Acta Orientalia 2014: 75, 3–30.
Printed in India – all rights reserved
Copyright © 2014
ACTA ORIENTALIA
ISSN 0001-6438
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
Ilija Čašule
Macquarie University
Abstract
Based on previous research on the very strong correlations between
the Burushaski and Phrygian languages, expanded in this article, we
discuss in detail the direct mythological correspondence between
Burushaski hargín ‘dragon’ and Phrygian argwitas ‘dragon’. We also
contemplate a possible etymology for Indo-European *silVbVr‘silver’. The proposition of a historical link between Burushaski and
Phrygian is reconsidered, as well as the gene evidence that locates the
Burusho within North-Western Indo-European.
Keywords: Burushaski, Phrygian, genetic classification, IndoEuropean, mythology, names for ‘dragon’ and ‘silver’.
1. Introduction
1.1 Burushaski studies and Indo-European
Burushaski is a language-isolate spoken by around 90,000 people
(Berger 1990: 567) in the Karakoram area in North-West Pakistan. Its
dialectal differentiation is minor. There are three very closely related
4
Ilija Čašule
dialects: Hunza and Nager with minimal differences, and the Yasin
dialect, which exhibits some differential traits. The earliest, mostly
sketchy, material for Burushaski is from the mid to late 19th century
(e.g. Cunningham 1854, Hayward 1871, Biddulph 1880, Leitner
1889). The principal sources for Nagar and Hunza Burushaski are
Lorimer (1935-1938) and Berger (1998), and for Yasin Burushaski,
Zarubin (1927), Berger (1974) and Tiffou-Morin (1989) and TiffouPesot (1989). Edel’man-Klimov’s (1970) analysis, revised and
summarised in Edel’man (1997) is valuable in the quality of the
grammatical description. Berger’s (2008) synthesis is very important
for the historical phonology and morphology of Burushaski and its
internal reconstruction.
We have provided a full correlation of Burushaski with IndoEuropean, outside of Indic and Iranian. In our etymological analyses
we have found consistent and systematic lexical, phonological and
most importantly, extensive and fundamental grammatical
correspondences (the latter are outlined in Čašule (2003b: 69–79) and
significantly expanded in the Addendum (8.) to Čašule [2012b]). The
Burushaski numeral system is correlated with Indo-European in
Čašule (2009b).
In an extensive analysis and comparison of the Burushaski
shepherd vocabulary with Indo-European Čašule (2009a) identifies
some 30 pastoral terms that are of Indo-European (non-Indo-Iranian)
origin in Burushaski, one third of which show direct and specific
correspondences with the ancient Balkan substratal layer of shepherd
terms in Albanian, Romanian and Aromanian. The correspondences
(over 70 of them) in the core vocabulary of names of body parts and
functions can be found in Čašule (2003a).
Čašule (2010) focuses on the original Burushaski IndoEuropean vocabulary (over 150 stems with many derivatives) that
contains the reflexes of the Indo-European gutturals and correlations
are established with various Indo-European branches. The
correspondence of the Burushaski kinship terms (32 terms) with IndoEuropean is ana-lysed in Čašule (2013).
On the basis of the analysis of over 500 etymologies (with well
over 1000 derivatives) and the highly significant correspon-dences in
the grammatical and derivational system (noun stems, all nominal
case endings and plural endings, the verbal system and prefixes,
suffixes and endings, the complete non-finite verbal system, all of the
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
5
adjectival suffixes, the entire system of demonstratives, personal
pronouns, postpositions, adverbs, etc.), in Čašule (2012b) we conclude
that Burushaski is genetically related to Indo-European, more
specifically with the North-Western Indo-European branch, and a
language transformed typologically through contact with an
agglutinative and ergative language (also Čašule 2010: 70).
Eric P. Hamp (R), in the review of Čašule (2012a), based on the
full body of evidence, and in support of our work, states: “Burushaski
is at bottom Indo-European [italics EH] – more correctly in relation to
IE or IH, maybe (needs more proof) IB[uru]” and further conjectures:
“I have wondered if Burushaski is a creolized derivative; now I ask
(Čašule 2009a) is it a shepherd creole ? (as in ancient Britain)”. In
Hamp (2013: 8–9) he proposes an assured sister relationship between
Burushaski and Indo-Hittite.
