Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hung. Volume 64 (2), 161 181 (2011) DOI: 10.1556/AOrient.64.2011.2.

SOGDIAN ETYMOLOGICAL NOTES

ILYA YAKUBOVICH
Moscow State University / University of Oxford Moscow 119121, 1 Neopalimovskij per. 11/22-1 (home) e-mail: sogdiana783@gmail.com

The paper addresses meanings and etymologies of several problematic Sogdian lexemes. Sogd. psynk- motley is compared with Ved. pinga- red, red-brown, Sogd. ptr- to pluck is analysed as a derivative of Ir. *dar to tear, rwt()k fixed, established is argued to represent an etymological participle of IE *(1)wer to lock, Sogd. rwynt- is assigned the meaning to massage and linked to Av. varduua- soft, Sogd. ()sty(y)w although, even (if) is traced back to the phrase *sty yw, approximately be it (that), Sogd. yn(y) is assigned a general meaning female attendant and reconstructed as Ir. *yaun dh young female slave. Sogd. rkyr- to neglect is compared with YAv. kraiia- to celebrate, praise, on the assumption that the semantic pejoration in the Sogdian lexeme is due to the prefix *fra-. The proposed original meaning of Sogd. ptfrw- to float up in memory is argued to point to its connection with Ir. *fraw to swim, float. Sogd. rto tremble is analysed as an irregular derivative of *rap/tarp to be unsteady, to move unsteadily. Key words: Sogdian etymology, Sogdian lexicography, Iranian etymology, Iranian lexicography, Indo-European etymology, Indo-European lexicography.

The etymologies discussed below represent a part of my long-standing project aimed at clarifying the meanings and origins of those Sogdian lexemes that have not received adequate treatment in the previous Iranological literature.1 They were selected

This paper represents an updated English adaptation of a part of my Russian dissertation Studies in Sogdian Etymology, defended in Moscow in October 2009. Other parts of the same dissertation had been previously published as Yakubovich (2002, 2005). It is my pleasant duty to thank once again all those scholars who contributed to my dissertation and are acknowledged in its Introduction. I would, however, like to single out the contribution of P. Lurje (Saint-Petersburg) and N. Sims-Williams (Cambridge), who supplied a number of important references on the final stage of the preparation of this manuscript. Specific insights of my colleagues that were relevant for
0001-6446 / $ 20.00 2011 Akadmiai Kiad, Budapest

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for the present paper not in view of any formal or semantic features they may have in common, but solely based on their problematic character. 1. psynk- motley The only attestation of this lexeme belongs to the Sogdian version of the Chinese apocryphal composition The Sutra of the Causes and Effects of Actions (SCE):2 (1) SCE ll. 141143, cf. MacKenzie (1970, p. 8) rty xwnx ZKZY pry rnkn nwnw ONN that.NOM REL fan coloured garment rty psynk-3 mr- zy-t CONN motley-ABL bird-ABL be.born-3SG.PRS One who likes coloured clothes is born as a motley bird. The translation of Sogd. psynk- as motley is directly supported through the Chinese version of the treatise (MacKenzie 1970, p. 46) and agrees well with the context cited above. Nevertheless, Gershevitch (1954b, p. 126) made a suggestion that this lexeme denotes a particular kind of bird. His only argument was a passage from a Syriac magic text containing the following description of the angel Metathron: who is the psynq that has been appointed ruler over the birds of the sky. Gershevitch supposed that psynq means peacock in this context, pointing to the title of the Yezidi supreme angel Malak-s, lit. peacock-angel as a parallel. No doubt, peacock is a motley bird, but the hypothesis that the Sogdian translator of SCE replaced motley bird with peacock-bird appears to be implausible. Even if one assumes that the Sogdian adjective is related to the Syriac title, the secondary substantivisation of the Syriac lexeme, suggested by Gershevitch as an alternative, appears to be more likely. At any rate, psynk- does not resemble the known words for peacock in Middle Iranian: in Middle Persian it is fra(a)murv (MacKenzie 1971, p. 33),
the etymologies collected in this paper are mentioned in its individual sections. I am also grateful to D. Hitch (Whitehorse, Yukon), who took pains to improve the English style of this article, and to P. Basharin (Moscow) for his assistance in procuring the necessary reference works, which are in short supply in Russian public libraries. Needless to say, all the possible shortcomings of this work are due to my own fault. 2 The abbreviations for individual Sogdian compositions mentioned in this paper generally follow the system of the Sogdian online corpus prepared by Nicholas Sims-Williams, which is available for public use through the website of the TITUS project (titus.uni-frankfurt.de). An exception is the abbreviation SghS used for the Sogdian manuscripts of the Buddhist treatise Sagha Stra. 3 The ablative ending psynk- is irregular with a metrically heavy stem and may represent a result of sporadic levelling by analogy with the light stems in the idiolect of the SCE scribe (in this particular case it would be a syntagmatic levelling motivated by the following regular lightstem ablative mr). Regarding the use of the Sogdian ablative in the predicative function, see Gershevitch (1954a, 1182, 1201), (1981, p. 423).
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while Sogd. mywr (S) peacock, borrowed from Skt. mayra- id., was recently discovered in a fragmentary text from Saint-Petersburg (SI KrIV/862, Yoshida 1994, p. 23).4 The only Iranian etymology of Sogd. psynk known to me belongs to Sir Harold Bailey. Developing the idea of Gershevitch, Bailey (1979, p. 425b) offered the comparison of the Sogdian and Syriac lexemes with Arm. sira-marg peacock. All these forms, according to the same author, belong to Ir. *sai-/si- grey, the alleged root of Sogd. sycH (S) and Khot. siy goose. The shortcomings of this etymology are rather obvious: peacock is not a grey bird, the semantic shift grey > motley is not supported by typological parallels, while the function of p- in the hypothetical p-synk remains without explanation. In my opinion, if one starts with the meaning of psynk- that is attested in Sogdian, it is possible to suggest a better etymological explanation for this lexeme. Adjectives with the meaning motley are derived from the Indo-European root *peik to draw, paint in a number of Indo-European languages, e.g. Gk. , OEngl. fh, OSax. and OHG fh , CS. pstr (Feist 1939, pp. 153 154). Together with this group one can also consider Ved. pinga- red, red-brown, which could have the meaning motley at an earlier stage of Old Indic (cf. Mayrhofer 1992, Vol. II, pp. 134135).5 In fact, Ved. pinga- may represent not only a root cognate but also a lexical match of Sogd. psynk- motley. The Iranian clusters *-nk- and *-ng- underwent neutralisation in Sogdian, whose outcome was recorded as <nk> in the National Script ( 1981, pp. 394 395), while prothesis in Sogdian is due to a rhythmically conditioned syncope (i.. *pisng > *()psng, Gershevitch 1954a, 169172). The only substantial difference between the two forms is the non-trivial vocalic correspondence Ved. a ~ Sogd. , but it does not seem sufficient for the rejection of the proposed lexical comparison. As a possibility, one can offer a multistep analogical explanation. If one reconstructs *pisn (f.) derived by analogy from *pisng (m.), the later feminine form *pisn can be accounted for as a result of the replacement of the unusual *-n- suffix through the productive adjectival suffix *-n(on the feminine adjectives in -n see 1981, p. 440). Then the masculine form /pisng/ would arise under the pressure of paradigmatic leveling.6 The late derivation of ps-ynk- from the reflex of Ir. *pai to draw, paint is, in my opinion, less likely given the lack of either the stem-forming suffix -ynk /-nk/ or prefixless verbal forms derived from *pai in Sogdian.

