of a type of metrical verse) -- in kuma...-meter

16 - kāsu ñom-klyu amoktsāp kälyme kälyme sätkatär.
        yärkā yāmäl mäskatär, potal kropal wrasaśśi.

• kāsu -- adjective third; masculine singular nominative of <kāsu> good -- good
• ñom-klyu -- noun third second; <ñom> name + noun sixth third; masculine singular nominative of <klyu> fame -- The... fame
• amoktsāp -- substantive adjective first; masculine singular genitive of <amokäts> artist, artisan -- of the artisan
• kälyme kälyme -- noun first second /3.2; mf sg obl of <kälyme> direction, path, path to heaven -- in all directions # The repetition has a distributive function, somewhat akin to 'direction after direction'.
• sätkatär -- verb base present third; third singular mediopassive of <sätk-> spread -- spreads
• yärkā -- noun third first; alternating singular perlative of <yärk> reverence -- with reverence
• yāmäl -- verb suppletive base gerundive second; masculine singular nominative of <yām-> make -- to be treated
• mäskatär -- verb present third; third singular mediopassive of <mäsk-> be located, be -- He is
• potal -- verb gerundive second; masculine singular nominative of <pot-> flatter -- (is) to be respected
• kropal -- verb gerundive second; masculine singular nominative of <krop-> gather -- to be received
• wrasaśśi -- noun; masculine plural genitive of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- by men

17 - pāsmāṃ niṣpal lo näkṣäl ; wär por lāś lyśi mñe kärṣneñc.
        amok nu mā näknäṣträ, niṣpalis śkaṃ amok tsmār.

• pāsmāṃ -- verb present particple mediopassive; masculine singular nominative of <pās-> guard -- guarded
• niṣpal -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• lo -- adverb; <lo> away -- ...
• näkṣäl -- verb gerundive second; masculine singular nominative of <näk-> perish, destroy -- (is) to be made vanish
• wär -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <wär> water -- water
• por -- noun second first; alternating singular nominative of <por> fire -- fire
• lāś -- noun seventh; masculine singular nominative of <wäl> king -- kings # Equivalent to lāṃś.
• lyśi -- noun fifth third; masculine plural nominative of <lyäk> thief -- (and) thieves
• mñe -- noun; oblique of <mñe> certitude, assurance (?) -- (one's) resources (?)
• kärṣneñc -- verb present sixth; third plural active of <kärṣt-> cut off -- cut off
• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <amok> art, skill -- skill
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- But
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• näknäṣträ -- verb present tenth; third singular mediopassive of <näk-> perish, destroy -- does... vanish
• niṣpalis -- noun third second; alternating singular genitive of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- of property
• śkaṃ -- enclitic particle; <śkaṃ> and, also, and also -- and
• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <amok> art, skill -- skill
• tsmār -- noun first second; alternating singular nominative of <tsmār> root -- (is) the root

18 - kospreṃ kospreṃ śkaṃ ne amokäts amokṣiṃ wram pyutkāṣtär, täprenäk täprenäk päñ pärkowäntu mäskaṃtr-äṃ.

• kospreṃ kospreṃ -- interrogative adverb; <kospreṃ> how much?, how far? -- (in just the same measure) as # Skt. kiyat
• śkaṃ -- enclitic particle; <śkaṃ> and, also, and also -- And
• ne -- enclitic particle; <-ne> (indefinite marker), (relative marker) -- ...
• amokäts -- substantive adjective first; masculine singular nominative of <amokäts> artist, artisan -- an artist
• amokṣiṃ -- adjective first first; masculine singular oblique of <amokṣi> artistic -- artistic
• wram -- noun second first; alternating singular oblique of <wram> thing, matter -- an... object
• pyutkāṣtär -- verb causative subjunctive tenth; third singular mediopassive of <pyutk-> make come into being, produce -- creates # Note the use of the subjunctive in the subordinate clause.
• täprenäk täprenäk -- adverb; <täpreṃ> so (much) + emphatic particle; <-k> (emphatic particle), indeed, even -- (just) so # Note the relative-correlative structure: kospreṃ kospreṃ... täpreṃ täpreṃ... 'as much as..., so much...'.
• päñ -- numeral indeclinable; <päñ> five -- five
• pärkowäntu -- noun third second; masculine plural nominative of <pärko> advantage, rise -- the... advantages
• mäskaṃtr-äṃ -- verb present third; third plural mediopassive of <mäsk-> be located, be + pronoun suffix; <-m, -äm> (pronominal suffix for 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons pl.) us, you, them -- are for him

20 - sas pärko näṃ : wāwleṣu wram pyutkäṣṣ-äṃ ; wät ; amokäṣ tatmu kācke mäskatr-äṃ ; trit : wrassäṣ ortune kälpnāträ ; śtärt : ākläṣlyes ; pänt śkaṃ : akäṃtsune-pät-kälpāluneṣi pärko mäskatr-äṃ .

