Another Look at the Word-Final Syllable in Old Persian

The article offers a long-overdue reconciliatory reassessment of the much-discussed Old Persian cuneiform sequences ⟨‐Ca-a⟩, ⟨‐Ca/i-i-ya⟩, and ⟨‐Ca/u-u-va⟩ in word-final position, and of their phonetic and phonographic interpretation. It argues that the view according to which ⟨‐Ca-a⟩ cannot represent final vowel lengthening rests on assumptions that cannot be independently substantiated from the orthographic evidence. Accordingly, ⟨‐Ca-a⟩ is best interpreted as reflecting final /ā/, the graphic marking of which may either continue the cuneiform principle of plene spelling or represent the use of a mater lectionis ⟨a⟩ modelled on the Aramaic practice of specifically marking final long (accented) a -vowels. The ⟨y⟩ and ⟨v⟩ in word-final sequences ‐ iy and ‐ uv , representing the two Old Persian high vowels, are argued to be more plausibly interpreted as matres lectionis than as phonetic representations of off-glides, although the difficulties inherent in this interpretation are also critically examined. At the same time, the systematic use of ⟨u-va⟩ to spell word-initial long /ū/ suggests that these spellings, like ⟨‐Ca-a⟩, are compatible with—and indeed point toward—general final vowel lengthening in Old Persian. The spelling of inherited diphthongs as ⟨‐Ca‐i-ya⟩ and ⟨‐Ca-u-va⟩, on the other hand, is interpreted as purely graphematic in motivation. In the excursus, the position is defended that forms such as akunavaša and abaraha ultimately demonstrate that the non-representation of word-final * h , * n and * d reflects their complete loss by the Old Persian period.

Diphthong · Interpretation (philosophy) · Persian · Point (geometry) · Spell · Spelling · Syllable · Vowel · Ancient Near East History · Indian and Buddhist Studies · Linguistics and language evolution