Abbreviations (S), (M), and (C) are used here for Sogdian words attested in the National Script, Manichaean Script, and Christian (Estrangelo) Script. This generally follows the practice of Gharib (1995). I avoid, however, the term Buddhist Script and the Abbreviation (B), because the ductus of the Sogdian Buddhist texts represents a variant of the National Script. 5 I am grateful to Martin Schwartz (Berkeley), who was the first one to turn my attention to this Vedic adjective after I proposed the root etymology for Sogd. psynk-. 6 On the existence of Sogdian adjectives with the masculine in -k and feminine in - (e.g. /mazxk/ vs. /mazx/) see Sims-Williams (1989, p. 185).
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2. ptr- to pluck Although the reflexes of the Iranian root *dar to tear, split are present in all the main subgroups of the Iranian group, its Sogdian reflexes have not been identified up to now (cf. 2000, Vol. II, pp. 340 343, Cheung 2007, pp. 5960).7 The reason for this, as I will try to show below, is a non-trivial phonetic change that modified the shape of this root in Sogdian. I will argue that its reflexes are attested in the two contexts cited below, which are respectively recorded in the National and Manichaean orthographies. (2) SCE ll. 87 88, cf. MacKenzie (1970, p. 6) rty xwnx ZKZY ZKw ks ptr-t CONN that.NOM REL ART pig pluck-3SG.PRS RZY xsyn wrs-k zy-t CONN blue- haired-M be.born-3SG.PRS One who plucks pigs is born with blue hair. (3) Berl. M 549 II V 610 (Magi), cf. Henning (1944, p. 143) wyy yqw-y r-x nn-mbn n [y]n--yy CONN-ART.F Nana-lady with womany-PL-OBL ART.LO bridge-LOC yys-nd wy pqf-nd sk wxwn-nd enter-3PL.PRS pot break-3PL.PRS up cry-3PL.PRS ryy-nd ryy-nd f/pr-nd weep-3PL.PRS wound-3PL.PRS tear-3PL.PRS y ryw pr-w z'yy frp-nd and body on-ART.ACC ground throw-3PL.PRS nd Lady Nana together with (her) women enter the bridge, break pots, cry and weep, wound and tear (themselves) apart, and throw themselves to the ground. The meaning of ptr-t (phonologically ptar-t) in (2) is established based on the Chinese original of SCE (Gauthiot 1928, p. 70) and can be confirmed through the character of the rebirth in the context cited. The stem ptr- turns out to be semantically and structurally identical with Khwar. *br- < *apa-dara- to pluck (hair, feathers, leaves from a branch), attested through the imperfect tense form br- (Samadi

Rastorgujeva and Edelman connect Sogd. zyntk /ind/ cruel, savage with the Iranian root *dar to tear, split, presumably surmising here a historical participle formed from the zero grade of the root *dr- ( 2000 , Vol. II, p. 343). This lexeme, however, is not to be separated from OArm. and/t evil, harmful, bitter (MacKenzie 1970, p. 38). Since the development *dr- > - is specifically Sogdian, the proposed etymology can be maintained only on the assumption of a Sogdian borrowing into Armenian. It is well known, however, that the main source of Iranian lexemes in Classical Armenian is the Parthian language. Therefore the derivation of OArm. and/t and, by extension, Sogd. zyntk from Ir. *jan to strike, kill is more economical. Perhaps we are dealing here with the reflexes of an Iranian agent noun in -ta(r).
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1986, pp. 1617). The only obstacle to identifying the two verbs as lexical cognates is the phonetically irregular -t- in Sogdian, where one would expect *pr-. This irregularity can be explained with the help of example (3), taken from the description of an orgy associated with the cult of the goddess Nana. Walter Bruno Henning, who was the first one to see the relationship between Sogd. ptr- and f/pr-, understood both verbs as to pluck out hair. Yet the comparison with Pers. fitardan to tear (apart), which, according to Henning (1944, p. 143, fn. 4) represents a Sogdian loanword, opens a different possibility. The same root could be used in two different meanings to pluck (out) and to tear (apart) when combined with prefixes *apa- and *fra-. Although a fresco from Panjikent confirms that the ecstatic followers of the goddess Nana would pluck out their own hair in the course of orgiastic rituals (Grenet Marshak 1998, p. 5), it is possible that tearing oneself apart represents a hyperbolic description of the same act. But even if one assumes the reading pr- /()ptar-/ pluck in (3), the Persian form necessitates the reconstruction of a parallel stem */f()tar-/ to tear (apart) in Sogdian. Unlike the stem /()ptar-/, which cannot be derived from *apa-dara- by sound laws, the stem */f()tar-/ represents a possible reflex of Ir. *fra-dara-. Schwartz (1967, pp. 5657) postulates a similar development for the verbs ftyp- < fra-daipato flash and ftm- < fra-dm- to inflate, both attested in Christian texts recorded in the Estrangelo Script. Both of these stems have additional variants fryp- and fmin the same orthographic tradition (Gharib 1995, ## 3930, 4013). Schwartz suggests that we are dealing here with a distant assimilation followed by the regular loss of syllabic r0 between voiceless consonants and dissimilation in a consonant cluster, i.e. *f()rp- > *f()rp- > *fp- > /ftp-/.8 Additional examples of similar sound changes in Sogdian can be found in Sims-Williams (1983, p. 50). The same scenario can also be offered for our case: *f()rar- > *f()rar- > *far- > *ftar-. If one accepts this etymology, then the devoicing *>t in the stem ptr- receives a simple explanation as a result of analogical leveling. Thus, although the correspondence between Sogd. ptr- and Khwar. *br- to pluck is phonetically irregular, one can show that these two stems are genetically related. 3. rwt()k fixed, established The attestations of this lexeme are limited to a single composition, namely the Mahyna version of the Buddhist treatise Mahparinirvastra. One of its four occurrences is in a fragmentary context Mpn1.f 2 (rwtk, Mller Lentz 1934, p. 556), which has a limited value for a lexicographer. But its other three attestations, all clustering in the same sentence, are conducive to establishing its meaning, which can

