Scythian languages

(Redirected from Scytho-Sarmatian language)
This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 14 November 2024.

The Scythian languages (/ˈsɪθiən/ or /ˈsɪðiən/ or /ˈskɪθiən/) are a group of Eastern Iranic languages of the classical and late antique period (the Middle Iranic period), spoken in a vast region of Eurasia by the populations belonging to the Scythian cultures and their descendants. The dominant ethnic groups among the Scythian-speakers were nomadic pastoralists of Central Asia and the Pontic–Caspian steppe. Fragments of their speech known from inscriptions and words quoted in ancient authors as well as analysis of their names indicate that it was an Indo-European language, more specifically from the Iranic group of Indo-Iranic languages.

Scythian
Geographic
distribution
Central Asia, West Asia, Eastern Europe
EthnicityScythians, Sarmatians, and Alans
Linguistic classificationIndo-European
Subdivisions
Language codes
Glottologsogd1247  (Sogdic-Ossetic)
saka1303  (Saka-Wakhi)
The approximate distribution of Eastern Iranic languages and peoples in 100 BC appears in green.
Notes
ISO 639-3 codes

Most of the Scythian languages eventually became extinct, except for modern Ossetian (which descends from the Alanian dialect of Scytho-Sarmatian), Wakhi (which descends from the Khotanese and Tumshuqese forms of Scytho-Khotanese), and Yaghnobi (which descends from Sogdian). Alexander Lubotsky summarizes the known linguistic landscape as follows:[1]

Unfortunately, we know next to nothing about the Scythian of that period [Old Iranian] – we have only a couple of personal and tribal names in Greek and Persian sources at our disposal – and cannot even determine with any degree of certainty whether it was a single language.

Classification

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Ossetian is an Eastern Iranic language. The vast majority of Scythological scholars agree in considering the Scythian languages a part of the Eastern Iranic languages too. This relies principally on the fact that the Greek inscriptions of the Northern Black Sea Coast contain several hundreds of Sarmatian names showing a close affinity to the Ossetian language.[2][3]

Some scholars detect a division of Scythian into two dialects: a western, more conservative dialect, and an eastern, more innovative one.[4] The Scythian languages may have formed a dialect continuum:

  • Alanian languages or Scytho-Sarmatian in the west: were spoken by people originally of Iranic stock from the 8th and 7th century BC onwards in the area of Ukraine, Southern Russia and Kazakhstan.
    • Modern Ossetian survives as a continuation of the language family possibly represented by Scytho-Sarmatian inscriptions, although the Scytho-Sarmatian language family "does not simply represent the same [Ossetian] language" at an earlier date.
 
A document from Khotan written in Khotanese Saka, part of the Eastern Iranic branch of the Indo-European languages, listing the animals of the Chinese zodiac in the cycle of predictions for people born in that year; ink on paper, early 9th century

It is highly probable that already in the Old Iranic period, there were some eastern Scythian dialects which gave rise to the ancestor(s) of the Sogdian and Yaghnobi languages, although data required to test this hypothesis is presently lacking.[6]

The Scythian languages shared some features with other Eastern Iranic languages, such as the use of the suffix -ta to denote the plural form, which is also present in Sogdian, Chorasmian, Ossetian, and Yaghnobi.[7]

Phonology

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The Pontic Scythian language possessed the following phonemes:[8]

Vowels
Front Back
Close i u
Mid
Open a
Consonants
Labial Dental Alveolar Postalveolar Palatal Velar Labiovelar Glottal
Plosive p b t d (earliest) k ɡ
Affricate t͡s t͡ʃ d͡ʒ
Fricative f θ ð (earlier) s z ʃ ʒ x h
Sonorant m l (later) n r j (ŋ) w

This article uses cursive theta ⟨ϑ⟩ to denote the Scythian voiceless dental fricative (IPA /θ/), and regular theta ⟨θ⟩ to denote the Greek aspirated, voiceless dental plosive (IPA //).