• sas -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <sas, säṃ> one -- One
• pärko -- noun third second; masculine singular nominative of <pärko> advantage, rise -- advantage
• näṃ -- verb suppletive present second; third singular active of <nas-> be + pronoun suffix; <-m, -äm> (pronominal suffix for 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons pl.) us, you, them -- ... # Shortened form representing naṣ-äṃ 'is for them'. The stem nas- is employed in the present; ṣ- in the imperfect; tāk- in the subjunctive.
• wāwleṣu -- verb preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <wles-> perform -- having done
• wram -- noun second first; alternating singular oblique of <wram> thing, matter -- the thing
• pyutkäṣṣ-äṃ -- verb causative present eighth; third singular active of <pyutk-> make come into being, produce + pronoun suffix; <-m, -äm> (pronominal suffix for 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons pl.) us, you, them -- arises for him
• wät -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <wät> second -- a second (is that)
• amokäṣ -- noun third second; alternating singular ablative of <amok> art, skill -- out of skill
• tatmu -- verb preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <täm-> beget, produce -- having created
• kācke -- noun third second; alternating singular oblique of <kācke> joy -- a (sense of) pleasure
• mäskatr-äṃ -- verb present third; third singular mediopassive of <mäsk-> be located, be + pronoun suffix; <-m, -äm> (pronominal suffix for 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons pl.) us, you, them -- (there) is
• trit -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <trit> third -- a third (is that)
• wrassäṣ -- noun; masculine plural ablative of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- from men
• ortune -- noun third second; alternating singular oblique of <ortune> friendship -- glory
• kälpnāträ -- verb base present sixth; third singular mediopassive of <kälp-> attain -- he acquires
• śtärt -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <śtärt> fourth -- a fourth (is that he acquires)
• ākläṣlyes -- substantive adjective first; masculine plural oblique of <ākälṣäl> (one) to be taught, student -- pupils
• pänt -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <pänt> fifth -- a fifth
• śkaṃ -- enclitic particle; <śkaṃ> and, also, and also -- and
• akäṃtsune-pät-kälpāluneṣi -- noun third second; alternating of <akäṃtsune> possession + adverb; <pät> over, beyond (?) + gerundive second abstract adjective first; masculine singular nominative of <kälp> attain -- of possession or acquisition
• pärko -- noun third second; masculine singular nominative of <pärko> advantage, rise -- the advantage
• mäskatr-äṃ -- verb present third; third singular mediopassive of <mäsk-> be located, be + pronoun suffix; <-m, -äm> (pronominal suffix for 1st, 2nd, 3rd persons pl.) us, you, them -- is for him

20 - waṣt lmāluneyis ñäkcy ārkiśoṣis śkaṃ tsmār nāṃtsu amok . tämyo täm śāwes käṣṣiśśi taṃne wewñu : Śuriṣinaṃ

• waṣt -- noun first second; alternating singular oblique of <waṣt> house -- a house
• lmāluneyis -- verb suppletive abstract; alternating singular genitive of <läm-> sit -- Of establishing # The stem ṣäm- is employed in the (base) present forms; läm- elsewhere.
• ñäkcy -- adjective first; masculine singular oblique of <ñäkci> godly, heavenly -- divine
• ārkiśoṣis -- noun third second; alternating singular genitive of <ārkiśoṣi> world -- of the... world
• śkaṃ -- enclitic particle; <śkaṃ> and, also, and also -- and
• tsmār -- noun first second; alternating singular nominative of <tsmār> root -- the root
• nāṃtsu -- verb suppletive preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <nas-> be -- being # The stem nas- is employed in the present; ṣ- in the imperfect; tāk- in the subjunctive.
• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <amok> art, skill -- skill
• tämyo -- adverb; <tämyo> by this, from this, therefore -- therefore
• täm -- demonstrative adverb; neuter singular oblique of <säm, sām, täm> the; he, she, it, they -- this
• śāwes -- adjective first; masculine plural oblique of <śāwe> (only plural) big -- great # The adjective tsopats 'big' is used in the singular; śāwe 'big' in the plural.
• käṣṣiśśi -- noun sixth first; masculine plural genitive of <käṣṣi> teacher -- of (=by) the... teachers
• taṃne -- adverb; <taṃne> so -- ...
• wewñu -- verb suppletive preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <weñ-> say -- has been said # The verb träṅk- is used for the (base) present stem, weñ- being employed for all other tenses and moods.
• Śuriṣinaṃ -- noun; singular locative of <Śuriṣin> (name of a type of metrical verse) -- (in shurishin-meter)