1.2 The Phrygian language
Phrygian is an ancient Balkan language of the people who settled
around 1300 BCE in Asia Minor, west of modern Ankara in an area
long dominated by the Hitto-Luwian languages. They became a major
power in Anatolia and developed a remarkable civilization. According
to ancient sources [(Herodotus VIII: 73) (Strabo VIII: 295, q. in
Georgiev (1981: 143)], the Phrygians originally came from the Balkan
Peninsula, i.e. Macedonia where they lived in the neighbourhood of
Thracians and Macedonians. As stated by Georgiev (Ibid): “Long ago
the Phrygians occupied a position in the Balkan Peninsula which was
central between the Greeks and Macedonians, Mysians and Thracians,
Thracians and Pelasgians.”
Phrygian is preserved in inscriptions (some 240) dating from
the VIII to the III centuries BCE (Old Phrygian) and some 100
inscriptions from the 1st century CE to the IV century CE. Some
scholars believe that the language was extinct by the VII century CE
(Mallory-Adams 1997: 418). There are some 50 Phrygian glosses
registered by the ancient lexicographers, especially by Hesychius (but
also Neoptolemus, Clemens Alexandrinus). The major sources for
Phrygian are Haas (1966), Neroznak (1978: 66–156), Brixhe and
Lejeune (1984), Diakonoff and Neroznak (1985) and Orel (1997).
Phrygian is an Indo-European language, which according to
some Indo-Europeanists (Hamp 1990) belongs to its North-Western
branch. Orel (1997) decisively states that Phrygian is a kentum
Ilija Čašule
6
language. Diakonoff and Neroznak (1985: 42) indicate that inside the
Indo-European linguistic family Phrygian “was decidedly a ‘central’
language (…) The Phrygian words show the most numerous semantic
isoglosses with Greek and Balto-Slavic; if more could be known of
Thracian and Pelasgian, and more had been preserved of the original
vocabulary of Armenian and Albanian, these languages, no doubt,
would also occupy very important places among the nearest relatives
of Phrygian.”
For further details refer to the extensive study on the numerous
and significant Burushaski lexical correspondences in ritual, myth and
onomastics with the Phrygian language (Čašule 2004: 50–104), and
earlier in Čašule (1998: 21–30). The Phrygian expert Neroznak (1998:
x) has stated that “the lexical parallels proposed by the author [Čašule]
between Burushaski and Phrygian (the most documented of the
Paleobalkanic languages) are highly convincing.”
In this paper we reconsider and expand what we believe is the
strongest evidence for a close correlation between the Burushaski and
Phrygian languages.
2. Etymological analysis of Burushaski hargín and Phrygian
argwitas
2.1 Preliminaries
We reproduce for easier reference Berger’s (1998 I: 13) table of the
phonological system of Hz Ng Burushaski, which is valid for the
Yasin dialect as well (Ys Bur does not have the phoneme ċh – see also
Tiffou-Pesot (1989: 7-9):
a
e o
i
u
ỵ h l r
qh
q
kh
k
ṭh
ṭ
ḍ
ṅ
th
t
d
n
ṣ
cḥ
c̣
j̣
ś
ćh
ć
j
s
ċh
ċ
z
ph
p
b
m
Notes: 1. All five vowels can be long. 2. Retroflex consonants are marked with an
underdot. 3. w and y are allophones of u and i. 4. ċ = ts in Lorimer and c in TiffouPesot (1989). 5. ġ = γ is a voiced fricative velar /ɣ/. See Čašule (2010) on the
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
7
extensive variation of ġ and g. 6. ṅ = [ŋ] or [ng] [nk]. 7. ỵ is a retroflex. 8. A hyphen
before a word indicates that it is used only with the pron. prefixes. For the internal
variation and alternations see Čašule (2010: 5–19) (2003b: 24–29).