The western dialects of the Scythian languages had experienced an evolution of the Proto-Iranic sound /d/ into the Proto-Scythian sound /ð/, which in the Cimmerian and Pontic dialects of Scythian became the sound /l/. Scythian shares the evolution of Proto-Iranic sound /d/ into /ð/ with all Eastern Iranic languages with the exception of Ossetian, Yaghnobi, and Ishkashimi; and the later evolution of /ð/ into /l/ is also present in several Eastern Iranic languages such as Bactrian, Pashto, Munjani, and Yidgha.[7][8]

History

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Early Eastern Iranic peoples originated in the Yaz culture (ca. 1500–1100 BC) in Central Asia.[9] The Scythians migrated from Central Asia toward Eastern Europe in the 8th and 7th century BC, occupying today's Southern Russia and Ukraine and the Carpathian Basin and parts of Moldova and Dobruja. They disappeared from history after the Hunnish invasion of Europe in the 5th century AD, and Turkic (Avar, Batsange, etc.) and Slavic peoples probably assimilated most people speaking Scythian.[citation needed] However, in the Caucasus, the Ossetian language belonging to the Scythian linguistic continuum remains in use today, while in Central Asia, some languages belonging to Eastern Iranic group are still spoken, namely Pashto, the Pamir languages and Yaghnobi.

Corpus

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Inscriptions

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Some scholars ascribe certain inscribed objects found in the Carpathian Basin and in Central Asia to the Scythians, but the interpretation of these inscriptions remains disputed (given that nobody has definitively identified the alphabet or translated the content).

Issyk inscription

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The Issyk inscription is not yet certainly deciphered, and is probably in a Scythian dialect, constituting one of very few autochthonous epigraphic traces of that language. János Harmatta, using the Kharoṣṭhī script, identified the language as a Khotanese Saka dialect spoken by the Kushans, tentatively translating:[10]

Issyk inscription
Line Transliteration English translation
1 za(ṃ)-ri ko-la(ṃ) mi(ṃ)-vaṃ vaṃ-va pa-zaṃ pa-na de-ka mi(ṃ)-ri-to The vessel should hold wine of grapes, added cooked food, so much, to the mortal,
2 ña-ka mi pa-zaṃ vaṃ-va va-za(ṃ)-na vaṃ. then added cooked fresh butter on

Personal names

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The primary sources for Scythian words remain the Scythian toponyms, tribal names, and numerous personal names in the ancient Greek texts and in the Greek inscriptions found in the Greek colonies on the Northern Black Sea Coast. These names suggest that the Sarmatian language had close similarities to modern Ossetian.[11]

Recorded Scythian personal names include:

Name Attested forms Notes
*Ariyapaiϑah Ancient Greek: Αριαπειθης, romanizedAriapeithēs Composed of:[12][13][14][15]
*Ariya-, meaning "Aryan" and "Iranic."
*paiϑah-, meaning "decoration" and "adornment." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 (paēsa).
*Hiϑāmϑrauša Ancient Greek: Ιδανθυρσος, romanizedIdanthursos Meaning "prospering the ally." Composed of:[16]
a cognate of Avestan 𐬵𐬌𐬚𐬄𐬨 (hiϑąm), meaning "companion."
a cognate of Avestan 𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬱 (ϑraoš-), meaning "to prosper."
*Hupāyā Ancient Greek: Οποιη, romanizedOpoiē Composed of:[13]
*hu-, "good."
*pāyā-, "protection"; an abstraction of the root *pā-, "to protect."
*Pālaka Ancient Greek: Παλακος, romanizedPalakos From an earlier form *Pāδaka after the evolution of Proto-Iranic /d/ to Proto-Scythian /δ/ to Scythian /l/. Means "tall-legged" and "long-legged." Composed of:[17][18]
*pāla-, "foot," from earlier *pāδa-.
*-ka, hypocoristic suffix.
*Pṛtatavah Akkadian: 𒁹𒁇𒋫𒌅𒀀, romanized: Bartatua or Partatua[19]
Ancient Greek: Προτοθυης, romanizedProtothuēs
Means "who is mighty in battle." Composed of:[20][21][22]
*pṛta- "battle." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬆𐬱𐬀𐬥𐬀 (pəšana) and Vedic Sanskrit पृत् (pṛt-), both meaning "battle."
*-tavah- "strength, power." Compare with Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬵 (-tauuah-).
*Pr̥ϑutavā Composed of:[23][24]
*pr̥ϑu- "wide, broad." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬆𐬭𐬆𐬚𐬎 (pərᵊϑu-).
*-tavah- "strength, power." Compare with Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬵 (-tauuah-).
*Šaitafarna Ancient Greek: Σαιταφαρνος, romanizedSaitapharnos or Ancient Greek: Σαιταφαρνης, romanizedSaitapharnēs From a sibilisation of Proto-Scythian *Xšaitafarna,[25] possibly meaning "with a bright farna," itself composed of:[26]
*xšaita-, "brilliant."
*-farna, "khvarenah."
*Šaϑraka Ancient Greek: Σατρακης, romanizedSatrakēs From a sibilisation of Proto-Scythian *Xšaϑraka,[25] itself composed of:[27]
*xšaϑra-, "power."
*-ka, hypocoristic suffix.