Sims-Williams (1995, p. 300) suggests a different account of ftyp-, deriving it from *fradrapa-, a hypothetical cognate of Sogd. ryp- (S), ryf- (M) to shine. This hypothesis, however, does not account for ftm- to inflate.
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be confirmed through the Chinese version of the Mahparinirvastra (Mller Lentz 1934, p. 576). (4) Mpn1 41 45, cf. Mller Lentz (1934, p. 555) rty=ms mymnty krtyH ZK rwt-k ptwr-y CONN=also such.GEN action RT established-M consequence-GEN pczk wyk sty my YKZY ZK 10 wkry yz-krtyH ZKZY reception place there.is such as ART 10 kind evil-deed REL rwt-kw wy tm-yH PZY pryt t wy established-M ART.LOC hell-LOC and hungry.ghost and ART.LOC stwrpk myny skw-ty PZY ZK 10 wkry yr-krtyH animal among be.situated-3SG.PRS and ART 10 kind good-deed rwt-kw wy -yt t wy mrtxm-tt myny established.M ART.LOC god-PL and ART.LOC human-PL among And for such deeds there is a place of receiving established consequences, such (place of) ten evil deeds, which is established in hell, among hungry ghosts and animals, and (place of) ten good deeds, which is established among gods and humans. The currently accepted etymology of this adjective belongs to Ilya Gershevitch, who suggested for it the original meaning bound, fixed and connected it with the Avestan root *rwais < Ir. *wrai to turn, twist (Gershevitch 1954a, 158, cf. Cheung 2007, p. 437). In the majority of the Middle and New Iranian languages this root acquires the meaning to spin (e.g. Pers. ritan, or Oss. lvisyn to spin). The participial derivative n rwyt (C) un-spun, without thread is also attested in Sogdian (Sundermann 1988, p. 183). In Yaghnobi we even encounter the basic stem rw- to spin, whose final consonant is levelled after the participle rwta spun (f. A 1957, p. 314b). For Gershevitch, a number of nouns derived from this root, such as Middle Persian (Pahlavi) l(y)tk, lwys cord, or Khwar. ry thread, provided possible links in the reconstruction of a semantic development leading to the meaning of rwtk fixed, bound. Nevertheless, the suggested etymology is not convincing for three independent reasons. First, it is difficult to assume that the same participial *writa- could have two synchronically different, albeit historically related meanings in Sogdian: to spin and to fix. Second, the idea of Gershevitch is not conducive to a simple derivational analysis of Sogd. rwt()k. One would have to assume that this participle is based upon the secondary denominative verb *to tie up with cords (vel sim.), but the putative base noun cord is not attested in Sogdian, while the putative denominative verb is not attested anywhere in Iranian. As a semantically simpler solution, I suggest to analyse rwt()k fixed as a historical *-to- participle from IE *(1)wer to lock.9 Although this Indo-European
Cf. two different reconstructions of this root: *h1wer (Mayrhofer 1992 , Vol. II, p. 573) and *wer (Rix 2001, p. 686).
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root has not yet been identified through finite forms within Iranian (on Av. vrziin see Rix 2001, p. 686), its variant with the Schwebeablaut (*(1)wre) is attested in Skt. vraj- pen, herd and, with secondary specialisation, in Oss. rwz herd of deer (Mayrhofer 1992 , Vol. II, p. 594, cf. Anttila 1969, p. 157).10 There are no formal obstacles to an assumption that the variant *wra to lock was generalised in certain Iranian dialects with the full grade of the root. The secondary participial form *wrata- > rwt()k can be typologically compared, for example, with OPers. u-f-r-t- /u-frata-/ well-punished (Kent 1953, p. 176b), a derivative of the Iranian root *par / pra to ask, inquire. In conclusion one has to mention Sogd. rwx () gag, adduced by Gershevitch (1954a, 158) as an internal comparandum of Sogd. rwt()k. This comparison is formally incompatible both with Gershevitchs own etymology of rwt()k, and with my alternative solution suggested in this section. Neither Ir. *wrai + /s/, nor Ir. *wra + s can yield the final -x by regular sandhi rules (cf. Mayrhofer 1989, p. 9). Its phonological adaptation to the past stem *rwxt- is likewise implausible, given that the attested derivative of the past stem rwt()k does not show the accretion of -x-. A much more convincing idea belongs to Cheung (2007, p. 321), who derives Sogd. rwx gag and Sogd. ptrwx- to obstruct from *raux to break, a sigmatic variant of the Iranian root *rauj id..11 Refining this suggestion, I would like to propose that Sogd. rwx goes back to Ir. *a-ruxa- unbreakable, while ptrwx- owes its new meaning to the prefix pt- > Ir. *pati- (cognate with Ved. prti against). Interestingly enough, this prefix is responsible for a parallel change of meaning in combination with the base variant of the root *rauj to break: Yidgha pru or pru bolt of a door goes back to Ir. *pati-ruga- (Morgenstierne 1938, p. 239a, Cheung 2007, p. 318). 4. rwynt- to soften, massage This verb occurs only once in a passage of the Buddhist composition Buddhadhynasamdhisgara Stra, which was translated into Sogdian from Chinese: (5) Dhy. 6970, cf. MacKenzie (1976, Vol. I, p. 58) PZY ms wyn mt-yH BY t=n xwytk ZKw ryw and also ART.GEN mother-GEN father and=PTCL elder ART body prsm-y t rwynt-y PZY n rub-3SG.OPT and massage-3SG.OPT and them.OBL sny-y t smn wn-y wash-3SG.OPT and perfume make-3SG.OPT
10

In general on the phenomenon of Schwebeablaut in the Indo-European languages, see Anttila (1969). Another reliable derivative of the same root is Ved. vr0jna- settlement and Av. vrz&na- (G.) vrzna- (YAv.) community (Mayrhofer 1992 , Vol. II, p. 573). 11 The idea about the connection between rwx and ptrwx- was first advanced in Schwartz (1970, p. 391).
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And to (his) father and mother, and to the elder, he should rub and massage the body, he should wash and perfume them. The Chinese text of the same composition has press rub (=massage) attend-to, as the equivalent of Sogd. ZKw ryw prsmy t rwynty (MacKenzie 1976, Vol. II, p. 51). MacKenzie convincingly compares Sogd. prsm- with Khwar. sm- to wipe out, let disappear. For Sogd. rwynt- he accepts the etymology of Benveniste (1933, p. 20), who regarded this verb as a derivative of Ir. *arwant- swift, reflected in Av. auruuant- id.. Unlike Benveniste, who translated rwynt- as to strengthen, MacKenzie postulates for this verb the meaning to arouse, stimulate and renders ZKw ryw prsmy t rwynty as they should rub and stimulate their body. He justifies this translation by the fact that the Chinese sign attend-to can also mean to excite, provoke, thus implying that the Sogdian translator selected the wrong meaning of the Chinese verb in this context. It is clear that Benvenistes translation is semantically unmotivated: to make swift does not mean to strengthen.12 By comparison, MacKenzies interpretation has more to recommend itself: cf. Lat. citare to set in motion, excite, derived from Lat. citus swift. It remains, however, the fact that the meaning to stimulate does not match the context of example (5). MacKenzies interpretation, based upon the idea of a scribal error, could be accepted only if Benvenistes etymology of rwyntwere absolutely reliable. This is, however, not the case. Since the Sogdian reflex of Ir. *arwa(nt)- swift is rw-, which is used only as a component of personal names (Sims-Williams 1992, p. 41), and while the regular Sogdian word for swift is /art/ (Cheung 2007, p. 474), the derived verb based on Ir. *arwant- must be Pre-Sogdian. The verb **arwant-(a)ya- would, however, represent a structural anomaly in Old Iranian, since there are no Avestan or Old Persian deadjectival verbs formed with the preservation of the -ant- suffix (Bartholomae 1904, pp. 1891 1892). One would rather expect the shorter form **arw-aya-, but even such a formation would be redundant in view of the Iranian causative stem r0nau- to set in motion, derived from the same root *ar to move as the adjective *arwant- ( 2000, Vol. I, p. 189, cf. Cheung 2007, p. 165). The stem r0nau- yields Sogd. rn- to urge, drive on, which occurs in the same text of the Buddhadhynasamdhisgara Stra (Gharib 1995, # 1461). The considerations stated above prompt me to suggest an alternative etymology of Sogd. rwynt-, which is compatible with its contextually derived meaning. I compare rwynt- with the Indo-Aryan root *wrad to be soft (Mayrhofer 1992, Vol. II, pp. 595 596, cf. Rix 2001, p. 697). Although I am not aware of other Iranian finite verbal forms derived from this root, Av. varduua- soft clearly points to its common Indo-Iranian status. The Sogdian stem is derived from this root with the help of two causative markers: the archaic -n- infix and the productive palatal umlaut, which
12 The semantic change firm > swift is in principle possible: f. modern Farsi tond swift < Ir. *tuwant- strong, powerful, or the polysemy of English fast. Iranian *arwant-, however, never had the meaning firm, because it was derived from the root *ar to move ( 2000 , Vol. I, p. 194).