We also reproduce the summary of phonological correspondences
between Indo-European and Burushaski (Čašule 2010: 11-12):
IE a > Bur a; IE e > Bur e : Hz, Ng i; IE e (unstr.) > Bur a; IE ē > Bur ée; IE o > Bur ó
IE o (unstr.) > Bur a, u; IE ō > Bur oó, óo; IE i > Bur I; IE u > Bur u
IE ai, ei, oi; eu > Bur a; IE au, ou > Bur u
PIE h1- > Bur h-; PIE h1e- > Bur he-; PIE h1u̯er- > Bur har- : -war- : herPIE h2- > Bur h-; PIE h2e- > Bur ha-; PIE h2u̯e- > Bur -we- : -waPIE ha- > Bur h-; PIE hae- > haa- > Bur ha-; PIE h4- > Bur h-; PIE h4e- > h4a- > Bur haPIE h3- > Bur h-; PIE h3e- > h3o- > Bur ho-; PIE hx- > Bur h-; PIE h1/2i > Bur iIE l, m, n, r > Bur l, m, n, r; IE u̯ > Bur -w/-u; IE u̯- > Bur b-, also m-; IE i̯ > Bur y/i
IE m̥ > Bur –um, -am; IE n̥ > Bur -un, -an; IE r̥ > Bur -ur, -ar; IE l̥ > Bur –ul, -al
IE p > Bur p, ph, also b-; IE b > Bur b, also m (rare); IE bh > Bur b, also m (rare)
IE t > Bur t : th (rare) : ṭ , and d-; IE d > Bur d; IE dh- > Bur d-; IE VdhV > Bur -t-, -ṭIE k > Bur k : kh, k : q1; IE kw > Bur k; IE k̂ > Bur k : kh, k : q
IE g > Bur ġ; IE gh > Bur g; IE gw > Bur ġ; IE gwh > Bur ġ; IE ĝ > Bur g, ġ; IE ĝh- > Bur g, ġ
IE s > Bur s or s : ċ , ċh; IE ks > Bur ś
Berger (1998) gives a very careful account of words that may be of
Indo-Aryan (including “Sanskritisms”) or Iranian origin in
Burushaski. His methodology in this respect, apart from his own
fieldwork and of others, like Lorimer, Morgenstierne etc, is to look up
and check very carefully against the index to Turner’s (1966) A
Comparative Dictionary of the Indo-Aryan Languages. Wherever
there is a match, regardless whether the word is found in Shina,
Khowar or anywhere in Indo-Aryan, Berger indicates the lemma
number in Turner. Interestingly, 45 Indo-Aryan stems indicated by
Berger are not found in Shina or Khowar, but appear in Burushaski
and could be in some cases an overlap. They are not taken into
account in our Indo-European comparisons. Thus almost all words
marked as T in Berger are excluded from the comparisons with
Burushaski, as well as all Urdu matches. Any possible Iranian
loanwords have been checked by Berger against Steblin-Kamenskij’s
(1999, possibly an earlier version) Wakhi etymological dictionary,
1
For a detailed analysis of the alternations k:kh, k:q, k:qh, kh:q, q:qh and g:ġ, see
Čašule (2010: 14-18).
8
Ilija Čašule
earlier also by the eminent Iranist, Edel’man. 2 Thus, Berger’s
indications as to which words and forms are indigenous in Burushaski
are accurate and exhaustive.
Furthermore, the Burushaski material has already been sifted
carefully for Persian, Urdu and Indo-Aryan loanwords by Berger,
Lorimer, Morgenstierne, Zarubin, Edel'man, Klimov, Varma, Tiffou,
Buddruss, Tikkanen and other scholars who have studied the language
– their findings are conveniently mostly incorporated in Berger
(1998). The main source I have used for further comparison with
Indo-Aryan is Turner (1966) and with Persian, Steingass (1999)
[1892].
To be even more certain, in addition, the Kalasha, Khowar,
Dardic, Burushaski and Urdu specialist Elena Bashir of the University
of Chicago has looked carefully at all of our material in order to sift
again the etymologies for any Indo-Aryan loanwords.
2.2 Burushaski hargín and Phrygian argwitas
Burushaski has the word hargín ‘dragon, ogre, which comes into being from an ordinary snake, when it becomes big and old’ (B 193), in
neighbouring Shina ‘female snake’ (L 196). The word is not found in
precisely the same form anywhere else in Indo-Aryan. Jettmar (1975:
285, q. in Zoller 2010: 55) mentions in the Hindukush, but without
specific details, Hargin as the name for a constrictor “with a golden
mane” (he could well have been referring to the Burushaski word itself). Lorimer (L 196) glosses the Burushaski word with Panj magər
maččh. Berger provides the Nager idiomatic expression: in hargín
talénu bái ‘he listens to no exhortations’ (~“he wouldn’t heed a
hargín”).
