Extinct Indo-European Languages in Asia: The Tocharian Enigma

Geographic and Ethnolinguistic Context

The Tocharian languages, also known as Tokharian, Agni-Kuči, Agnean-Kuchean, or Kuchean-Agnean, represent an extinct branch of the Indo-European language family . These languages were spoken by the inhabitants of the Tarim Basin , specifically the Tocharians . The linguistic remnants of Tocharian were discovered in manuscripts dating from the 5th to the 8th century AD, unearthed in oasis cities along the northern edge of the Tarim Basin, now part of Xinjiang in Northwest China, and the Lop Desert .

The discovery of these languages in the early 20th century significantly challenged the previously held notion of an east–west division of the Indo-European language family into centum and satem languages . This revelation spurred renewed scholarly interest in the Indo-European family, prompting extensive research and debate.

Linguistic Classification and Subdivisions

The Tocharian languages are classified under the Indo-European languages and are further divided into:

• Tocharian A (Agnean, East Tocharian, or Turfanian)
• Tocharian B (Kuchean or West Tocharian)

These languages are believed to have evolved from a common proto-language, Proto-Tocharian . The linguistic classification and subdivisions are as follows:

• Proto-language: Proto-Tocharian
• Subdivisions:
  • Tocharian A (Agnean)
  • Tocharian B (Kuchean)

The language codes for Tocharian are documented in Glottolog as tokh1241, with direct attestation for Tocharian A and B, and loanword traces for Tocharian C.

Discovery and Significance

The existence of the Tocharian languages and their alphabet remained unknown until the early 20th century, when archaeological expeditions led by Aurel Stein in the Tarim Basin uncovered fragments of manuscripts in an unknown language, dating from the 6th to 8th centuries AD. These fragments were identified as belonging to two distinct but related languages, now known as Tocharian A and Tocharian B.

The discovery of Tocharian languages had a profound impact on the study of Indo-European linguistics. It challenged the prevailing theory of a simple west–east division of Indo-European languages into centum and satem branches. The presence of Tocharian, a centum language, in the easternmost part of the Indo-European linguistic range, alongside the discovery of Hittite , another centum language in a relatively eastern location, led to the development of new hypotheses. These hypotheses, following the wave model proposed by Johannes Schmidt , suggest that the satem isogloss represents a linguistic innovation in the central part of the Proto-Indo-European home range, while the centum languages along the eastern and western peripheries did not undergo this change.

Ethnolinguistic Identity and Names

The identification of the Tocharian languages with the Tokharoi, a name used in ancient sources for people of Bactria (Tokharistan ), has been a subject of scholarly debate. Although this identification is now believed to be mistaken, the term “Tocharian” remains the standard designation for these languages.

The term “Tocharian” was derived from a colophon in a Central Asian Buddhist manuscript from the late 8th century, which stated that it was translated into Old Turkic from Sanskrit via a twγry language. Scholars Emil Sieg and Friedrich W. K. Müller proposed that twγry was a name for the newly discovered language of the Turpan area, connecting it with the ethnonym Tócharoi (Ancient Greek : Τόχαροι, Ptolemy VI, 11, 6, 2nd century AD).

Writing System

Tocharian is documented in manuscript fragments, mostly from the 8th century, written on palm leaves, wooden tablets, and Chinese paper , preserved by the extremely dry climate of the Tarim Basin. The majority of attested Tocharian was written in the Tocharian alphabet , a derivative of the Brahmi alphabetic syllabary, also referred to as North Turkestan Brahmi or slanting Brahmi. A smaller amount was written in the Manichaean script .

The Tocharian alphabet includes letters representing all of the remaining Sanskrit sounds, but these appear only in Sanskrit loanwords and are not thought to have had distinct pronunciations in Tocharian. The exact pronunciation of some letters, particularly those representing palatalized obstruents, remains uncertain.

Phonology

Vowels

Tocharian A and Tocharian B share the same set of vowels, but they often do not correspond to each other. The vowel system includes:

Diphthongs

Diphthongs occur in Tocharian B only:

Consonants

The consonant system of Tocharian includes a range of phonemes, with some uncertainty regarding the exact pronunciation of certain letters:

Morphology

Nouns

Tocharian has completely reworked the nominal declension system of Proto-Indo-European. The only cases inherited from the proto-language are nominative, genitive, accusative, and (in Tocharian B only) vocative. In Tocharian, the old accusative is known as the oblique case. Each Tocharian language has six cases formed by the addition of an invariant suffix to the oblique case, although the set of six cases is not the same in each language, and the suffixes are largely non-cognate.

Verbs

The verbal conjugation system in Tocharian is quite conservative, with the majority of Proto-Indo-European verbal classes and categories represented in some manner. The Tocharian verbs are conjugated in the following categories:

• Mood: indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative
• Tense/aspect (in the indicative only): present, preterite, imperfect
• Voice: active, mediopassive, deponent
• Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd
• Number: singular, dual, plural
• Causation: basic, causative
• Non-finite: active participle, mediopassive participle, present gerundive, subjunctive gerundive

Vocabulary and Comparative Linguistics

The Tocharian vocabulary provides valuable insights into the linguistic and cultural connections within the Indo-European family. Comparative studies have revealed cognates and shared roots with other Indo-European languages, such as Greek, Hittite, Sanskrit, Latin, Proto-Germanic, Gothic, Old Irish, Proto-Slavic, and Armenian.

For example, the word for “one” in Tocharian A is “sas,” and in Tocharian B, it is “ṣe,” which can be compared to the Ancient Greek “heîs, hen,” Hittite “ās,” Sanskrit “sa(kṛ́t),” Latin “semel,” Proto-Germanic “*simla,” Gothic “simle,” Old Irish “samail,” Proto-Slavic “*sǫ-,” and Armenian “mi,” all deriving from the Proto-Indo-European “*sḗm > PToch *sems.”

Contact with Other Languages

The Tocharian languages stood in contact with various surrounding languages, including Iranian, Turkic, and Sinitic languages. Tocharian had a high social position within the region and influenced the Turkic languages, which would later replace Tocharian in the Tarim Basin.

Notable Example: The Tocharian Love Poem

One of the most notable non-religious texts in Tocharian is a fragment of a love poem in Tocharian B (manuscript B-496, found in Kizil ):

I. … for a thousand years however, Thou wilt tell the story Thy (…) I announce, Heretofore there was no human being dearer to me than thee; likewise hereafter there will be no one dearer to me than thee. Love for thee, affection for thee—breath of all that is life—and they shall not come to an end so long as there lasts life.

III. Thus did I always think: “I will live well, the whole of my life, with one lover: no force, no deceit.” The god Karma alone knew this thought of mine; so he provoked quarrel; he ripped out my heart from thee; He led thee afar; tore me apart; made me partake in all sorrows and took away the consolation thou wast. … my life, spirit, and heart day-by-day…

Conclusion

The Tocharian languages represent a fascinating and significant branch of the Indo-European language family. Their discovery challenged existing linguistic theories and provided valuable insights into the linguistic and cultural history of Central Asia. The study of Tocharian continues to contribute to our understanding of the Indo-European languages and their historical development.