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formally goes back to the Iranian suffix *-aya-.13 This combination has a number of parallels in Sogdian, of which the most obvious are nwynt- () to dress < Ir. *gaud to cover, ptmync- (C) to clothe < Ir. *mau to dress, and mrync- (M) destroy < Ir. *mar id. (f. Cheung 2007, pp. 114, 138 139, 266 267). As for semantics, ancient physicians, from Hippocrates to Avicenna, connected massage with softening the internal organs, and even now its purpose is frequently understood as softening muscles. Therefore the new etymology allows me to discard the hypothesis of a scribal error and analyse prsmy t rwynty you must rub and soften as a direct rendering of the Chinese text of the Buddhadhynasamdhisgara Stra. 5. ()sty(y)w although, even (if) The conjunction treated in this section frequently occurs in Buddhist texts recorded in the National Script and is normally glossed as although, even if (Gharib 1995, ## 1718, 1720, 9015). Livshits and Khromov cite the following example of its use: styw ZKw wrzrw wx wt rty y nyy L pyrt although he tells truth, none believes him (SCE ll. 454 455), and laconically remark the origin is unclear ( 1981, p. 514). The etymology of this lexeme can be clarified with the help of examples where it is used together with the conjunction k if, functioning as a modal particle even: (6) SCE ll. 343346, MacKenzie (1970, p. 20) k styw wntn ntkk krtyH krtk w-t rty pyt k if even such evil deed do become-3SG.PRS CONN but if mwnkw pwstk ptw-y rty ZKw ryw cnn ntk this.ACC sutra hear-3SG.OPT CONN ART body from evil pcxwn-y rty cwn wntn krtny xwyck- w-t accusation-OBL and from such sin free-ABL become-3SG.PRS Even if such an evil deed has been do but afterwards he hears this sutra, then his body becomes free from evil accusation and from such a sin. (7) Intox. 1820, MacKenzie (1976, Vol. I, p. 8) L ZY=ms pcyy-t ptc-t pr-w PZY k not PTCL=also befit-3SG.PRES try-INF.PST through-it.ACC PTCL if styw kn-xwrk -t rty ZK cy-wy even little-drinking become-3SG.SBJV CONN he from-this.OBJ nnt-y rw rw wnkw sxs-ty m ZY cause-OBL little little so get.in.habit-3SG.PRES so.that PTCL w ytr xwr-ty it.ACC more drink-3SG.PRES
13

It is noteworthy that the infixed adjective vrandn- softening occurs twice in Rigveda, although Mayrhofer (loc. cit.) treats it as an innovation of a particular rishi.
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And it is not fitting even to try (it) because even if (someone) drinks a little for this reason little-by-little he begins to drink it more. One can hypothesise that examples such as (6 7) reveal an archaic construction, while the use of ()sty(y)w as a conjunction is due to the ellipsis of k. If this is correct, one can reconstruct the phrase *k sty yw, which would literally mean if there is this and could be more idiomatically translated if it be thus. For example, one can suggest the following etymological interpretation for the protasis of (6): If it be thus: such an evil deed has been made. Presumably the phrase sty yw there is this was originally used in conditional sentences with the indicative protasis but then grammaticalised as a zero contrastive topic enhancing the unexpected nature of the condition.14 After the merger of the two elements the sequence ()sty(y)w stopped being structurally transparent and was reanalysed as a modal particle.15 This scenario, however, is not the only one possible. The suggested etymology is also compatible with the hypothesis that sty yw there is this originally functioned as an equivalent of a conditional particle. A similar construction is in fact available in English be it (that): the sentence cited at the beginning of this section can be paraphrased as be it that he speaks truth, none believes him. Furthermore, Russian if going back to the combination of Slav. *jest there is and the interrogative particle li ( 1987, Vol. II, p. 28) shows that an existential construction can be grammaticalised into a conditional conjunction. If one prefers this alternative, then the redundant combination k styw even if must be explained as secondary. Perhaps, after the unmarked conjunction k if was generalised to all the conditional phrases, ()sty(y)w secondarily acquired the emphatic function. 6. yn(y) female attendant The noun yn(y) is attested in Buddhist texts in two different plural forms, which cannot be reduced to a single phonetic representation. (8) VJ 32 35, Benveniste (1946, p. 3) rty nwkr xw y xwtw wy wxww RYPW CNN then ART.NOM.M Shivi king ART.GEN.F six 10 000