Cognate with Ossetian Æхсæртæг (Æxsærtæg)[28] and Æхсæртæггатӕ (Æxsærtæggatæ).[29]

*Šīraka Ancient Greek: Σιρακης, romanizedSirakēs From a sibilisation of Proto-Scythian *Xšīraka,[25] possibly meaning "milk-consumer," itself composed of:[27]
*xšīra-, "milk."
*-ka, hypocoristic suffix.
*Skilura Ancient Greek: Σκιλουρος, romanizedSkilouros From an earlier form *Skiδura after the evolution of Proto-Iranic /d/ to Proto-Scythian /δ/ to Scythian /l/. Means "sharp" and "victorious."[17]
*Skula Ancient Greek: Σκυλης, romanizedSkulēs From the Scythian endonym *Skula, itself a later dialectal form of *Skuδa resulting from a sound change from /δ/ to /l/.[30]
*Spakāya Akkadian: 𒁹𒅖𒉺𒅗𒀀𒀀, romanized: Išpakāya[31] Hypocoristic derivation from the word *spaka, meaning "dog."[32][33][14]
*Spargapis Ancient Greek: Σπαργαπισης, romanizedSpargapisēs Composed of:[13][14][34][15]
*sparga- "scion" and "descendant." Compare with Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬖𐬀 (sparᵊγa).
*pis- "decoration" and "adornment." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 (paēsa).

*Spargapis and *Spargapaiϑah are variants of the same name.[35][13][34]

*Spargapaiϑah Ancient Greek: Σπαργαπειθης, romanizedSpargapeithēs Composed of:[13][34][14][15]
*sparga- "scion" and "descendant." Compare with Avestan 𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬆𐬖𐬀 (sparᵊγa).
*paiϑah- "decoration" and "adornment." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬉𐬯𐬀 (paēsa).

*Spargapaiϑah and *Spargapis are variants of the same name.[35][13][34]

*Tigratavā Ancient Greek: Τιργαταω, romanizedTirgataō Means "with the strength of an arrow." Composed of:[36][13]
*tigra- "arrow." Compare with Avestan 𐬙𐬌𐬖𐬭𐬌 (tiγri-), "arrow."
*-tavah- "strength, power." Compare with Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬵 (-tauuah-).
*Taumuriya Ancient Greek: Τομυρις, romanizedTomuris Derived from a cognate of Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬊𐬑𐬨𐬀𐬥 (taoxman) and Old Persian 𐎫𐎢𐎶𐎠 (taumā), meaning "seed," "germ," and "kinship."[13]
*Uxtamazatā Ancient Greek: Οκταμασαδης, romanizedOktamasadēs Means "possessing greatness through his words." Composed of:[13]
*uxta-, "word." Compare with Avestan 𐬎𐬑𐬙𐬀 (uxta), "spoken," and 𐬎𐬑𐬜𐬀 (uxδa), "word."
*-mazatā-, "great."
*Varika Ancient Greek: Ορικος, romanizedOrikos Hypocorostic derivation from the word *vari-, meaning "chest armour, armour." Compare with Avestan 𐬬𐬀𐬌𐬭𐬌 (vaⁱri-), 𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬭𐬌 (uuari-) "chest armour."[13]

Tribal names

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Recorded Scythian tribal names include:

