4 ms·
In Old Persian, which is what this site says they use, I’d guess probably 𐎤𐎢𐎳𐎡𐎳𐎡 ⟨ku-u-f-i-f-i⟩, though it depends on how you pronounce it and how you dec
by bradrn 3y ago
In Old Persian, which is what this site says they use, I’d guess probably 𐎤𐎢𐎳𐎡𐎳𐎡 ⟨ku-u-f-i-f-i⟩, though it depends on how you pronounce it and how you decide to transcribe that pronunciation into a language with only three vowels.
- HDMI_Cable 3y agoI just looked it up, and its absolutely insane that Old Persian only has three vowels when Hittite (probably) had 5, Proto-Slavic 9, and Sanskrit 16.
- geraneum 3y agoI am curious what makes it absolutely insane in your view?
- BiteCode_dev 3y agoHe is probably American. This means "mildly interesting" in their dialect.
- bradrn 3y agoNot really. Three-vowel systems are pretty common: they’re also found in Classical Arabic, Quechua, most Australian and Eskimo–Aleut languages, and a bunch of others. Also, saying that Old Person had ‘three vowels’ while Sanskrit had ‘sixteen vowels’ is comparing apples to oranges a little bit. It seems like Old Persian had three basic vowel qualities, each of which could be short or long; meanwhile, Sanskrit had five basic vowel qualities, each of which could be short or long, as well as syllabic consonants /ṛ ḷ/ which could also be short or long, as well as /ṃ ḥ/ after vowels. It’s bigger, to be sure, but Sanskrit only two more basic vowel qualities than Old Persian (or four if you count the syllabic consonants).