Introducing Unthahian
Posted: Wed Nov 30, 2016 10:08 pm
This is my first post in a long time and I hope to return to Proto-Karasuk in the near future and this language exists in the same timeline as Proto Karasuk.
Introduction
Unthahian (Imi Ũθa’a, Ũθa’-ī-imi) was spoken from around 500BC to ~300AD. The Untha were original farmers and herders to the northwest of Susa (in modern day Khuzestan) concentrated around the city of Tunxau*. The Untha were close allies of the Achaemenid Empire when it conquered the Elamites and the Untha took control of the city of Susa (Susin). From the beginning of the Susa period, the Unthah progressively displaced the Elamites. By 300BC, the Unthah had completely replaced the Elamites. Unthahian has a sister language spoken east of Lake Urmia.
Religion
The Unthah (Ũθā) were fairly diverse as far as religion is concerned. Originally the Unthah practiced a variant of the Mesopotamian religion. After Susa was conquered by the Unthah and Persians, Zoroastrianism became popular amongst a section of the aristocracy and inhabitants of the city. The old Mesopotamia religion was relegated to the countryside. There was also a smaller but vibrant jewish community in Susa. Following the rise of Christianity, both Christianity and Manicheanism became popular amongst the Unthah. Both Susa and Tunxau had large christian communities and the aristocracy were largely Manichean or Christian. In ]Tunxau and the surrounding region a gnostic Cult around Noah was formed.(I will have an entire post dedicated to this in the future as it plays an important role during the late Unthahian period)
Early and Late Unthahian
Unthahian is divided into two periods. Early Unthahian begins from the conquering of Susa. Though there are (limited) cuneiform inscriptions around Tunxau from before the conquering of Susa, they appear to be of an older form of the language. Pre and Late Unthahian shows a lot of influence from Elamite. During the early Unthahian period, Elamite was eventually replaced as primary influence as it began to take in a lot of vocab influence from Persian and aramaic, and the Aramaic script starts being used as opposed to the older cuneiform. But most of the official documents found in Susa and Tunxau during this period are in Aramaic. The primary source of Early Old Unthahian is in local merchant documents and graffiti.**
The late Unthahian period begins roughly following the Alexander the Great’s conquering of the Achaemenid Empire. This period sees a continuing Persia influence and the introduction, though limited, of persian grammar influences such as the use of the ezafe in upper register. Late Unthahian is by this point almost completely uses a derivative of the Aramaic script** (the greek script is occasionally used but this is rare). The late Unthahian period ends roughly around the the establishment of the Sassanid Empire.
I will go into more detail about the culture, religion of the Unthah as well as the Late vs Early periods in later posts.
*Does not correspond to any historical city
** Still working on this, so it will be a while before samples of writing/spellings will be posted.
Samples of the Language
Early:
Ai ihimū (su)sinaxa
[áj ihimúː su̥sinaχá]
House of Ihimu of Susa
Īnapaxaši sīyā tariq-ani munaninsa
[iːnapaχḁʃí siːjáː taríqani munaninsá]
He bartered his Darics for barley for Inapaxa
Late:
Yusīf tumu-ī-inimirūntap šiya iru-ī-qarawax̣a aphir
[jusíːf tumùwiːnimiruːntáp ʃijá irùwiːqarawaχá aphír]
Joseph, son of Inimiruntap, lives near the church (of a heretical Christian sect popular in Susa)
Sifti ukuwa rar-ī-xurax̣a ai-ni mupruwi
[siftí ukuwá ràriːxuraχá ájni mupruwí]
The shepherd was building his house on a top of a hill
(NB: -́ marks primary stress and -̀ marks secondary stress)
This was not super dense post but I have a good amount to come soon and plan on making this go through not just this language but descendants and related languages.
Coming up next is Nouns part 1: Case! Should be up in the next two days.
Introduction
Unthahian (Imi Ũθa’a, Ũθa’-ī-imi) was spoken from around 500BC to ~300AD. The Untha were original farmers and herders to the northwest of Susa (in modern day Khuzestan) concentrated around the city of Tunxau*. The Untha were close allies of the Achaemenid Empire when it conquered the Elamites and the Untha took control of the city of Susa (Susin). From the beginning of the Susa period, the Unthah progressively displaced the Elamites. By 300BC, the Unthah had completely replaced the Elamites. Unthahian has a sister language spoken east of Lake Urmia.
Religion
The Unthah (Ũθā) were fairly diverse as far as religion is concerned. Originally the Unthah practiced a variant of the Mesopotamian religion. After Susa was conquered by the Unthah and Persians, Zoroastrianism became popular amongst a section of the aristocracy and inhabitants of the city. The old Mesopotamia religion was relegated to the countryside. There was also a smaller but vibrant jewish community in Susa. Following the rise of Christianity, both Christianity and Manicheanism became popular amongst the Unthah. Both Susa and Tunxau had large christian communities and the aristocracy were largely Manichean or Christian. In ]Tunxau and the surrounding region a gnostic Cult around Noah was formed.(I will have an entire post dedicated to this in the future as it plays an important role during the late Unthahian period)
Early and Late Unthahian
Unthahian is divided into two periods. Early Unthahian begins from the conquering of Susa. Though there are (limited) cuneiform inscriptions around Tunxau from before the conquering of Susa, they appear to be of an older form of the language. Pre and Late Unthahian shows a lot of influence from Elamite. During the early Unthahian period, Elamite was eventually replaced as primary influence as it began to take in a lot of vocab influence from Persian and aramaic, and the Aramaic script starts being used as opposed to the older cuneiform. But most of the official documents found in Susa and Tunxau during this period are in Aramaic. The primary source of Early Old Unthahian is in local merchant documents and graffiti.**
The late Unthahian period begins roughly following the Alexander the Great’s conquering of the Achaemenid Empire. This period sees a continuing Persia influence and the introduction, though limited, of persian grammar influences such as the use of the ezafe in upper register. Late Unthahian is by this point almost completely uses a derivative of the Aramaic script** (the greek script is occasionally used but this is rare). The late Unthahian period ends roughly around the the establishment of the Sassanid Empire.
I will go into more detail about the culture, religion of the Unthah as well as the Late vs Early periods in later posts.
*Does not correspond to any historical city
** Still working on this, so it will be a while before samples of writing/spellings will be posted.
Samples of the Language
Early:
Ai ihimū (su)sinaxa
[áj ihimúː su̥sinaχá]
House of Ihimu of Susa
Īnapaxaši sīyā tariq-ani munaninsa
[iːnapaχḁʃí siːjáː taríqani munaninsá]
He bartered his Darics for barley for Inapaxa
Late:
Yusīf tumu-ī-inimirūntap šiya iru-ī-qarawax̣a aphir
[jusíːf tumùwiːnimiruːntáp ʃijá irùwiːqarawaχá aphír]
Joseph, son of Inimiruntap, lives near the church (of a heretical Christian sect popular in Susa)
Sifti ukuwa rar-ī-xurax̣a ai-ni mupruwi
[siftí ukuwá ràriːxuraχá ájni mupruwí]
The shepherd was building his house on a top of a hill
(NB: -́ marks primary stress and -̀ marks secondary stress)
This was not super dense post but I have a good amount to come soon and plan on making this go through not just this language but descendants and related languages.
Coming up next is Nouns part 1: Case! Should be up in the next two days.