There is a possibly related mythological creature under the
name of H̯agrin in Roma mythology which is “a demonic being in the
shape of a porcupine with a length of ½ m and a breadth of 1 span.
Hagrin afflicts sleeping animals, especially those which have been
just delivered, by sitting on their back and by having its urine running
down over them through which purulent abscesses develop” (Berger
1985: 793, tr. by Zoller 2010: 55, who considers it a loanword into
2
I note here with gratitude the early support for my work by Dž. Edel’man and G.A.
Klimov.
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
9
Roma). The semantics is however significantly different to the Burushaski meaning and involves metathesis of the liquid.
No one has been able to put forward an Indo-Aryan, Dravidian
or Tibetan etymology for these words.
In Čašule (2004: 74) we argued for a strong and direct
correspondence of the Burushaski hargín ‘dragon’ with the Phrygian
gloss in Hesychius argwitas (α̇ργυι̃τας. τὴν λάμιαν. Φρύγες ‘dragon,
Lamia’ (Neroznak 1978: 136). The existing etymology for the
Phrygian word is: argwitas < *h2erĝ-(n̥t-om) ‘white (metal), silver’ :
OIr argat, MWels aryan(t), Lat argentum, Arma arcat’, Luw
harkan[za], Av ərəzatəm, OPers ardata, all: ‘silver’ (M-A 518) (<
‘bright, shiny’) + *u̯ed- (*u̯eid-ā-) ‘know’ or ‘see’, i.e. ‘silverknowing’ (Diakonoff, Neroznak 1985: 93).3
To explain the semantics, Neroznak (Ibid) indicates that a
Lamia in antiquity was a mythological woman-snake and points out
that in folkore snake-like monsters often guard a treasure. 4 The
example given above by Jettmar actually brings to the fore the
meaning of ‘metal’ and a slightly different and more general and
vague signification. Even though his reference is to a golden and not a
silver mane, the same underlying semantics is of ‘metal (shiny,
bright)’. These in-terpretations make the semantic match between
Burushaski and Phrygian exact.
3
There is a tentative indication that Phrygian might have had an initial laryngeal, in a
single Phrygian gloss (h)arman ‘battle’, which Neroznak (1978: 136) relates to OInd
árma-ā-ḥ- ‘destruction, ruins’, from PIE *h2erhx- ‘destroy, fall apart; lose’ : OInd
árdha ‘half, part’ — in IA without -r-, e.g. Pali, Pkrt aḍḍha-, addha-; Lat rārus
‘rare’, Lith ìrti ‘fall apart, dissolve’, PSl *oriti, ‘destroy’ (G 520), Hitt harra‘destroy’ and with ur- in Mcd urne (se) ‘fall down (cliff, stones, building), knock
over; pull down; throw to the ground’ (RMJ III) (M-A 158). Compare with Bur: Ys
do-hór-, Hz Ng do-ór- ‘fall down (cliff, stones, house)’, also d-̇ur- ‘pull down, knock
down, hit the ground’, Ng also ‘ruin, wreck’ (Ys d-̇hor-) (B 308). The Bur verbal
prefix d- is used to form secondary intransitives (B 108) or action directed towards
the speaker (e.g. in verbs like ‘come’, ‘bring’ etc.) (analogous to the semantics of the
Slavic pref. and prep. do- ‘up to, towards the speaker’) < IE *do- (dem. stem). Also Sl
da ‘and; in order to, yes’ and Bur dáa ‘again, and, also, moreover; another, other’ (B
108), and further dakhíl ‘like this, thus’, an alternative form of akhíl ‘same’ (B 110).
For comprehensive analyses of the Burushaski d-prefix, see Tiffou (1993), and esp.
Tikkanen (1999), and Bashir (2004).
4
In Bulgarian folkore, the treasure guarded by the Lamia consists of gold, silver and
gems (Radenković 2001: 330).