Name Attested forms Notes
*Haxāϑrauša Ancient Greek: Αγαϑυρσοι, romanizedAgathursoi Means "prospering the friend/socius." Composed of:[16]
a cognate of Old Persian 𐏃𐎧𐎠 (haxā-), meaning "friend."
a cognate of Avestan 𐬚𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬱 (ϑraoš-), meaning "to prosper."
*Šīraka Ancient Greek: Σιρακες, romanizedSirakes From a sibilisation of Proto-Scythian *Xšīraka,[25] possibly meaning "milk-consumer," itself composed of:[27]
*xšīra-, "milk."
*-ka, hypocoristic suffix.
*Skuδa[37][38] Akkadian: 𒅖𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀, romanized: Iškuzaya
𒊍𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀 (Asguzaya)
𒊍𒆪𒍝𒀀𒀀 (Askuzaya)
𒀾𒄖𒍝𒀀𒀀 (Ašguzaya)

Ancient Greek: Σκυθαι, romanizedSkuthai

*Skuδa, the Scythian endonym,[37][38]

From the Proto-Indo-European root skewd-, itself meaning lit.'shooter, archer', whence also English "shoot".[39]

*Skula Ancient Greek: Σκωλοτοι, romanizedSkōlotoi[40][8] Later form of *Skuδa resulting from the evolution of Proto-Scythian /δ/ into Scythian /l/.[37]
*Paralāta Ancient Greek: Παραλαται, romanizedParalatai[40][8] Cognate with Young Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬀𐬜𐬁𐬙𐬀‎ (Paraδāta), meaning "placed at the front."[14]

Place names

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Some scholars believe that many toponyms and hydronyms of the Russian and Ukrainian steppe have Scythian links. For example, Vasmer associates the name of the river Don with an assumed/reconstructed unattested Scythian word *dānu "water, river", and with Avestan dānu-, Pashto dand and Ossetian don.[41] The river names Don, Donets, Dnieper, Danube, and Dniester, and lake Donuzlav (the deepest one in Crimea) may also belong with the same word-group.[42]

Recorded Scythian place names include:

Name Attested forms Notes
*Baurustāna Ancient Greek: Βορυσθενης, romanizedBorusthenēs Means "place of beavers." Composed of:[43]
*bauru- "beaver." Cognate of:
  • Avestan 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬀 (baβra) and 𐬠𐬀𐬡𐬭𐬌‎ (baβri), meaning "beaver"
  • Sanskrit बभ्रु (babhrú) and बभ्रुक​ (bábhruka), meaning "mongoose"
*stāna "space."
*Dānu Ancient Greek: Ταναις, romanizedTanais Means "river."[13]
*Pantikapa Ancient Greek: Παντικαπαιον, romanizedPantikapaion Means "fish-path." Composed of:[44]
*panti-, "path." Compare with Avestan 𐬞𐬀𐬧‎𐬙𐬃‎ (paṇ‎tā̊), "path."
*kapa-, "fish." Compare with Khotanese Saka kavā, Ossetian Кӕф kæf, and Pashto کب (Kab).
*Rahā Ancient Greek: Ρα, romanizedRha Means "wetness." Compare with Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬢𐬵𐬁 (raŋhā) and Vedic Sanskrit रसा (rasā́).[45]
*Varu Ancient Greek: Οαρος, romanizedOaros Means "broad."[46]

Herodotus' Scythian etymologies

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The Greek historian Herodotus provides another source of Scythian; he reports that the Scythians called the Amazons Oiorpata, and explains the name as a compound of oior, meaning "man", and pata, meaning "to kill" (Hist. 4,110).

  • Most scholars associate oior "man" with Avestan vīra- "man, hero", Sanskrit vīra-, Latin vir (gen. virī) "man, hero, husband",[47] PIE *wiHrós. Various explanations account for pata "kill":
    1. Persian pat- "(to) kill", patxuste "killed";[48]
    2. Sogdian pt- "(to) kill", ptgawsty "killed";[49]
    3. Ossetian fædyn "cleave", Sanskrit pātayati "fell", PIE *peth₂- "fall".[50]
    4. Avestan paiti- "lord", Sanskrit páti, PIE *pótis, cf. Lat. potestate (i.e. "man-ruler");[51]
    5. Ossetian maryn "kill", Pashto mrəl, Sanskrit mārayati, PIE *mer- "die" (confusion of Greek Μ and Π);[52]
  • Alternatively, one scholar suggests Iranic aiwa- "one" + warah- "breast",[53] the Amazons believed to have removed a breast to aid drawing a bow, according to some ancient folklorists, and as reflected in Greek folk-etymology: a- (privative) + mazos, "without breast".