21 - amok neṣā kälpitär, tmäṣ niṣpalntu kropitär.
        kākropuṃt nu niṣpalntu ṣakkats śtwar-pāk yāmiträ :

• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular oblique of <amok> art, skill -- skill # Possibly nominative (which has the same form), a reading more likely if kälpitär is instead read as kälyitär. G. Lane follows the latter reading, so that nominative is appropriate. See below on kälpitär.
• neṣā -- adverb; perlative of <neṣ> earlier, prior -- First
• kälpitär -- verb base subjunctive fifth; third singular mediopassive optative of <kälp-> attain -- should exist # The text is unclear. If the reading is kälpitär, then a translation along the lines of the other occurrences in this text is appropriate: 'should attain (for oneself)'. The subject would then be the same indefinite person in the following verbs, and amok should be the oblique object. The reading käl(y)itär, however, is also possible. This would then be the corresponding optative of the root käly- 'stand, be located' (5th subjunctive class). This is the reading chosen by G. Lane, translated as 'should exist', and then amok is to be taken as the nominative subject.
• tmäṣ -- adverb; <tmäṣ> thereupon, then -- then
• niṣpalntu -- noun third second; alternating plural oblique of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• kropitär -- verb subjunctive fifth; third singular mediopassive optative of <krop-> gather -- one should collect
• kākropuṃt -- verb preterite participle; feminine plural oblique of <krop-> gather -- collected
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- But
• niṣpalntu -- noun third second; alternating plural oblique of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• ṣakkats -- adverb; <ṣakk> certainly + particle; <ats> (emphasizing particle), even, indeed -- indeed
• śtwar-pāk -- numeral; masculine/feminine of <śtwar> four + noun third second, fifth first; alternating singular oblique of <pāk> part -- four part(s)
• yāmiträ -- verb suppletive base subjunctive second; third singular mediopassive optative of <yām-> make -- one should make (into)

22 - ṣom pāk waṣtaṃ wärpitär, wunyo wlesant wleṣitär,
        särki ñātse pälkoräṣ, śtärcäṃ kāsu tāṣiträ.

• ṣom -- numeral; masculine singular oblique of <sas, säṃ> one -- One
• pāk -- noun third second, fifth first; alternating singular oblique of <pāk> part -- part
• waṣtaṃ -- noun first second; alternating singular locative of <waṣt> house -- at home
• wärpitär -- verb subjunctive fifth; third singular mediopassive optative of <wärp-> enjoy -- one should enjoy
• wunyo -- numeral; masculine paral instrumental of <wu, we> two -- with two (parts)
• wlesant -- noun third first; alternating plural oblique of <wles> service, work, action -- works
• wleṣitär -- verb subjunctive second; third singular mediopassive optative of <wles-> perform -- one should perform
• särki -- adverb; <särki> thereupon, later -- Later
• ñātse -- noun third second; alternating singular oblique of <ñātse> hardship, danger -- distress
• pälkoräṣ -- verb suppletive abstract; alternating singular ablative of <pälk-> see -- having seen # The stem läk 'see' is used in present finite and nonfinite forms, as well as the imperfect; pälk- 'see' is used for the subjunctive stem, imperative, and preterite.
• śtärcäṃ -- numeral; masculine singular oblique of <śtärt> fourth -- the fourth
• kāsu -- adverb; masculine singular nominative of <kāsu> good -- carefully # Used as a neuter substantive, the nominative and accusative (oblique) forms are the same (i.e. they are the usual masculine nominative singular form). The neuter accusative may then be used adverbially.
• tāṣiträ -- verb subjunctive second; third singular mediopassive optative of <tā-> set, lay -- one should put... (away)

23 - sas : wär tkanac wles, wät nu : śemäl pāṣäl, trit : kuryar,
        śtärt nu : śemäl tsmāṣlune, pänt : -- -- --, ṣkäṣt : tāl_une .

