Frahang-i Pahlavig
Encyclopedia
Frahang-i Pahlavig is a dictionary of (mostly) Aramaic language
ideograms with Middle Persian
translations (in Pahlavi script) and transliterations (in Pazend/Avestan
script). The glossary was previously known to Indian Zoroastrians
(the Parsis) as the mna-xvatay (traditionally pronounced mona khoda), a name derived from the first two words of the first entry/lemma. The Frahang-i Pahlavig should not be confused with the Frahang-i Oim-evak
, which is a glossary of Avestan language
terms.
The oldest surviving example of a Frahang-like text is a one-page fragment discovered at Turpan that is believed to date to the 9th or 10th century CE. Several more complete manuscripts exist in Bombay, Oxford, Paris, and Copenhagen, but the oldest of these dates to the 15th century and is missing a second folio and all of folio 28 onwards. In the earliest edition made available to European scholarship, the Frahang is arranged serially; that is, according to the shape of the Aramaic characters. That edition, obtained by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron
in the mid-18th century, is today in the Bibliothèque nationale
, Paris. In 1867, Hoshangji Jamaspji Asa and Martin Haug
published a transcript of a manuscript that was arranged thematically by chapter.
The existence of similar glossaries from Akkadian times (there explaining Sumerian
ideograms) led an Assyriologist, Erich Ebeling, to explain that many of the words in the Frahang were derived from Sumerian or Akkadian. This led to a number of "far-fetched interpretations," which were then subsequently incorporated into a number of later interpretations, including those of Iranists, so effectively making even these unreliable.
words, no longer recognized as such." Altogether about 1300 words (including word forms) are represented, "but its original extent appears to have been only 1000 words, excluding the appendices." Several ideograms are not attested in any other text.
While the one-page Turpan fragment lists various forms for verbs followed by one Middle Persian translation (in the infinitive), other manuscripts list at most three verb forms, but then provide Middle Persian equivalents of each. The primary elements (ideogram(s) and translation) "are then transcribed interlinearly, and more or less corruptly, into Avestan letters
, i.e., into Pāzand, whereby the ideograms appear in their traditional mnemonic pronunciation. Because of the ambiguity of the Pahlavi script this is often far removed from the original Aramaic spellings." In the manuscript examined by Asa and Haug, the huzvarishn and translations are in black, and the Pazend transliterations are in red (the first chapter is an exception, and is entirely in black).
Substituting Latin characters (and written left-to-right) for Pahlavi and Pazend ones (which are written right-to-left), Frahang glosses look like this:
Thus, "king" would be written
but understood in Iran to be the sign for 'shāh'.
In the Asa and Haug manuscript, the Frahang is organized thematically, divided into (approximately) thirty chapters. Eighteen of these chapters have titles (listed below in italics), the others do not. West ends his description at chapter 23 as "no further chapters are indicated." The last section/chapter is a collection of older Iranian language words (and variant spellings), with more modern words explaining the older terms.
Aramaic language
Aramaic is a group of languages belonging to the Afroasiatic language phylum. The name of the language is based on the name of Aram, an ancient region in central Syria. Within this family, Aramaic belongs to the Semitic family, and more specifically, is a part of the Northwest Semitic subfamily,...
ideograms with Middle Persian
Middle Persian
Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a...
translations (in Pahlavi script) and transliterations (in Pazend/Avestan
Avestan alphabet
The Avestan alphabet is a writing system developed during Iran's Sassanid era to render the Avestan language.As a side effect of its development, the script was also used for Pazend, a method of writing Middle Persian that was used primarily for the Zend commentaries on the texts of the Avesta...
script). The glossary was previously known to Indian Zoroastrians
Zoroastrianism
Zoroastrianism is a religion and philosophy based on the teachings of prophet Zoroaster and was formerly among the world's largest religions. It was probably founded some time before the 6th century BCE in Greater Iran.In Zoroastrianism, the Creator Ahura Mazda is all good, and no evil...
(the Parsis) as the mna-xvatay (traditionally pronounced mona khoda), a name derived from the first two words of the first entry/lemma. The Frahang-i Pahlavig should not be confused with the Frahang-i Oim-evak
Frahang-i Oim-evak
Frahang-i Oim-evak is an old Avestan-Middle Persian dictionary. It is named with the two first words of the dictionary: Oim in Avestan means 'one' and evak is its Pahlavi equivalent. It gives the Pahlavi meanings of about 880 Avestan words, either by one word or one phrase or by explaining...
, which is a glossary of Avestan language
Avestan language
Avestan is an East Iranian language known only from its use as the language of Zoroastrian scripture, i.e. the Avesta, from which it derives its name...
terms.
Manuscripts and interpretations
The oldest surviving example of a Frahang-like text is a one-page fragment discovered at Turpan that is believed to date to the 9th or 10th century CE. Several more complete manuscripts exist in Bombay, Oxford, Paris, and Copenhagen, but the oldest of these dates to the 15th century and is missing a second folio and all of folio 28 onwards. In the earliest edition made available to European scholarship, the Frahang is arranged serially; that is, according to the shape of the Aramaic characters. That edition, obtained by Abraham Anquetil-Duperron
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron
Abraham Hyacinthe Anquetil-Duperron was the first professional French scholar of Indian culture. He conceived the institutional framework for the new profession. He inspired the founding of the Ecole francaise d'extreme orient a century after his death and, later still, the founding of the...
in the mid-18th century, is today in the Bibliothèque nationale
Bibliothèque nationale de France
The is the National Library of France, located in Paris. It is intended to be the repository of all that is published in France. The current president of the library is Bruno Racine.-History:...