10
Ilija Čašule
Note also in Burushaski the plant name 1hargál ‘Convolvulus
arvensis Linn. Ackerwinde’ (B 195), Eng “field bindweed, with
trumpet-shaped white or pale pink flowers and light brown fruit.” It is
most likely that it also contains the same Indo-European stem *h2erĝ‘white’ + a suffix *a-lo.
Phonologically in Burushaski we could have: *hargwitas >
*harguitas > *hargit and by association with the form *hargint- >
hargín. Another derivational possibility for the Burushaski word is
simply from an adjectival form in -en, IE *h2erĝ-h1en- ‘bright, shiny’
[cp. with the IE -en- suffix forming nouns and adjectives (with many
variants) (Wat 23) > Bur nom. and adj. suffix -(e)n: Bur meén ‘old’
(B 285) < IE *meh1(i)- ‘grow’, Bur ġḗn ‘thief’ < ġḗ- Ys ‘steal’ (B
175)].
If we take as a starting point the meaning of ‘silver-knowing’,
then Burushaski hargín can be analysed perhaps as a compound
word: *harg- ‘silver’ + ġen- > hen- ‘know’. The second component
could be derived from IE *ĝen-, *ĝenh3-, *ĝneh3- ‘know, be(come)
acquainted with, perceive’ (M-A 336–337)5, preserved in Burushaski
ġan-́ ‘to appear, seem, be visible’ (B 168) (with semantics as in
TochB and Bret ), Yasin also -ġán- ‘see, viewʼ (with semantics closer
to Greek) and the negated aqhén ‘nothing to look at, insignificant,
unimpressive, inconspicuous’, in Ys also ġên ‘visible’ (B 20). There is
also the neg. akhén- ‘not to know, not to understand’ which is derived
internally from Bur hénas ‘to know, understand’, adj. ‘intelligent,
wise’ (B 196), also adj. akhénas ‘ungrateful’. It appears that in these
examples we are dealing with minor phonetic variation within one and
the same stem. It could be that in hén-, the initial h- is from an older
*hn < *ġn.
For wider mythological connections we refer to Čausidis (2005)
who dedicates an entire chapter on the woman-snake. He finds it
among the Paeonians (an Ancient Balkan people inhabiting
Macedonia, who are considered a population related to the Thracians
5
In Indo-European: OIr ad-gnin- ‘recognises’, Bret neus ‘appearance’, OHG kunnan
‘know, be able to’, Lett zināt ‘know’, OSl znati ‘to know’, Arm caneay ‘knew’, Av
zānāiti ‘knows’, OInd jāná̄ ti ‘knows, recognises, perceives, understands’, Lat
(g)nōsco ‘know’, Gk gignó̄ scō ‘learn, know, perceive, observe’, Alb njoh ‘know’,
Hitt ganēszi ‘recognises’ and especially relevant to the Burushaski semantic
development, TochB nānā ‘appear’ < (‘come to be known’), TochA knānā ‘know’
(M-A 336-7).
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
11
or the Bryges / Phrygians6), the Scythians and the Slavs. From these
Pontic mythologemes he derives the Swiss and Low Saxon legends of
a ‘half-woman, half-serpent’ who guards the treasures hidden in the
caves, called Schlangenjungfrau and weiße Jungfrau. The semantics
of ‘white’ is perhaps relevant to our analysis.
Čausidis, notes moreover the legend of Meluzina in the Middle
Ages (14th century) considered to be of Celtic provenience. The latter
is semantically most interesting for our discussion and semantically
very similar to the Burushaski term, because Meluzina periodically
gets transformed into a half-woman half-snake and in the end into a
flying dragon (Čausidis 2005: 183). Čausidis (2008: 168-169)7 finds
in this regard further Paleobalkanic archaeological evidence from
Macedonia, especially the find in Korešnica where thin silver-plated
scales have been unearthed, possibly part of an armour, which he
considers symbolically related to the zoomorphed women, i.e. to their
snake traits.
Under all three interpretations this unique connection between
Phrygian argwitas ‘dragon’ and Burushaski hargín ‘dragon’ is
semantically direct and specific and phonologically precise.