• sas -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <sas, säṃ> one -- One
• wär -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <wär> water -- (is) water
• tkanac -- noun fifth third; feminine singular allative of <tkaṃ> earth -- for the earth
• wles -- noun third first; alternating singular nominative of <wles> service, work, action -- work
• wät -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <wät> second -- the second
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- ...
• śemäl -- noun; masculine singular nominative of <śemäl> cattle, livestock -- cattle
• pāṣäl -- verb gerundive first; masculine singular nominative of <pās-> guard -- to be pastured
• trit -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <trit> third -- the third
• kuryar -- noun; singular nominative of <kuryar> commerce -- trade
• śtärt -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <śtärt> fourth -- The fourth
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- however
• śemäl -- noun; masculine singular oblique of <śemäl> cattle, livestock -- cattle
• tsmāṣlune -- verb causative subjunctive tenth abstract; alternating singular nominative of <tsäm-> grow -- rearing
• pänt -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <pänt> fifth -- the fifth
• ṣkäṣt -- numeral; masculine singular nominative of <ṣkäṣt> sixth -- the sixth
• tāl_une -- verb abstract; alternating singular nominative of <tā-> set, lay -- putting (away)

24 - waṣt lmālunyaṃ tosäs ṣäk ritwo kusne pākasyo
        niṣpal päñ-wäknā kroptär, cami wles yäṣ kälymeyā

• waṣt -- noun first second; alternating singular oblique of <waṣt> house -- a house
• lmālunyaṃ -- verb suppletive abstract; alternating singular locative of <läm-> sit -- In establishing # The stem ṣäm- is employed in the (base) present forms; läm- elsewhere.
• tosäs -- demonstrative pronoun; feminine plural oblique of <säs, sās, täṣ> this, this here -- these... (things) # The translation departs some from Lane's.
• ṣäk -- numeral indeclinable; <ṣäk> six -- six
• ritwo -- verb base preterite first preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <ritw-> coalesce -- having provided
• kusne -- relative pronoun; masculine singular nominative of <kusne> which -- whoever
• pākasyo -- noun third second, fifth first; masculine plural instrumental of <pāk> part -- by parts
• niṣpal -- noun third second; alternating singular oblique of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• päñ-wäknā -- numeral indeclinable; <päñ> five + noun third first; alternating singular perlative of <wkäṃ> manner, type -- in five ways # wäknā here is an editorial conjecture in Krause-Thomas, not found in Lane's edition.
• kroptär -- verb present second; third singular mediopassive of <krop-> gather -- gathers # kroptär here is an editorial conjecture in Krause-Thomas, not found in Lane's edition.
• cami -- demonstrative pronoun; masculine singular genitive of <säm, sām, täm> the; he, she, it, they -- of him
• wles -- noun third first; alternating singular nominative of <wles> service, work, action -- the work
• yäṣ -- verb present first; third singular active of <i-> go -- goes
• kälymeyā -- noun first second /3.2; mf sg perl of <kälyme> direction, path, path to heaven -- aright

25 - taṃne kropmāṃ niṣpalntu ykoṃ oṣeñi śamaṃtär,
        mäṃtne -- -- -- -- -- ne lyālyoryoṣoṣ pat nu.

• taṃne -- adverb; <taṃne> so -- Thus
• kropmāṃ -- verb present second particple mediopassive; feminine plural nominative of <krop-> gather -- collecting # The present mediopassive participle is undeclined for the feminine gender. The participle here agrees with niṣpalntu (alternating gender), with the mediopassive sense of 'collecting' as in English 'dust collecting on the shelves'.
• niṣpalntu -- noun third second; alternating plural nominative of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• ykoṃ -- adverb; <ykoṃ> by day -- by day
• oṣeñi -- adverb; <oṣeñi> by night -- by night
• śamaṃtär -- verb base present fourth; third plural mediopassive of <tsäm-> grow -- thrive
• mäṃtne -- conjunction; <mäṃtne (mätne)> as, so as, so as to -- So
• ne -- enclitic particle; <-ne> (indefinite marker), (relative marker) -- ...
• lyālyoryoṣoṣ -- verb preterite participle; <lyā-> wipe away -- having wiped away # The form is unclear.
• pat -- postposed conjunction; <pat> or -- or
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- ...

26 - moknac niṣpal mā tāṣäl, mā śu ypeyā mskantāsac,
        mā empeles omskeṃsac, mā pe tampewātsesac.

• moknac -- adjective; masculine singular allative of <mok> old -- For an old (man)
• niṣpal -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <niṣpal> domain, holdings -- property
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• tāṣäl -- verb gerundive first; masculine singular nominative of <tā-> set, lay -- (is)... to be laid up
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• śu -- preverb; <śu> over -- over
• ypeyā -- noun; alternating singular perlative of <ype> land -- the land
• mskantāsac -- verb present third particple active; masculine plural allative of <mäsk-> be located, be -- for those who are
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• empeles -- adjective second fourth; masculine plural oblique of <empele> awful -- (for) the terrible
• omskeṃsac -- adjective first; masculine plural allative of <omäskeṃ> evil -- the evil
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• pe -- conjunction; <pe> also -- and
• tampewātsesac -- adjective first; masculine plural allative of <tampewāts> powerful -- for the powerful

27 - yaläṃ wramm ats skam yāmiṣ, mā yaläṃ wram mar yāmiṣ.
        yaläṃ wram ypant wrasom nu pälkäṣ mäṃtne sälpmāṃ por.