Elsewhere Herodotus explains the name of the mythical one-eyed tribe Arimaspoi as a compound of the Scythian words arima, meaning "one", and spu, meaning "eye" (Hist. 4,27).

  • Some scholars connect arima "one" with Ossetian ærmæst "only", Avestic airime "quiet", Greek erēmos "empty", PIE *h₁(e)rh₁mo-?, and spu "eye" with Avestic spas- "foretell", Sanskrit spaś-, PIE *speḱ- "see".[54]
  • However, Iranic usually expresses "one" and "eye" with words like aiwa- and čašman- (Ossetian īw and cæst).
  • Other scholars reject Herodotus' etymology and derive the ethnonym Arimaspoi from Iranic aspa- "horse" instead.[55]
  • Or the first part of the name may reflect something like Iranic raiwant- "rich", cf. Ossetian riwæ "rich".[56]

Scythian theonyms

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Name Attested forms Notes
*Tapatī́ Ancient Greek: Ταβιτι, romanizedTabiti Means “the Burning One” or “the Flaming One.”[57][58]

Related to:[59][60][61]

Avestan 𐬙𐬁𐬞𐬀𐬌𐬌𐬈𐬌𐬙𐬌‎ (tāpaiieⁱti), “to warm.”
Sanskrit तापयति (tapayati), “to heat” and “to warm”; theonym तपती (Tapatī); तपस् (tápas)
Latin tepeo.
*Api Ancient Greek: Απι, romanizedApi
and Απια, romanized: Apia
Related to Avestan 𐬀𐬞𐬌 (api), "water."[60]
*Targī̆tavah Ancient Greek: Ταργιταος, romanizedTargitaos Means "possessing the might of the goddess Tarkā." Composed of:[62]
*Targiya, "of the goddess Tarkā."
*-tavah- "strength, power." Compare with Avestan 𐬙𐬀𐬎𐬎𐬀𐬵 (-tauuah-).
Ancient Greek: Αρτιμπασα, romanizedArtimpasa Composed of:[60]
Iranic theonym *Arti
a term related to *paya, "pasture" and *pati, "lord."
*Apatura Ancient Greek: Απατουρος, romanizedApatouros Means "swift water." Composed of:[63]
*ap-, "water." Related to Avestan 𐬀𐬞 (ap-), "water."
*tura-, "quick" or "mighty."
*Gaiϑāsūra Ancient Greek: Γοιτοσυρος, romanizedGoitosuros Composed of:[14]
*gaiϑā, "herd" and "possessions." Cognate of 𐬔𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬌𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬙𐬌𐬱 (gaoiiaoⁱtiš), "cow pasture."[64]
*sūra, "strong" and "mighty."
Ancient Greek: Θαγιμασαδας, romanizedThagimasadas
and Θαμιμασαδας, romanized: Thamimasadas
Composed of:
a possible cognate of Avestan 𐬚𐬡𐬁𐬴𐬀 (ϑβāṣ̌a), "firmament," and Vedic Sanskrit त्वक्ष् (tvakṣ-) or तक्ष् (takṣ-), "to create by putting into motion."
mazatā, meaning "great."[13]
*Lipoxšaya Ancient Greek: Λιποξαις, romanizedLipoxais From an earlier form *Δipoxšaya after the evolution of Proto-Iranic /d/ to Proto-Scythian /δ/ to Scythian /l/.

Means "king of radiance" and "king of heaven." Composed of:[65]

*lipa, from earlier *δipa, "to be bright" as well as "sky" and "heaven."
*-xšaya, "ruler."
*R̥buxšaya Ancient Greek: Ἀρποξαις, romanizedArpoxais Means "king of the airspace." Composed of:[66]
*r̥bu-, a cognate of Sanskrit ऋभु (Ṛbhú), the name of a group of deities of the airspace.
*-xšaya, "ruler."
*Kolaxšaya Ancient Greek: Κολαξαις, romanizedKolaxais

Latin: Colaxes

From an earlier form *Koδaxšaya after the evolution of Proto-Iranic /d/ to Proto-Scythian /δ/ to Scythian /l/.
Means "axe-wielding king," where the axe also has the meaning of "sceptre," as well as "blacksmith king," in the sense of "ruling king of the lower world." Composed of:[67]
*kola, from earlier *koδa, "axe."
*-xšaya, "ruler."