The reflection of the Iranian root *ah to be in Sogdian depends on whether one is dealing with the copula or the verb of existence. The latter never appears in the short form (the reflex of 3 sg. *asti is sty, not xcy) and is frequently placed at the beginning of the sentence as a marker of the contrastive topic (e.g. SCE ll. 36 37 stnt wwnk rtrt ZKZY rmnt yr t prymc wnnt there are such brothers that (they) constantly make disputes and litigations). 15 Khot. aka perhaps < ata ka (Bailey 1979, p. 11b) resembles Sogd. *k sty (yw) but shows the reverse order of elements. This parallel, which I owe to Nicholas Sims-Williams (pers. comm.), suggests that the construction if it be thus may have represented a common East Iranian pragmatic device.
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yn-tH ZKw xwtynH wy ykt yH pr mzyx pty-w attendants-PL RT queen RT.LOC harem at great respect-ACC prmy rty order.3SG.IMPF keep.INF.PST And then King Shivi ordered sixty thousand female attendants to keep the queen in the harem with great respect. (9) BhGS 165168, Benveniste (1940, p. 90) rty=ms nnt k ZNH xwtynH PZY xttwnH ZY CONN=also Ananda.VOC if DET.PROX queen REL khatun and wyswtH ZY wypk PZY xwtw-ztk ktr ZK wzrk-t m-t princess and prince REL king-born or ART noble-PL minister-PL ZY mkyrn-t ktr wyh yktyH yny-tH ZY wrnykm-t and courtier-PL or RT.LOC harem attendant-PL and official-PL ZY ktr nt-k n cnn r-yH ZK y-y -t and or whole-M people from illness-OBL ART bad-NOM become-3SG.SBJV And furthermore, Ananda, if the queen-khatun and the princess, and the prince, the royal offspring, and the nobles, ministers, and courtiers, or the female attendants in the harem and officials, or the whole people gets bad on account of illness16 The approximate meaning of ynytH in (9) was suggested based on the Chinese version of the same text referring to the ladies of inner chambers, usually understood as concubines (Benveniste 1940, p. 207). On the other hand, given that ynytH in the Sogdian text are mentioned together with Sogd. wrnykmt officials, we are likely dealing here not with simple concubines or maidservants but with ladies having a certain position in the palace hierarchy, which did not necessarily render sexual or menial services. The unmarked Sogdian terms for maidservant are spsykH (S) and spskrnc (M) (Gharib 1995, # 1608, # 1610), the terms for concubine were prr (S) and pr (M) (Gharib 1995, # 7123, # 7125). This does not, of course, exclude that yn(y) may have a more mundane meaning in Pre-Sogdian. The relationship between forms yntH and ynytH requires explanation. The second form can be compared with Wakhi indi-gun female slave, although this cognate remains uncertain, being attested exclusively in a semi-professional 19thcentury record (- 1999, p. 457).17 Yet the hypothesis that ynyrepresents a secondarily derived form falls apart on purely synchronic grounds. Since the Sogdian suffix /-/ is productive only with the masculine forms (Sims-Williams
16 Note the rare use of the particle PZY as a linker of nouns in a noun phrase, in a manner similar to the Persian izafe. For the related phenomenon of explicative ZY, see Yakubovich (2005, p. 214). 17 One more form that was adduced as a comparandum of Sogd. yn(y) is Yidgha idiko female slave (Henning 1946, p. 733). This comparison is erroneous, because the form under consideration cannot be separated from Yidgha ida(k) slave (Morgenstierne 1938, p. 188).

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1989, p. 194), its use in combination with the word for female attendant is implausible. Thus the form yny- must be considered more archaic. This result, obtained through internal reconstruction, is conducive to offering a new etymology for the lexeme under discussion, which has defied historical explanation up to now.18 Interpreting yny as /inay/ or /in/, I propose that this noun goes back to the Iranian combination *yaun dh young female slave. This etymology strengthens the hypothesis that Sogd. yncH (S) / ync (M) woman represents a reflex of Ir. (virtual) *yauni young female (Duchesne-Guillemin 1966). The second part of the postulated compound can be compared with Sogd. y(H) (S) female slave, a likely reflex of the Iranian oblique stem *dhy- id.(Gharib 1995, # 3454). The development young female slave > female attendant, lady-in-waiting offers one more example of semantic melioration involved in the creation of aulic titles. Among the most wellknown example of this tendency are the mediaeval ranks of marshal and constable, both originally referring to the keepers of royal horses. The contraction of the stem-final /-y/ > /ay/ > /-/ in the word under discussion is probably an effect of the Rhythmic Law. The same tendency to contract unstressed Sogdian syllables is the likely motivation for the further contraction of /-/ in example (8). Although the suffix /-/ does not contract in the masculine nouns, this is due to the analogical levelling between light and heavy stems. Since the element -y in yny could not be perceived as a variant of the same suffix due to gender mismatch, it underwent phonetically regular contraction in a position after a metrically heavy syllable. The form yntH is probably to be read as /net/. 7. rkyr- to neglect Cheung (2007, p. 239) reconstructs the Proto-Iranian root *karH celebrate, praise, which has excellent Indo-European cognates but turns out to be weakly attested in Iranian. In fact, its reconstruction appears to be based on a binary comparison between YAv. kar to celebrate, praise (present stem kraiia-, Kellens 1995, p. 15) and Oss. pplyn to praise ( 19581995, Vol. I, p. 170). The goal of this section is to discuss the probable reflexes of this root in Sogdian, which support its common Iranian status. Henning (1936, pp. 36, 39) was the first one to establish the stem frkyr- in the Manichaean Liturgy () based on the following contexts: frkyrn frwycyh jyrwndy xwy (M) f., forgetfulness, evil intent, (or) weakness and xw frkyrny jyrwn mbr (M) weak, f., malicious body. In the comment to his edition, Henning cites two other forms attested in unpublished texts written in the Manichaean Script: the abstract noun frkyrnyky[] (conjoined with yrwndy evil intent) and

The idea that yntH in (8) is to be read **yztH and connected with Pers. zad deity (Reichelt 1926, pp. 239 240), was based on the misunderstanding of the meaning of the Sogdian lexeme, which was clarified only after the publication of context (9).
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the finite form 3 pl. frqyrnd (Henning 1936, pp. 74 75). Afterwards, the noun rkyrny (the variant of frkyrn with the addition of - < *-aka) and the adjective rkyrnkw were discovered in Manichaean texts recorded in the National Script (Sundermann 1985, p. 32, Reck 2006, p. 242). The Christian texts feature forms with assimilation frqynny (C) negligent, and frqyny (C) negligence (Sims-Williams 1985, p. 211a, Gharib 1995, ## 3894, 3895). The only likely cognate form in a secular text is the imperative rkyn or rky (Mugh 1.I. 20, Yakubovich 2002, p. 241). The formal relationship between individual derivatives treated in this section is clear up to a point. According to Henning, frkyr-n is an abstract noun, while frkyr-n- is an active participle (cf. Gershevitch 1954a, 1026, 1056). The form frkyrnyky[] is to be understood as a secondary abstract noun derived from the adjective *frkyrnyk. This analysis remains generally satisfactory even now, although if the Mugh imperative rkyn does not reflect a scribal error, one should rather reconstruct the basic verbal stem *frkyrn- (not frkyr-), where -n- is a secondary verbal suffix. In this case, the spelling frqyrnd is haplographic for the correct *frqyrnnd. Only the discovery of additional forms derived from the same stem will give decisive preference to one of these two alternatives. The formal ambiguity does not interfere with the basic meaning of the stem. The absence of Manichaean Liturgy in other languages than Sogdian, forced Henning, who was not familiar with the forms in Christian texts, to interpret the derivatives of frkyr(n)- based on the Manichaean contexts cited above. One can only admire the perspicacity of this scholar, who arrived at the approximate translation to be indifferent. The more precise meaning to neglect, be negligent was reached based on the comparison of Christian Sogdian texts with their Syriac originals. Thus Sogd. qbnq frkynny mt (this foreigner) was a little negligent corresponds to ytwhy hw qlyl b-mhmynwt (this foreigner) had a bit of negligence in the Syriac version of the same text (Sims-Williams 1985, pp. 126, 133). The established meaning is compatible with the use of frkyr(n)- and its derivatives in all the genres and scripts. I propose that frkyr(n)- to be negligent can be compared at the root level YAv. kraiia- to celebrate, praise. The stem (r)kyr- /(fr-)kr-/ would represent the direct reflex of the Iranian stem *kraya-, but if the Sogdian verb is to be reconstructed as (r)kyrn-, we must be dealing with the secondary accretion of the productive causative marker -n- in Pre-Sogdian. Of particular interest is the semantic shift to praise > to neglect, associated with the addition of the prefix fr-. The Sogdian language features other cases where the same prefix causes the pejoration of the stem meaning in the manner of the English prefix mis-: this is rny- (S), fny- (M) to endanger, forfeit vs. ny- (S) to lead and frmrz (M) to spoil, destroy vs. nmrz- (S) to touch.19 The Indo-European meaning of the prefix *pr@ (> Ir. *fra- > Sogd. r- (S) / fr- (M, C)) is traditionally reconstructed as movement forward, but in this case we are probably dealing with the secondary meaning movement astray f. Russian to deceive vs. to lead or German verfhren to seduce vs. fhren to lead.
19