• yaläṃ -- verb suppletive base gerundive first; masculine singular oblique of <yām-> make -- to be done
• wramm -- noun second first; alternating singular oblique of <wram> thing, matter -- A thing
• ats -- particle; <ats> (emphasizing particle), even, indeed -- ...
• skam -- adverb; <skam> always -- always
• yāmiṣ -- verb suppletive base subjunctive second; third singular active optative of <yām-> make -- one should... do
• mā -- adverb; <mā> no, not -- not
• yaläṃ -- verb suppletive base gerundive first; masculine singular oblique of <yām-> make -- to be done
• wram -- noun second first; alternating singular oblique of <wram> thing, matter -- a thing
• mar -- prohibitory particle; <mar> no, not -- not
• yāmiṣ -- verb suppletive base subjunctive second; third singular active optative of <yām-> make -- one should... do
• yaläṃ -- verb suppletive base gerundive first; masculine singular oblique of <yām-> make -- to be done
• wram -- noun second first; alternating singular oblique of <wram> thing, matter -- a thing
• ypant -- verb suppletive base present third particple active; masculine singular nominative of <yām-> make -- (In) doing
• wrasom -- noun; masculine singular nominative of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- one
• nu -- conjunction; <nu> now, even, anyway -- ...
• pälkäṣ -- verb base present first; third singular active of <pälk-> shine -- appears
• mäṃtne -- conjunction; <mäṃtne (mätne)> as, so as, so as to -- as
• sälpmāṃ -- verb base present first particple mediopassive; masculine singular nominative of <sälp-> glow -- flaming
• por -- noun second first; alternating singular nominative of <por> fire -- a... fire

28 - ṣñi ṣñaṣṣesā ortāsā -- -- eṃtsu cwal ārlā,
        puk ṣñaṣṣesaṃ ywārckā säm kayurṣṣ oki nuṣ spānte.

• ṣñi -- reflexive pronoun; singular genitive of <ṣñi> (genitive only, reflexive for all numbers and persons) my, your, their, his (own), her (own), its (own) -- one's # Other forms of this pronoun are not extant.
• ṣñaṣṣesā -- noun sixth fourth; masculine plural perlative of <ṣñaṣṣe> relation, relative -- Through... relatives
• ortāsā -- noun sixth third; masculine plural perlative of <ort> friend (?) -- through glories (?)
• eṃtsu -- verb base preterite participle; masculine singular nominative of <ents-> seize -- having seized
• cwal -- noun; singular oblique of <cwal> beginning (?) -- at birth # Found only in the phrase cwal ārlā.
• ārlā -- noun; singular perlative of <āral> end (?) -- (and) death
• puk -- indeclinable adjective; <puk> all, every, whole -- Always # puk is often indeclinable when used as an adjective (in contrast to its use as a substantive).
• ṣñaṣṣesaṃ -- noun sixth fourth; masculine plural locative of <ṣñaṣṣe> relation, relative -- relatives
• ywārckā -- postposition with locative; <ywārckā (ywārśkā)> between, among, in the middle of -- among
• säm -- demonstrative pronoun; masculine singular nominative of <säm, sām, täm> the; he, she, it, they -- he
• kayurṣṣ -- noun sixth third; masculine singular nominative of <kayurṣ> bull -- a bull # The final consonant is doubled before an initial vowel, particularly before enclitics.
• oki -- enclitic particle; <oki> like, as -- like
• nuṣ -- verb causative present eighth; third singular active of <nu-> roar -- bellows
• spānte -- adverb; <spānte> confidently -- confidently

29 - wawuräṣ el wärporäṣ, mäṃtne āṣāṃ, sam pkaśśäl,
        wlaluneyis akälyme kalkaṣ wrasom kuprene,
        yomnāṣ lame ñäktaśśi yātluneyo sne nākäm.