3. Etymological analysis of Burushaski burí ‘silver’ and IE
*silVbVr- ‘silver’
The Burushaski word for ‘silver’: burí derives by an identical
semantic development as IE *h2erĝ-n̥t-om ‘silver’ from *h2erĝ‘white’, i.e. from Bur burúm ‘white’ (B 64) which we correlate with
IE *bher- ‘bright, shining; brown’, e.g. the suffixed variant form
*bhrū-no-, OEng brūn ‘brown’, OFr brun ‘shining, brown’ (Wat
10), which Pokorny correlates with *bherəĝ- ‘to shine; bright, white’
(IEW 139) (Wat 11). Under one interpretation (Berneker, Vasmer
6
“[The Paeonians] were people that since oldest times settled on the Axius river.
Strabo (q. in KatIčić 1976: 117) describes the Paeonians as Thracians, but in another
passage links them to the Phrygians. The evidence is so scarce and contradictory that
opinions are divided, and some believe they belong to the “Illyrian” complex, others
that they are descendants of the Phrygians of Asia Minor or of Hellenic stock. Katičić
(Ibid: 116–120) outlines the different views.
7
Čausidis (p.c.) has alerted me to another possibility, that of the myth of Kadmos
searching for gold or silver and Harmonia, who is half-serpent, being the one
guarding the treasure, thus ‘silver-knowing’.
12
Ilija Čašule
apud ESSJ III: 42) OChSl bronŭ ‘white, variegated’, Russ bronyj
‘white, variegated’ and TochA parno, TochB perne ‘shining’ are
included in this set. Yasin also has burúl ‘pale, gray, gray beige
colour’ (T-M 1989: 14). Note Zarubin's (1927: 339) example with
final -n: šilan-ce-bərún ‘white-tailed’, which could point to an older
form *burunum. There is an interesting euphemistic use of burúm as
a noun, in the meaning of ‘shroud’, according to Lorimer (LYs 50) to
avoid misfortune or bad luck.
For the possibility that Bur burúm may be ultimately related to
IE *bherəĝ- ‘white’, the Yasin Burushaski form burúxt, berúxt
‘secondary colour, for some brown, for others light blue, beige’
(Tiffou ms. : 52) is very indicative, as it is directly derivable from IE
*bherəĝ-to (bh > b, e > e, ĝ > x (< ġ); cp. with OEng beorht, OHG
beraht ‘bright’ (Wat 11)).
Trubačev (1999: 76) in a chapter devoted to the etymology of
the Indo-European words for ‘silver’ links together the sememes of
‘water’ – ‘silver’ – ‘mirror’. He argues that the hidden etymology
behind the Proto-Slavic, Proto-Baltic and Proto-Germanic names for
‘silver’ and North Caucasian is that of an Indo-Aryan or Old Indian
toponym *śub(h)ri apa ‘bright water’, semantically paralleling the
Armenian, Greek, Latin etc. developments (Trubačev Ibid: 81–82).
It may be that Burushaski can contribute to the long and ongoing discussion of both reconstructed terms for ‘silver’ in Indo-European.
Burushaski burí could actually continue what would be the
second component of the Indo-European word for ‘silver’: *silVbVr: Ibero-Celt śilaPur (/śilabur/) ‘silver’, ON silfr ‘silver’, OEng
seolfor ‘silver, Goth silubr ‘silver’, Lith sidābras ‘silver’, OChSl
sĭrebro ‘silver’ [Hamp (1973: 58) gives as the Proto-Slavic form
*serbro < *sirəbr-] (M-A 518).
The first component *sil- could be correlated with Bur ċhil Hz
Ng, (possibly with the alternation u:i/_r,l) Lei. gives Ng tsil and pl.
siliming and silmitshang. Ys: ċel ‘water; juice, sap’ (B 76). [For the
alternation ċ : ċh : s, see Čašule (2003b: 28–29)]. Berger relates it to
-íl- ‘to soak, immerse’, d-̇sil-, d-̇sili- [NH also d-̇chil- ‘make wet (by
rain, water), water intensively’], (Ys: di-híl-, pl. x du-húlja-, y dihílja-) (B 212). Note further Bur hánċhil also áṅċhil ‘water that flows
from a wound’, as adj. ‘watery’ (ċhil ‘water’) (B 19), the first
component from IE *h2en- ‘to draw liquids, draw water’ (M-A 169)
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
13
(Wat 4 *an-). We can add to this set du-súlġu- ‘become fluid,
watery’, d-ċhúlġu-, d-̇ċhilġu- ‘make watery’ (B 384) and ċhilġúum
‘watery (of soup, etc)’ (B 77).