The first comparison, despite its self-evident character, does not appear in the Iranological literature known to me. For the second one, see e.g. Cheung (2007, p. 181).
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8. ptfrw- to float up in memory, remember, remind The verb ptprwy- / ptrw- / ptfrw- (S), ptfrw- (M) is one of the well-attested Sogdian lexemes, but neither the relationship between different meanings of this verb nor its etymology have been adequately clarified in Iranological literature. The examples cited below are meant to demonstrate that alongside the most widely cited meaning to remember, this verb could also have the synchronic causative meaning to remind and the synchronic passive meaning to be remembered, to come to mind. (10) BhGS 10 13, Benveniste (1940, pp. 82 83) rty-k cnn ywrkw pzn ZKw rwr-n mwck CONN-if from sincere heart ART herb-GEN.PL mentor pkynk rypk xwtw pwt-y ptfrw-t ZY crystalline- radiance lord Buddha-OBL remember-3SG.SBJV and y ZKw sps spy-t rty cnn wysp-nc ctyH he.OBL ART honour honour-3SG.SBJV CONN from all-ABL fear ZY pckwyr ZKw fryw yr-t and fright ART release find-3SG.PRS If he remembers the Buddha the Mentor of Herbs the Crystalline Radiance (Bhaisajyaguru Vaidryaprabh) with pure heart and honours him, he will find release from all fears. (11) AL II 4445, Sims-Williams (2001, p. 270) rzkk-y ptprwy [xwt]y nnyr lord Nanaydvar Varzak-OBL remind.2SG.OPT PZY tw sk[n]kw nzr-t that DET.MED.ACC deposit withdraw-3SG.SBJV Lord Nanaydvar, remind Varzak that he should withdraw the deposit. (12) SghS 1 47, Yakubovich Yoshida (2005, p. 245) rty kw rzy prmn sr my ptykw-nt tw ZY CONN to rishi brahman PSTP thus ask.IMPF-3PL thou.OBJ CONN c zmn-wH ptrw-t rty ZK rz-y how.much time-NOM come.to.mind-3SG.SBJV CONN ART rishi ZY pw prmn kw RBkw nwzk sr my 20 mn brahman to great assembly PSTP thus say I.OBJ PTCL without ptmr zwnH ptrw-t count birth come.to.mind-3SG.PRS