• wawuräṣ -- verb suppletive absolutive; masculine singular ablative of <wäs-> give -- Having given # The stem wäs- is employed in the preterite; e- is employed in all other forms.
• el -- noun third first; alternating singular oblique of <el> gift -- a gift
• wärporäṣ -- verb absolutive; masculine singular ablative of <wärp-> enjoy -- (and) having received (one)
• mäṃtne āṣāṃ -- conjunction; <mäṃtne (mätne)> as, so as, so as to + indeclinable adjective; <āṣāṃ> worthy -- as (is) fitting # Skt. yatʰārham
• sam -- adjective with comitative; masculine singular nominative of <sam> same (as) -- (a man is) like (i.e. equal) # Skt. sama
• pkaśśäl -- substantive adjective third; masculine singular comitative of <puk> all, every, whole -- to all
• wlaluneyis -- verb abstract; masculine singular genitive of <wäl-> die -- of death
• akälyme -- postposition with genitive; <akälyme> under the control of -- in the direction
• kalkaṣ -- verb suppletive subjunctive fifth; third singular active of <kälk-> go -- go
• wrasom -- noun; masculine singular nominative of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- a man
• kuprene -- conjunction; <kuprene> when, if -- if
• yomnāṣ -- verb subjunctive sixth; third singular active of <yom-> attain -- he should reach
• lame -- noun; singular oblique of <lame> place, location -- the place
• ñäktaśśi -- noun fifth first; masculine/feminine plural genitive of <ñkät> god -- of the gods
• yātluneyo -- verb base abstract; singular instrumental of <yāt-> be able, be capable -- by prospering
• sne -- preposition; <sne> without -- without
• nākäm -- noun third first; alternating singular oblique of <nākäm> blame -- blame

30 - tämyo amok ñi pälskaṃ p_ukaṃ pruccamo wrasaśśi.

• tämyo -- adverb; <tämyo> by this, from this, therefore -- Therefore
• amok -- noun third second; alternating singular nominative of <amok> art, skill -- skill
• ñi -- pronoun; masculine singular genitive of <näṣ, ñuk> I -- my
• pälskaṃ -- noun; alternating singular locative of <pältsäk> thought, opinion -- in... opinion
• p_ukaṃ -- substantive adjective third; masculine singular locative of <puk> all, every, whole -- altogether
• pruccamo -- adjective fourth; masculine singular nominative of <pruccamo> excellent, superior -- (is) the best (quality)
• wrasaśśi -- noun; masculine plural genitive of <wras(om)> (living) creature, man -- of men

Lesson Text

¹⁵ Śilpavāṃ träṅkäṣ : amok wrasaśśi p_ukaṃ pruccamo, kyalte : Kuma -- -- --

¹⁶ kāsu ñom-klyu amoktsāp kälyme kälyme sätkatär.
        yärkā yāmäl mäskatär, potal kropal wrasaśśi.

¹⁷ pāsmāṃ niṣpal lo näkṣäl ; wär por lāś lyśi mñe kärṣneñc.
        amok nu mā näknäṣträ, niṣpalis śkaṃ amok tsmār.

¹⁸ kospreṃ kospreṃ śkaṃ ne amokäts amokṣiṃ wram pyutkāṣtär, täprenäk täprenäk päñ pärkowäntu mäskaṃtr-äṃ. ²⁰ sas pärko näṃ : wāwleṣu wram pyutkäṣṣ-äṃ ; wät ; amokäṣ tatmu kācke mäskatr-äṃ ; trit : wrassäṣ ortune kälpnāträ ; śtärt : ākläṣlyes ; pänt śkaṃ : akäṃtsune-pät-kälpāluneṣi pärko mäskatr-äṃ . ²⁰ waṣt lmāluneyis ñäkcy ārkiśoṣis śkaṃ tsmār nāṃtsu amok . tämyo täm śāwes käṣṣiśśi taṃne wewñu : Śuriṣinaṃ

²¹ amok neṣā kälpitär, tmäṣ niṣpalntu kropitär.
        kākropuṃt nu niṣpalntu ṣakkats śtwar-pāk yāmiträ :

²² ṣom pāk waṣtaṃ wärpitär, wunyo wlesant wleṣitär,
        särki ñātse pälkoräṣ, śtärcäṃ kāsu tāṣiträ.

²³ sas : wär tkanac wles, wät nu : śemäl pāṣäl, trit : kuryar,
        śtärt nu : śemäl tsmāṣlune, pänt : -- -- --, ṣkäṣt : tāl_une .

²⁴ waṣt lmālunyaṃ tosäs ṣäk ritwo kusne pākasyo
        niṣpal päñ-wäknā kroptär, cami wles yäṣ kälymeyā

²⁵ taṃne kropmāṃ niṣpalntu ykoṃ oṣeñi śamaṃtär,
        mäṃtne -- -- -- -- -- ne lyālyoryoṣoṣ pat nu.