Pliny the Elder

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Pliny the Elder's Natural History (AD 77–79) derives the name of the Caucasus from the Scythian kroy-khasis = ice-shining, white with snow (cf. Greek cryos = ice-cold).

Aristophanes

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In the comedy works of Aristophanes, the dialects of various Greek people are accurately imitated. In his Thesmophoriazusae, a Scythian archer (a member of a police force in Athens) speaks broken Greek, consistently omitting the final -s () and -n (ν), using the lenis in place of the aspirate, and once using ks (ξ) in place of s (sigma); these may be used to elucidate the Scythian languages.[68]

Alanian

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Alanian
RegionNorth Caucasus
EthnicityAlans
Era5th-11th centuries
Developed into Ossetian
Language codes
ISO 639-3xln
GlottologNone

The Alanian language, as spoken by the Alans from about the 5th to the 11th centuries AD, formed a dialect directly descended from the earlier Scytho-Sarmatian languages, and forming in its turn the ancestor of the Ossetian language. Byzantine Greek authors recorded only a few fragments of this language.[69]

Unlike the Pontic Scythian language, Ossetian did not experience the evolution of the Proto-Scythian sound /d/ to /δ/ and then /l/, although the sound /d/ did evolve into /δ/ at the beginning of Ossetian words.[7]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Lubotsky 2002, p. 190.
  2. ^ Compare L. Zgusta, Die griechischen Personennamen griechischer Städte der nördlichen Schwarzmeerküste [The Greek personal names of the Greek cities of the northern Black Sea coast], 1955.
  3. ^ Witzel, Michael (2001). "Autochthonous Aryans? The Evidence from Old Indian and Iranian Texts". Electronic Journal of Vedic Studies. 7 (3): 1–115. doi:10.11588/ejvs.2001.3.830.
  4. ^ E.g. Harmatta 1970.[page needed]
  5. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (ed.), Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum, Reichert, 1989.[page needed]
  6. ^ Novák 2013, p. 11.
  7. ^ a b c Ivantchik 1999a, p. 156-158.
  8. ^ a b c d Novák 2013, p. 10.
  9. ^ J.P.Mallory (1997). Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture. London: Dearborn. p. 310. ISBN 9781884964985.
  10. ^ Harmatta 1992, p. 412.
  11. ^ Lincoln, Bruce (2014). "Once again 'the Scythian' myth of origins (Herodotus 4.5–10)". Nordlit. 33 (33): 19–34. doi:10.7557/13.3188.
  12. ^ Hinz 1975, p. 40.
  13. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Schmitt 2003.
  14. ^ a b c d e f Schmitt 2018a.
  15. ^ a b c Schmitt 2011.
  16. ^ a b Schwartz & Manaster Ramer 2019, p. 359-360.
  17. ^ a b Kullanda & Raevskiy 2004, p. 93.
  18. ^ Tokhtasyev 2005a, p. 88.
  19. ^ Ivantchik 1999b, pp. 508–509: "Though Madyes himself is not mentioned in Akkadian texts, his father, the Scythian king Par-ta-tu-a, whose identification with Προτοθύης of Herodotus is certain."
  20. ^ Bukharin 2011, p. 63.
  21. ^ Kullanda & Raevskiy 2004, p. 94.
  22. ^ Melikov 2016, p. 78-80.
  23. ^ Schmitt, Rüdiger (2000). "PROTOTHYES". Encyclopædia Iranica. Retrieved 12 November 2021.
  24. ^ Bukharin 2011.
  25. ^ a b c d Kullanda 2014, p. 81.
  26. ^ Bukharin 2013, p. 273-274.
  27. ^ a b c Bukharin 2013, p. 270-271.
  28. ^ Alemany 2006, p. 33.
  29. ^ Ivantchik 2005, p. 183.
  30. ^ Ivantchik 2018.
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Bibliography

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