The decorative writing transliterated by the sign represents the abbreviated form of the heterogram NYW said. To my knowledge, this writing does not occur outside the manuscript SghS 1.
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And they asked the rishi thus: How much time is kept in your mind. And the rishi answered thus to the great assembly: Countless births are kept in my mind. Based on purely combinatory considerations, there are no serious obstacles to taking /patfrw-/ to remember as the base verb and explaining the other two meanings as reflexes of the common Iranian causative in *-aya- and anti-causative in *-ya-. It has been argued that the Sogdian verbal stems ending in *-w- are not subject to palatal umlaut caused by these suffixes in combination with other stems (Gershevitch 1954a, 546). But the stable long vowel of the root requires explanation. Neither the root *frw with the etymological long diphthong nor the anti-causative form with the extended grade of the root can be easily accounted for on the common Iranian level. This was probably the reason why Henning (1936, p. 88, under 756) analysed the verb ptfrw- to remember, remind as a denominative formation *pati-frw-ayaderived from *pati-frwa- > ptfrw memory, recollection. This hypothesis, being perfectly legitimate in itself, immediately causes questions about the origin of the noun ptfrw, whose structure is that of an action noun. The only external cognate of Sogd. ptfrw- is Khwar. pcrwy&- remind, remember (Henning 1956, p. 433).21 If one accepts Hennings hypothesis about the denominative origin of the Sogdian verb, the same conclusion must be made with regard to its Khwarezmian counterpart, with the difference that the putative base noun is unattested in Khwarezmian. Summing up, one can state that the Sogdian and Khwarezmian cognates remain without a convincing Iranian etymology (cf. Cheung 2007, p. 91). None of the historical explanations attempted thus far have included the analysis of the intransitive form ptrw- to be remembered. But if we assume that this meaning was original, the verb obtains a satisfactory etymology connecting it with Ir. *fraw to swim, float. From the semantic point of view, we are probably dealing here with a metaphor that is similar to the English expression to float up in memory. For example, the rishis answer in (12) can be paraphrased as countless births float up in my mind. The main piece of supporting comparative evidence for the etymology under discussion is Oss. fjlawyn (/ fjlyd) to undulate, go in waves ( 1958 1995, Vol. I, p. 432). This verb can be reconstructed as *pati-frwaya- and thus represents an impeccable cognate of Sogd. ptrw-. One can, furthermore, ite the Ossetic context usmj usmm dlfinkj cx ku ferdtevuj flawn from time to time a blue wave glitters from under the foam (, ibid.), which shows that Oss. fjlawyn could also be used in the inchoative Aktionsart, albeit in its
Samadi (1986, p. 144) connects the Khwarezmian verb pcrwy&- with the Khwarezmian noun pcrwk- < *pati-srawaka- cry, call. This comparison, however, is phonetically untenable, because Sogd. ptfrw-, the lexical cognate of Khwar. pcrwy&-, cannot be derived from *pati-srwaya-. The reconstruction *pati-mrwaya- (to the Iranian root *mraw to say) was proposed for the Khwarezmian verb in Gershevitch (1979, pp. 120, 146). This etymology can be extended to Sogd. ptfrw- only on the assumption of an otherwise unconfirmed sound change *m>f /t_r and in addition it appears to be rather vague on the semantic side.
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direct meaning.22 On the other hand, it is worth noting that the metaphoric use of fraw with reference to the human mind is attested in an Avestan hymn to Haoma. The negative female character jahik- ytumait- whore of the sorcerers (vel sim.) is described there in the following terms: yehe frafrauuaiti man yaa arm vt.tm whose mind floats like a wind-driven cloud (Y 9.32, Kellens 2007, p. 70). The intransitive use of Sogd. ptrw- is attested only in the Buddhist treatise Sagha Stra, but its reality follows from the fact that it appears is several passages of this composition (Yakubovich Yoshida 2005, p. 247).23 The isolated character of this archaism need not surprise us because the Sogdian translation of the Sagha Stra displays a number of other archaic features, notably the extensive use of Prakritisms. Nevertheless, the semantic derivation to float up in memory > to remember > to remind must have taken place quite early, because its final stage is already attested in the Ancient Letters (11). This process can be accounted for in a number of ways. Adapting Hennings idea, one can suggest that the intransitive verb served as a derivational base for the verbal noun ptr()w (S), ptfrw (M, C) memory, recollection, which was used in turn for the derivation of transitive verbs.24 On the other hand, the vacillation between the intransitive and transitive construction is attested in the case of other Sogdian verbs denoting mental processes (e.g. nm- to agree / to be agreeable, Benveniste 1967, pp. 28 ff.). This allows one to hypothesise that some finite forms of ptrw- were secondarily reanalysed as transitive. Such a reanalysis may have happened first in the ergative perfect construction, which can be postulated for the early stages of Sogdian.25 A similar type of reanalysis can be also surmised for Khwarezmian, although the small corpus and the meager understanding of Pre-Islamic Khwarezmian texts are not conducive to testing this hypothesis.
Samadi (1986, p. 144) also considers the possibility of connecting Khwar. pcrwy&- to remind, remember with Ir. *fraw, but justly objects to the semantic change to remember < to swim against, which does not appear to be supported by any typological parallels. The passive meaning to be remembered, which represents the starting point for my etymological analysis, does not appear to be attested in Khwarezmian. 23 As argued in Yakubovich Yoshida (2005), it is unlikely that ptrw-t and ptrw-t are preterit forms of participial origin, because the variation between preterits in -t and -t in the same text would be hard to explain. It is synchronically easier to interpret the first form as third singular present and the second one as third singular subjunctive. 24 This verbal noun is a fairly early formation, because it had enough time to cause an irregular sound change *m>w in its antonym rwcy (S) < *frmuti- forgetfulness (Pavel Lurje, personal communication). 25 It is well known that Sogdian and Khwarezmian differ from the other Iranian languages through the presence of a separate perfect tense of transitive verbs formed with the help of the auxiliary to have ( 1990, pp. 103 105). This form, however, is not typical of earlier Sogdian texts, where one observes instead the use of the ergative construction, similar to one that is normally used for forming transitive past in Parthian or Bactrian. (e.g. AL II HRZYm ms <st 4 sr> pryt ny mrty Furthermore, four years ago I sent a different man, cf. Sims-Williams 1989, p. 189). The ergative construction is also normal in Yaghnobi, a modern descendant of one of the peripheral Sogdian dialects (cf. 1990, p. 104). I propose that the intransitive construction with the logical subject in the oblique *rty-m ptyfrwt it came to my mind could be reanalysed as the ergative construction with the transitive verb I remember at some point in the history of Sogdian.
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9. r- to tremble While working on the edition of the Sogdian manuscripts in the German Turfan collection, Walter Bruno Henning briefly commented on several forms containing the consonantal sequence /-r-/. Initially, he wrote in connection with the form ] ry in the Sogdian column of a Middle Persian and Sogdian glossary: A Sogd. base -r- (=ar) is known from Chr. wytrbnnc(?) (Henning 1940, p. 57). Later, the form 3pl. rnd trembled, belonging to the Sogdian version of the Manichaean Book of the Giants was compared in Henning (1943, p. 68) (fn. 4) with 3sg. prt (P 2 1163) and with the forms in /-r-/ mentioned three years earlier. Thus Hennings works yield a cumulative comparison between four different forms. Two of the forms mentioned by Henning can be safely eliminated from further discussion. The predicate L prt, which, according to the context, means does not last or something similar (Benveniste 1940, p. 54), is to be explained as a contraction of the passive potential form *L prt wt, derived from the well-established stem pr- (Gharib 1995, # 6759). The cliticisation of the auxiliary w- led to vowel contraction by the Rhythmic Law. The form occurring in the Middle Persian and Sogdian glossary cannot be assigned to any lexeme because its Middle Persian equivalent is preserved only fragmentarily (the reconstruction q[w]z[ jug is a mere guess on Hennings part). As a result, we are left with two forms listed in examples (13) and (16). On the other hand, Nicholas Sims-Williams managed to identify two new forms (14) (15) derived from the same root, and thus confirmed its meaning beyond a reasonable doubt. The imperfect rt (S) trembled in a fragment of a tale from the St. Petersburg collection was not understood by its editor but can be securely determined based on context (Sims-Williams 1981, p. 237). The badly preserved perfect form wyrbd r nt (C) in the Sogdian translation of the Gospel of Luke (24:37), where it corresponds to Gk. ptohqntej astounded, was not read by the first publisher of the fragment but restored in the electronic corpus of the Sogdian texts making part of the TITUS database. As one can see below, the meaning to tremble also agrees well with the context of (13). In (16) we are dealing with the slight difference in meaning: Sogd. wyrbnn () corresponds to Gk. merimnj you are worrying (Luke 10:42).26 One must assume that the prefixless forms (13) (14) reflect the basic meaning of the verbal root, while the forms (15) (16), endowed with the prefix wy-, also show semantic derivation. (13) Kaw. G R 46, Henning (1943, p. 68) ry 200 yw- wynd fryy--yy wyn-nd CONN 200 demon-PL this.PL angel-PL-OBL see.IMPF-3PL [jw p]cykwyr-nd y r-nd strongly be.afraid.IMPF-3PL and tremble.IMPF-3PL

Gershevitch (1954a, 1279) explains wyrbnnc as an analogical formation used instead of the expected *wyrbnc. The analogy is based upon the unattested but regular masculine form *wyrbny.
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And (when) two hundred demons saw these angels, they were strongly afraid and trembled. (14) L 37 56, (1980, p. 30) rty ZKn msy MN pckwyr-y st- CONN ART old.man from fear-OBL hand-ABL r-t ZY ZKn xnr MN st-y tremble.IMPF-3SG.MIDDLE and ART dagger from hand.PL-OBL py drop. 3SG.IMPF And the old man trembled with fear and dropped the dagger from his hands. (15) Berl. 5 13 R 1315, Mller (1912, p. 54) t qt-nt pr pcqw r t w nt wyrb-d r -nt and he.PL be.astonished-PRF-3PL and become.PST-3PL at fear pt mryq mt-n t qt wt wyn-nt-qn because thinking be.PST-3PL COMP spectre see-3PL.PRES-DUR And they were astonished and full of fear because they thought that they saw a spectre. (16) Berl. 5 14 V 35, Mller (1912, pp. 37 38) br-yn-c y tw mr mr xwysm Martha.VOC Martha.VOC care bear-PTCP-F be.2SG.PRES thou.NOM t wyrbn-n-c pr rf-ty -t pyt yw y-c and worry-PTCP-F about many-thing-PL but one INDF-what xcy qt wnt-y xcy be.3SG.PRES REL necessary-M be.3SG.PRES Martha, Martha, you are caring and worrying about many things but there is (only) one thing that is necessary. The segmented root with the consonantal template /-r-/ is of interest for internal reconstruction. It is clear that it could not have a structure **/rV/ in the historical period, because in such a case one would expect the regular sound change **rV > Vb in Sogdian (cf. Gershevitch 1954a, 299, 1981, pp. 409410), which was always faithfully rendered in Manichaean and Christian orthographies. Therefore one should either follow Henning in his reconstruction of Sogd. *ar or postulate the generalisation of the zero grade *r0 > /r/. Nevertheless, the reconstruction *raC is required for the earlier period, because the easiest way to account for the initial is the regular sound change *tr > r in Proto-Iranian. Thus one can reconstruct Schwebeablaut in the root under discussion even without invoking comparative evidence. Developing the hypothesis of Leonard Herzenberg (personal communication), I propose to connect Sogd. /r/ with Ir. *rap/tarp to be unsteady, to move unActa Orient. Hung. 64, 2011