, Paris. In 1867, Hoshangji Jamaspji Asa and Martin Haug
Martin Haug
Martin Haug was a German orientalist.-Biography:Haug was born at Ostdorf , Württemberg. He became a pupil in the gymnasium at Stuttgart at a comparatively late age, and in 1848 he entered the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen, where he studied oriental languages, especially Sanskrit...
published a transcript of a manuscript that was arranged thematically by chapter.
The existence of similar glossaries from Akkadian times (there explaining Sumerian
Sumerian language
Sumerian is the language of ancient Sumer, which was spoken in southern Mesopotamia since at least the 4th millennium BC. During the 3rd millennium BC, there developed a very intimate cultural symbiosis between the Sumerians and the Akkadians, which included widespread bilingualism...
ideograms) led an Assyriologist, Erich Ebeling, to explain that many of the words in the Frahang were derived from Sumerian or Akkadian. This led to a number of "far-fetched interpretations," which were then subsequently incorporated into a number of later interpretations, including those of Iranists, so effectively making even these unreliable.
Structure and content
The glossary encompasses approximately five hundred (not counting variations) Semitic language ideograms (huzvarishn, "probably mean[ing] 'obsoleteness, antiquity, or archaism'"), "in the form used by Zoroastrians in writing Middle Persian (Book Pahlavi), each explained by a "phonetic" writing of the corresponding Persian word." Besides ideograms of Aramaic origin, the Frahang also has a handful of pseudo-ideograms from "Arabic words coined by later scribes" and "scattered examples of historical spellings of IranianIranian languages
The Iranian languages form a subfamily of the Indo-Iranian languages which in turn is a subgroup of Indo-European language family. They have been and are spoken by Iranian peoples....
words, no longer recognized as such." Altogether about 1300 words (including word forms) are represented, "but its original extent appears to have been only 1000 words, excluding the appendices." Several ideograms are not attested in any other text.
While the one-page Turpan fragment lists various forms for verbs followed by one Middle Persian translation (in the infinitive), other manuscripts list at most three verb forms, but then provide Middle Persian equivalents of each. The primary elements (ideogram(s) and translation) "are then transcribed interlinearly, and more or less corruptly, into Avestan letters
Avestan alphabet
The Avestan alphabet is a writing system developed during Iran's Sassanid era to render the Avestan language.As a side effect of its development, the script was also used for Pazend, a method of writing Middle Persian that was used primarily for the Zend commentaries on the texts of the Avesta...
, i.e., into Pāzand, whereby the ideograms appear in their traditional mnemonic pronunciation. Because of the ambiguity of the Pahlavi script this is often far removed from the original Aramaic spellings." In the manuscript examined by Asa and Haug, the huzvarishn and translations are in black, and the Pazend transliterations are in red (the first chapter is an exception, and is entirely in black).
Substituting Latin characters (and written left-to-right) for Pahlavi and Pazend ones (which are written right-to-left), Frahang glosses look like this:
| huzvarishn ideogram (Aramaic alphabet, RtL) |
MP Middle Persian Middle Persian , indigenously known as "Pârsig" sometimes referred to as Pahlavi or Pehlevi, is the Middle Iranian language/ethnolect of Southwestern Iran that during Sassanid times became a prestige dialect and so came to be spoken in other regions as well. Middle Persian is classified as a... translation (Latin transliteration) |
Aramaic word behind the ideogram (in the Frahang rendered in Pazend) |
English meaning |
 := KLB |
sāg | kalba | "dog" |
| := MLK |
shāh | malka | "king" |
| := LḤM |
nān | laḥma | "bread" |
Thus, "king" would be written
but understood in Iran to be the sign for 'shāh'.In the Asa and Haug manuscript, the Frahang is organized thematically, divided into (approximately) thirty chapters. Eighteen of these chapters have titles (listed below in italics), the others do not. West ends his description at chapter 23 as "no further chapters are indicated." The last section/chapter is a collection of older Iranian language words (and variant spellings), with more modern words explaining the older terms.
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| 1. | In the name of the Creator Ohrmazd Ahura Mazda Ahura Mazdā is the Avestan name for a divinity of the Old Iranian religion who was proclaimed the uncreated God by Zoroaster, the founder of Zoroastrianism... |
| 2. | worldly things |
| 3. | waters |
| 4. | grains, fruits |
| 5. | drinking |
| 6. | vegetables |
| 7. | quadrupeds |
| 8. | birds |
| 9. | animals |
| 10. | parts of the body |
| 11. | details (of the family?) |
| 12. | superiors |
| 13. | inferiors |
| 14. | riding |
| 15. | writing |
| 16. | metals |
| 17. | assignments |
| 18. | verbs 1 |
| 19. | verbs 2 |
| 20. | verbs 3 |
| 21. | verbs 4 |
| 22. | the end of praise "(?, verbs of being and dying)" |
| 23. | written correspondence |
| 24. | pronouns |
| 25. | (mostly) adverbs |
| 26. | adjectives |
| 27. | divisions of the year |
| 28. | names of days and months |
| 29. | numerals |
| 30. | spelling variants |