²⁶ moknac niṣpal mā tāṣäl, mā śu ypeyā mskantāsac,
        mā empeles omskeṃsac, mā pe tampewātsesac.

²⁷ yaläṃ wramm ats skam yāmiṣ, mā yaläṃ wram mar yāmiṣ.
        yaläṃ wram ypant wrasom nu pälkäṣ mäṃtne sälpmāṃ por.

²⁸ ṣñi ṣñaṣṣesā ortāsā -- -- eṃtsu cwal ārlā,
        puk ṣñaṣṣesaṃ ywārckā säm kayurṣṣ oki nuṣ spānte.

²⁹ wawuräṣ el wärporäṣ, mäṃtne āṣāṃ, sam pkaśśäl,
        wlaluneyis akälyme kalkaṣ wrasom kuprene,
        yomnāṣ lame ñäktaśśi yātluneyo sne nākäm.

³⁰ tämyo amok ñi pälskaṃ p_ukaṃ pruccamo wrasaśśi.

Translation

¹⁵ Shilpavant says: "Skill of men is altogether the best (thing); for (in kuma...-meter):

¹⁶ The good fame of the artisan spreads in all directions.
He is to be treated with reverence, (is) to be respected, to be received by men.

¹⁷ Guarded property is to be made vanish; water, fire, kings (and) thieves cut off (one's) resources.
But skill does not vanish, and of property skill (is) the root.

¹⁸ "And (in just the same measure) as an artist an artistic object creates, (just) so the five advantages are for him. ¹⁹ One advantage, having done the thing, arises for him; a second (is that) having created out of skill (there) is a (sense of) pleasure in him(?); a third (is that) he acquires glory(?) from men; a fourth (is that he acquires) pupils; and a fifth is for him the advantage of possession or acquisition. ²⁰ Of establishing a house and of the divine world the root being skill, therefore this of (=by) the great teachers has been said (in shurishin-meter):

²¹ "First skill should exist, then one should collect property,
But collected property indeed one should make (into) four part(s):

²² One part one should enjoy at home; with two (parts) one should perform works.
Later, having seen distress, the fourth one should put carefully (away).

²³ "One work (is) water for the earth; the second, cattle to be pastured; the third trade;
The fourth, however, rearing cattle; the fifth... ; the sixth putting (away) (?).

²⁴ In establishing a house, whoever, having provided these six things,
gathers property by parts in five ways, of him the work goes aright.

²⁵ "Thus collecting, possessions by day and by night thrive.
So -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- or having wiped away (?).

²⁶ For an old (man) property (is) not to be laid up, not for those who are over the land (?),
Not for the terrible, the evil, and not for the powerful.

²⁷ "A thing to be done one should always do; a thing not to be done one should not do.
(In) doing a thing to be done one appears (as) a flaming fire.

²⁸ Through one's relatives, through glories (?) -- -- -- having received at birth (and) death (?).
Always among relatives he bellows like a bull, confidently.

²⁹ "Having given a gift (and) received (one), as (is) fitting, (a man is) like (i.e. equal) to all.
If a man go in the direction of death,
He should reach the place of the gods by prospering without blame.

³⁰ Therefore skill, in my opinion, (is) altogether the best (quality) of men."

6. Sandhi

As with most languages, Tocharian sounds at the moment of utterance are subject to rules of euphonic combination, also known by the Sanskrit term sandhi. The idea is simply that a given sound may change in any given utterance according to the particular phonetic environment in which it occurs. During the pronunciation of a given sound, the mouth may already be preparing itself for the following sound, and hence may change the sound under consideration; or the mouth may still be at the point of articulation of the previous sound, and this may affect the sound under consideration. This process commonly occurs in English, for example when the final voiced labio-dental fricative [v] of have [hæv] becomes the unvoiced counterpart [f] in the phrase I have to go -- more phonetically, I hafta go. This is a result of the mouth already preparing to say the following unvoiced t while still pronouncing the last consonant of have -- the [v] is devoiced to [f] as a result of this anticipation.

Such changes are generally very regular within a particular language. Sanskrit is perhaps the pinnacle of this, where the changes appear to have been grammaticalized after a time (certain rules of sandhi were less regular in the Vedic period than in the Classical period). While the Tocharian system is not nearly as ornate as the system of Classical Sanskrit, it does obey certain regularities of its own. These are frequently applied in the context of poetry where the number of syllables is essential to the meter. Outside of the poetic context, such euphonic combination is less frequently applied.

