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| Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni | |
|---|---|
| Mitanni-Aryan | |
| Native to | Mitanni |
| Region | Upper Mesopotamia |
| Ethnicity | Indo-Aryan peoples of Mitanni |
| Extinct | after 1300s BC[1] |
Indo-European
| |
| Cuneiform | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
 Map of the ancient Indo-Iranian languages, including Mittani-Aryan. | |
The ancient Middle Eastern state ofMitanni (modern-day NortheastSyria, SoutheasternTurkey,2nd millennium BCE) used a dialect ofHurrian as its main language. This dialect however contains some loanwords of evidentlyIndo-Aryan origin, i.e. related toSanskrit, the ancestor of many modern languages of the Indian subcontinent. The loaned vocabulary seems to be related to an elite group in Mitanni society, as they appear in the names of rulers and gods as well as in relation to horse-breeding and the military (thus forming a so-calledsuperstrate).[2]
It is thus generally believed thatIndo-Aryan peoples settled inUpper Mesopotamia and northernSyria, and established the kingdom ofMitanni following a period of political vacuum, while also adopting Hurrian. This is considered a part of theIndo-Aryan migrations.[3][4][5]
Some theonyms, proper names, and other terminology of the LateBronze AgeMitanni civilisation ofUpper Mesopotamia exhibit an Indo-Aryan superstrate. While what few written records left by the Mittani are either inHurrian (which appears to have been the predominant language of their kingdom) orAkkadian (the maindiplomatic language of the Late Bronze Age Near East), these apparently Indo-Aryan names suggest that an Indo-Aryan elite imposed itself over theHurrians in the course of theIndo-Aryan expansion. If these traces are Indo-Aryan, they would be the earliest known direct evidence of Indo-Aryan, and would increase the precision in dating the split between the Indo-Aryan and Iranian languages (as the texts in which the apparent Indicisms occur can be dated with some accuracy).
Scholarship has reached a consensus that the linguistic data is most certainly affiliated to theIndo-Iranian language family, more specifically toIndo-Aryan.[2][6] Professor Eva von Dassow concurs with the presence of Indo-Aryan terms in Mitanni vocabulary, but cautiously advises against the notion of an "Indo-Aryan takeover".[7]Michael Witzel argues for the antiquity of the Indo-Aryan words attested in the Mitanni data, since they almost certainly predate linguistic developments attested in theRigveda.[8] In the same vein, German linguistMartin Joachim Kümmel [de] divides the Indo-Aryan elements into WIA (Western Indo-Aryan) and (E)IA ((Eastern) Indo-Aryan), the latter "being slightly less archaic than WIA".[2]
In a treaty between theHittites and Mitanni (betweenSuppiluliuma I andShattiwaza, c. 1380 BC), the deitiesMitra,Varuna,Indra, andNasatya (Ashvins) are invoked.Kikkuli's horse training text (circa 1400 BC) includes technical terms such asaika (Vedic Sanskriteka, one),tera (tri, three),panza (pañca, five),satta (sapta, seven),na (nava, nine),vartana (vartana, round). The numeralaika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper (Vedic Sanskriteka, with regular contraction of /ai/ to [eː]) as opposed toIndo-Iranian or early Iranian (which has*aiva; compare Vediceva "only") in general.[9]
The Mitanni warriors were calledmarya (Hurrian:maria-nnu), the term for '(young) warrior' inSanskrit as well,[10] formed by adding the Hurrian suffix-nnu;[11] note 'mišta-nnu' (= miẓḍha,~ Sanskrit mīḍha) "payment (for catching a fugitive)".[12]
All of the following examples are from Witzel (2001).[13] For the pronunciation of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform asš andz, seeAkkadian language § Consonants andProto-Semitic language § Fricatives.
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| bi-ir-ya-ma-aš-da | Priyamazdha | Priyamedha | "whose wisdom is dear"; /azd(ʰ)/ to [eːd(ʰ)] is a regular development in Vedic and its descendants (Indo-Aryan in the narrow sense) |
| bi-ir-ya-aš-šu-wa, bi-ir-da-aš-šu-wa | Priyāśva ~ Prītāśva | Prītāśva | "whose horse is dear" |
| ar-ta-aš-šu-ma-ra | Artasmara | Ṛtasmara | "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta" |
| ar-ta-ta-a-ma | Artadhāma(n?) | Ṛtadhāman | "his abode is Ṛta" |
| tu-uš-rat-ta, tu-iš-e-rat-ta, tu-uš-e-rat-ta | Tvaiša(?)ratha | Tveṣáratha | "whose chariot is vehement" |
| in-tar-ú-da, en-dar-ú-ta | Indrauta | Indrota | "helped byIndra"; /au/ to [oː] is a regular development in Vedic;úspecifically indicates [u] as opposed to [o] |
Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara (artaššumara) as Arta-smara "who thinks ofArta/Ṛta",[14] Biridashva (biridašṷa, biriiašṷa) as Prītāśva "whose horse is dear",[15] Priyamazda (priiamazda) as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear",[16][17] Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining",[18] Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra",[19] Shativaza (šattiṷaza) as Sātivāja "winning the race prize",[20] Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives" (a name in Palestine[21]),Tushratta (tṷišeratta, tušratta, etc.) as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement".[22]
From treaties of Mitanni.
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| a-ru-na, ú-ru-wa-na | Varuna | Varuna | |
| mi-it-ra | Mitra | Mitra | |
| in-tar, in-da-ra | Indra | Indra | |
| na-ša-ti-ya-an-na | Nasatya(-nna) | Nasatya | Hurrian grammatical ending-nna |
| a-ak-ni-iš | Āgnis | Agni | only attested inHittite, which retains nominative -/s/ and lengthens stressed syllables |
FromKikkuli.
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni | āśva-san-ni? | aśva-sana- | "master horse trainer" (Kikkuli himself) |
| -aš-šu-wa | -aśva | aśva | "horse"; in personal names |
| a-i-ka- | aika- | eka | "1" |
| ti-e-ra- | tera- ? | tri | "3" |
| pa-an-za- | pańća- ? | pañca | "5"; Vedicc is not an affricate,[citation needed] but apparently its Mitanni equivalent was |
| ša-at-ta | satta | sapta | "7"; /pt/ to /tː/ is either an innovation in Mitanni or a misinterpretation by a scribe who had Hurrianšinti "7" in mind |
| na-a-[w]a- | nāva- | nava | "9" |
| wa-ar-ta-an-na | vartan(n)a | vartana | round, turn |
A document fromNuzi hasbabru(-nnu) (babhru, brown),parita(-nnu) (palita, grey), andpinkara(-nnu) (pingala, red) for horse colours. Their chief festival was the celebration of thesolstice which was common in most cultures in the ancient world.
The following table includes the remaining lexicon, considered to attest horse colours.[23]
| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|
| ba-ab-ru-un-nu[24] | papru-nnu orbabru-nnu | babhrú- | 'brown' |
| pi2-in-ka4-ra-an-nu[25] | pinkara-nnu orbingara-nnu | piṅgalá- | 'reddish brown' |
| pa2-ri-it-ta-an-nu[26] | paritta-nnu orbaritta-nnu | palitá- | 'gray' |
...a consensus appears to have emerged that this adstrate vocabulary [Mitanni-Aryan] is real (though its extent may have been overestimated in the past) and that it should furthermore be considered as specifically Indo-Aryan, though representing an earlier stage of development than that seen in the earliest attested Old Indo-Aryan texts.