Syllabus
* Selected references:
Brandenstein, Wilhelm - Mayrhofer, Manfred (1964): Handbuch des Altpersischen (Weisbaden: Harrassowitz)
Fortson, Benjamin (2010): Indo-European language and culture: an introduction (Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishing). (Přehledný úvod do prajazyka a vývoje jednotlivých větví, spolu s cvičeními ke každé kapitole.)
Kent, Roland Grubb (1953): Old Persian. Grammar. Texts. Lexicon. Second edition (New Haven: American Oriental Society)
Martínez, Javier- Vaan, Michael de (2014): Introduction to Avestan, Translated by Ryan Sandell (Leiden-Boston : Brill)
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1978): Sanskrit-Grammatik mit sprachvergleichenden Erläuterungen (Berlin-New York: Walter de Gruyter)
Mayrhofer, Manfred (1986): Indogermanische Grammatik (Heidelberg: Carl Winter)
Meier-Brügger, Michael (2003): Indo-European linguistics. (Berlin: de Gruyter)
Meier-Brügger, Michael (2010): Indogermanische Sprachwissenschaft, 9., durchgearbeitete und ergänzte Auflage (Berlin- New York: de Gruyter)
Schmitt, Rüdiger (Ed.) (1989): Compendium Linguarum Iranicarum. (Wiesbaden: Reichert)
Schmitt, Rüdiger (1989): Altpersisch. In: Rüdiger Schmitt (ed.), Compendium Linguarum
Iranicarum, 56-85. (Wiesbaden: Reichert)
Skjærvø, Prods Oktor (1996): An Introduction to Old Persian (Cambridge: Harvard University Press)
Watkins, Calvert (1995): How to kill a dragon: aspects of Indo-European poetics (New York - Oxford: Oxford University Press)
West, Michael L. (2011): Old Avestan Syntax and Stylistics. With an edition of the texts (Berlin-Boston: Walter de Gruyter)
Windfuhr, Gernot (2009): Iranian Languages (London: Routledge)
* Online resources:
For Avestan/ Iranian: http://www.avesta-archive.com/ http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/texte2.htm#avest http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/didact/idg/iran/avest/avestmss.htm
* Online resources for Vedic/Indic: https://vedaweb.uni-koeln.de/rigveda/view/index/0 http://titus.uni-frankfurt.de/texte/etcs/ind/aind/ved/rv/mt/rv.htm
Annotation
The course will deal with the ancient Indo-Iranian languages, which constitute a separate branch of Indo- European language family. The participants will be acquainted with the most ancient languages of this branch, namely with Vedic (sometimes called Old Indic or Old Indo-Aryan), Avestan (language of Zoroastrianism) and Old Persian (language of Achaemenid inscriptions). The course will be divided into thematic units, which are described below. From the linguistic point of view, there will be discussed the genetical affiliation to Indo-European language family. The reasons and criteria for affiliation to this specific branch. There will be discussed and analysed selected passages from single above-mentioned languages. In doing so, the participants will become familiar with the usage of different aspects of material culture, religion and mythology of Indo-Iranian people. Another topic, which will be touched upon in this course will be the usage of various writing systems and their characteristics or geographical distribution of these languages. The course is realized under the auspices of the Institute of Comparative Linguistics Plan of the course:
1. Introductory lesson: acquaintance with literature (handbooks, dictionaries, grammars), online databases and other sources.
2. General introduction: Indo-Iranian languages as branch of Indo-European languages.
3. Indo-Iranian languages, their classification and (geographical) distribution.
4. Attested sources of Indo-Iranian languages.
5. Writing systems and records.
6. Phonology and morphology of Indo-Iranian.
7. Analysis of selected passages from single languages.
8. Literary formulas and topoi.
9. Religion of Indo-Iranian people.
10. Mythology of Indo-Iranian people.
11. Material culture of Indo-Iranian people. Requirements for attestation Regular attendance (3 absence allowed; in case of distant teaching this requirement will be judged accordingly) Active participation Regular homework Final test