There is also di-ċhí- NH ‘rain clouds to appear, to gather’ (B
76) and Bur saí NH ‘a small spring’ (B 372) which could be related
and may provide evidence that ċhil is an extended stem, as in IndoEuropean below (possibly with a velar extension: Bur ċak ‘sluice,
sluice-board’) (B 68).
There is a very likely correlation with IE *su̯el-, *sul- ‘to wet,
to moisten; to flow; (as a noun) liquid, moisture’ (in IEW 912–3:
*seu-, *seu̯ə- : sū- ‘juice’, seu-d- in OSax be-sūtian ‘make dirty’,
OIcl sut ‘a worry’, sȳta ‘to mourn’, also with a guttural formant:
*seuk-, *sŭk- and *sūk, *seug-) : Mann 1984-1987: 1334 *sú̄ l
‘liquor, issue, sludge’, 1334–1335 *sulu̯ - ‘fluid; (to flow)ʼ, (BK
U191) e.g. Lith sulà ‘sap’, OPrus sulo ‘curdled milk’, OHG sol ‘mud,
puddle’, OIcl sulla ‘to swill’, OE swillan, swilian ‘to flood with
water so as to wash or rinse, to drink in large quantities’, sol ‘mud,
wet sand’, syl ‘wallowing place, miry place’, sylian ‘to make muddy
or dirty, to pollute’, Skt súrā ‘spiritous liquor, wine’, Av hurā ‘drink’
etc. Most etymologists consider that Alb shi ‘rain’ also belongs here
(see the discussion in Huld 1984:113 and Hamp, apud Huld, who
includes here OPruss soye and TochA swase, TochB swese, all:
‘rain’). M-A (477) propose a stem *suhhx- ‘rain’, which they believe
need not be connected with *seu- ‘to press, juice’. This stem is
considered also within the Nostratic comparisons, although apart from
Indo-European it is only registered in the Kartvelian languages, where
it is found only as an adjectival and verbal form (i.e. ‘wet, moist’, ‘to
wet, to moisten’) and not as a noun. Perhaps Thracian zelas, zilas
‘wine’ (Neroznak 1978: 47) also belongs here.
This etymological analysis could possibly explain the reason
why we have different formants (-d in Baltic, -r in Slavic and -l in
Germanic) in the reflexes of IE *silVbVr-.
We can suggest very tentatively that Burushaski perhaps
provides evidence that IE *silVbVr-‘silver’ may be a compound
noun, consisting of *sul- : *sil- ‘water’ + *bhru- ‘white’, i.e with a
semantics as ‘white [shining] as water’. Similar compounds with ċhil
as the first component are very productive in Burushaski. Note
ċhílbupur ‘pea-sized balls of dough cooked in water, “Spätzle” (B
77), or ċhilphú ‘water and fire’ (‘climate’) (phú ‘fire’, also of IE
14
Ilija Čašule
origin8) or ċhilpéeṣ NH ‘small spring on the hillside’ (B 77) and esp.
Ys ċel-haralt ‘fine cloud’ (lit. ‘water-rain’) (BYS 136). There is also
a verbal form Ys ċéltikin- (L ċertikin-) ‘to mourn (cry after) the
deceased, before putting him in the ground’ (B 137), i.e. ċél-tik-in(tik ‘ground’), literally ‘water-ground-put’. Perhaps most relevant to
our analysis is Ys ċélċer ‘dirty water’ (BYs 136) (lit. ‘water-dirty’)
which would have been opposed to *ċe/il-bur ‘water-white/bright’ >
‘silver’.
Trubačev (1999: 78) states that in Homer we learn that the
“birthplace of silver” was the Pontic town of ’Αλύβη, which Schrader
(1901: 764) derives from *Σαλύβη, which appears to give support to
our reconstruction.