Generally the final vowels i, e, u, o are changed to their nearest equivalent semivowel before a following vowel. The syllabic resonants, that is the liquids and nasals reinforced by the epenthetic vowel ä -- är, äl, än -- become their fully consonantal equivalents.

Some of the rules, however, do not apply equally or in all instances in both languages. For example, the change -e > -y is rare in Tocharian B, the -e generally contracting with the following vowel in this language. The change -o > -w is often accompanied by the change a- > ā- in Tocharian B: nano alyek > nanw ālyek.

Two vowels of the same basic type generally contract to the respective simple vowel.

When the following vowel is dissimilar from the preceding vowel, the preceding vowel generally disappears if it does not become a semivowel according to the previous discussion. A notable exception to this is o, which has various differing results when it does not change to the semivowel -w. These results are summarized in the following table.

Consonant sandhi is less widespread than its vocalic counterpart. In general, final consonants may assimilate to the point of articulation of the following initial consonant, so that for example a dental consonant may become palatal before a following palatal.

In addition, one finds that a final consonant is occasionally doubled before a following initial vowel. In Tocharian A this generally occurs before enclitics. The complementary process is also seen, where an initial consonant is doubled after a preceding final vowel. See the following chart.

7. Case

Case, more specifically morphological case, signifies the mechanism whereby changes to the ending of a noun, adjective, or pronoun serve to denote its grammatical role in a particular utterance. This survives in a relatively small way in modern English, particularly with the addition of 's to denote the genitive singular, or s' to denote the genitive plural, or s to denote nominative or oblique plural. Here the terms nominative, genitive, and oblique are all names of cases in modern English. Some, like the nominative and genitive, still largely carry the form and/or function of their historical predecessors in Proto-Indo-European; the other, the oblique, by contrast is an amalgam of historically distinct cases whose forms merged to give the modern representative. Much the same state of affairs holds in the Tocharian languages.

Speaking loosely, the nominative is the case of the grammatical subject of a clause, or of something equated with the subject. Thus English she is nominative, since this is the form of the feminine pronoun which one uses for the grammatical subject: she walked home yesterday. The genitive is often explained as the "possessive case", since this is a common function represented by the marker 's and s' in English, but this is a great oversimplification. The case denotes very general relationship or qualification. Consider the relations denoted by 's in the following phrases:

1. Lincoln's presidency;
2. gold's luster;
3. Lincoln's assassination;
4. Booth's assassination;
5. Lincoln's top hat.

The first and second show what many would call "possession," but this is usually for lack of a better term, since 'presidency' and 'luster' are not commodities one can buy at the local store. The third denotes the object of the action represented by assassination, the fourth denotes the subject. Only the last actually denotes possession. The oblique denotes in English the object of a verb or preposition, such as me in the following sentences: He hit me; He gave me the book; He gave the book to me.

Proto-Indo-European possessed a much more robust case system than that of modern English. PIE, by most reconstructions, had eight cases: nominative, accusative, instrumental, dative, ablative, genitive, locative, vocative. These cases survived intact only in the earliest exemplars of the Indo-Iranian branch of the Indo-European family; in other families, the forms of different cases fell away and their roles were adopted by the forms of other cases, perhaps aided by the use of prepositions or postpositions (compare English me and to me above). This same process occurred within the history of the Tocharian languages, so that only three of the original PIE cases survived as morphological entities in Tocharian. However the use to postpositions in conjunction with one of these cases became so widespread that it appears to have led to the generation of new cases, different in form -- and sometimes in function -- from the original PIE cases. In this way Tocharian developed a two-tiered case system, the remnants of the PIE cases being called primary, and the newly developed cases called secondary.

7.1. Primary Cases

Tocharian retains only three of the original Indo-European cases: the nominative, genitive, and accusative, this last generally called the oblique case in the literature because it forms the basis for the secondary cases discussed below. Tocharian B additionally retains a vocative case. The nominative has generally undergone numerous changes which obscure the relation between the Tocharian endings and the original Indo-European endings, and even when the oblique shows some of its original PIE color, terminating in a nasal, this turns out to be a false friend -- since final consonants other than liquids and the voiced dental stop were generally lost in the earliest stages of the Tocharian language family, the nasal element of many oblique endings must in fact come from a PIE suffix preceding the ending, and not the ending itself. This is a large clue to the origin of many Tocharian nominal patterns lying with the extension of the original PIE n-stems. The genitive shows a variety of endings, which at times go back to PIE genitive endings, but possibly also to dative endings. This latter possibility is bolstered by the fact that the Tocharian genitive case often serves many of the roles of the PIE dative case.

The following chart shows the original PIE cases and their survival in the primary cases of Tocharian.