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steadily (Cheung 2007, p. 396). The first of the two Shwebeablaut variants of this root is likely to be more archaic. The variant *t(a)rp is attested in the verbal present stems (Kurd. terpn to stumble, Sariq. turf-/turft to stumble, Oss. tlf-/ tlft to shake etc.), based on which one can reconstruct Ir. *tr0fya- / tr0fta-, perhaps with the secondary present stem *tarp/fa-. By contrast, the variant *rap is preserved in the derived adjective MPers. (Pahlavi) spwk light, unsteady, shallow, Pers. sabuk light, easy < Ir. *rapuka- unsteady, which has no chance of being an analogical formation. In Sogdian, unlike Ossetic, Sariqoli or Kurdish, the allomorph *rap affected the consonantal structure of the finite verbal forms. But here too, the root vocalism was eventually changed through reanalysis of the zero grade. Another secondary and irregular change is the morpheme-final voicing in Sogdian (one would expect to find *rf- in Christian texts). Here one can think of a proportional analogy of the type rb-dr / rb- = rb-dr / X X = rb-, reflecting the influence of the frequent Sogdian verb rb- (C) to know. Compare also Pashto drabl to shake, press down, which displays a similar irregular voicing. Despite formal irregularities complicating the comparison between Sogd r(S) / r- (M) / rb- (C) to tremble and Ir. *rap to be unsteady, their relationship can be regarded as certain. This follows from the similar pattern of Schwebeablaut, which can be established for the Sogdian verb through internal reconstruction and for the Iranian root by the comparative method.
References
Anttila, Raimo (1969): Proto-Indo-European Schwebeablaut. Berkeley Los Angeles, University of California Press. Bailey, Harold W. (1979): Dictionary of Khotan Saka. Cambridge University Press. Bartholomae, Christian (1904): Altiranisches Wrterbuch. Strasburg (Reprint 1961, Berlin, Walter de Gruyter). Benveniste, mile (1933): Notes sur le fragment sogdien du Buddhadhynasamdhisgara-stra. Journal Asiatique Vol. 233, pp 193 245. Reprinted in Benveniste (1979, pp. 29 66). Benveniste, mile (1940): Textes sogdiens dits, traduits et commentes. Paris, Geuthner. Benveniste, mile (1946): Vessantara Jtaka. Texte Sogdien dit, traduit et comment. Paris, Geuthner. Benveniste, mile (1967): Le verbe iranien nam- en sogdien. Bulletin of the School of the Oriental and African Studies Vol. 20, pp. 505 511. Reprinted in Benveniste (1979, pp. 315 321). Benveniste, mile (1979): Etudes Sogdiennes. Wiesbaden, Reichert. Cheung, Johnny (2007): Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb. Leiden, Brill. Duchesne-Guillemin, Jacques (1966): Autres miettes. Acta Orientalia Vol. 30, pp. 73 74. Feist, Sigmund (1939): Vergleichendes Wrterbuch der Gothischen Sprache. Leiden, Brill. Gauthiot, Robert (1928): Le Stra des Causes et des Effets du Bien et du Mal. Tome II: transcription, traduction, commentaire et index. Paris, Geuthner. Gershevitch, Ilya (1954): A Grammar of Manichaean Sogdian. Oxford, Blackwell. Gershevitch, Ilya (1954b): A Parthian Title in the Hymn of the Soul. Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society pp. 124 126. Reprinted in Gershevitch (1985, pp. 162 164).

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Schwartz, Martin (1970): Miscellanea Iranica. In: W. B. Henning Memorial Volume. London, pp. 385 394. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1981): The Sogdian Fragments of Leningrad. BSOAS Vol. 44, pp. 231 240. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1983): Chotano-Sogdica. BSOAS Vol. 46, pp. 40 51. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1985): The Christian Sogdian Manuscript C2. Berlin, Akademie. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1989): Sogdian. In: Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. Wiesbaden, pp. 173 192. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1992): Sogdian and other Iranian inscriptions of the Upper Indus Vol. II. London, School of Oriental and African Studies (Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum 2.2.2). Sims-Williams, Nicholas (1995): Christian Sogdian Texts from the Nachlass of Olaf Hansen, II. In: Fragments of Polemic and Prognostics. BSOAS Vol. 58, pp. 288 302. Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2001): The Sogdian Ancient Letter II. In: Philologica et Linguistica. Historia, Pluralitas, Universitas. Festschrift fr H. Humbach zum 80 Geburtstag am 4 Dezember 2001. Trier, pp. 267 280. Sundermann, Werner (1985): Ein Manichisch-sogdisches Parabelbuch. Berlin, Akademie. Sundermann, Werner (1988): Der Schler fragt den Lehrer. Eine Sammlung biblischer Rtsel in soghdischer Sprache. In: A Green Leaf. Papers in Honour of Professor Jens P. Asmussen. Leiden (Acta Iranica 28), pp. 173 186. Yakubovich, Ilya S. (2002): Mugh 1.I. Revisited. Studia Iranica Vol. 31, No. 2, pp. 231 53. Yakubovich, Ilya S. (2005): The Syntactic Evolution of Aramaic ZY in Sogdian. Studia Iranica Vol. 34, No. 2, pp. 199 230. Yakubovich, Ilya S. Yoshida, Yutaka (2005): The Sogdian Fragments of Sagha Stra in the German Turfan Collection. In: Languages of Iran: Past & Present. A Volume of Iranian Studies in memoriam David Neil MacKenzie. Wiesbaden, pp. 239 268. Yoshida, Yutaka (1994): On a Manichaean Sogdian Fragment Expounding Vanity of Earthly Life [in Japanese]. Bulletin of the Society for Near Eastern Studies in Japan Vol. 37, No. 2, pp. 16 31. , . . (1958 1995): - . , . , . . e, . . (1957): . - , . . , . . . . . , . , . . , . . (1981): . In: : . , pp. 347 514. , . . (1980): . , . , . . , . . (2000 ): . . I ( ): 2000, . II (b d): 2003, . III (f h): 2007. , . -, . . (1999): . -, . , . (1987): ( ). . . . , . , . , . . (1990): : , . , .
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