Bearing in mind the strong Phrygian connection with
Burushaski, this analysis might possibly shed more light on the origin
of silver among the Indo-Europeans – possibly Central and Eastern
Anatolia?
4. Note on other Phrygian-Burushaski correspondences
An objection could be raised that the connection between Burushaski
hargín ‘dragon’ and Phrygian argwitas ‘dragon’ even if direct,
semantically precise and strong is an isolated one. This is not at all the
case.
As noted, other related correspondences have been discussed in
Čašule (2004). It is highly significant that in Burushaski there are
three terms correlatable with the Phrygian Great Mother.
We reiterate here the rather close, precise and important link in
the Burushaski kinship term zizí (pl. zizíċaro) ‘Mother! Form of
address used only in the families of the Rajas and (in Nagir) Saiyids.
Foster mothers, being of lower rank, are called “mama”. The
corresponding term to zizí for father is babá (B 27). This term is used
properly only in Royal Families (L 63). Berger points to U bābā.
These terms are said to have come down from the time of Alexander
the Great (Lorimer 1935: II 30.15; 238.6). They are in use in Shina
8
Bur phu ‘fire’ (B 334), phu ét- ‘make a fire’ (B 335), Ys phuréś -̇t- ‘cook; slander’
(BYs 171) from IE *peu̯ōr, *pú̄r ‘fire’, (gen. sg.) *pu-n-és < older *peHu̯- (M-A
201).
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
15
and Khowar and in Balti zizi (B also zi) and bawa (L 391), yet no one
has been able to provide an Indo-Aryan, Dravidian or Tibetan
etymological explanation for zizí.
We have compared Bur zizí with Phrg Zizimene – “The epithet
of Zizimene is frequently used to designate the Great Mother in
various centres of Asia Minor.” (Gasparro 35, also Calder 1912: 72–
74). “In an altar from Sizma, a village of Lycaonia situated near
Iconium and Laodicea, whose four faces bear reliefs representing
deities and inscriptions on side D, we read the dedication Mētri
Zizimmēnē. Ramsay believed it is a dialectal form of Dindymene, in
at least one case the Mother of the Gods is explicitly called
Zizimene.” (For further discussion, see Čašule (2004: 86, ex. 24).
Considering the close correspondence between Phrygian and
Burushaski in the fields of ritual, myth, burial and onomastics and the
use of Burushaski zizí by the Royal Families, this is a correlation with
some merit. If the Burushaski word preserves an ancient “cultic” term
for the Great Mother it could have easily been the ultimate source for
Shina, Khowar and Balti.
The Phrygian epithet for the Great Mother Apa-, dat. sg. Apai
and Appas also Appē indigenous Phrygian names of Late Anatolian
type (Orel 1997: 414) (Zgusta 1964: 73–74) is preserved in the
Burushaski epithet Ápi in Ápi Dadií ‘name of a fairy’ (B 487).
A very important indication that Burushaski ultimately may
belong to the Balkan-Pontic-Asia Minor complex is the preservation
of Phrg kubela ‘horse’, matar kubeleya ‘mother of horses’, also the
name of Cybele 9 , the Phrygian deification of the Earth Mother,
related to Indo-European *kab-, *kabula- ‘horse’, Thrac *kabūla >
Gk kabállēs ‘working horse’, from Thrac > OSl kobyla ‘mare’, and >
Lat caballus ‘gelding, work horse, horse’ and late Lat cabō in glosses
“caballus, caballus magnus, equus castratus”, Gk Hesychius kábēlos
‘castrated’. Buck (1949: 16) considers the Indo-European words to be
certainly loanwords of “ethnic origin” (Anatolian or Balkan), probably
with an original meaning of ‘gelding’.
9
There is a curious, most likely coincidental Burushaski formulaic expression which
may contain the name: qubili manas (only in L 300) ‘to swing’, as explained by
Lorimer “women and children swing during the Nauroz celebration” and qubili gaša
“said by the person on the ground as he pushes the other up on the swing” (? go up to
qubili).
16
Ilija Čašule
Significantly in Burushaski (Ys) we find kabút ‘white horse’
(Tiffou-Morin: 1989: 33) and Hz Ng kabulék ‘roof-posts’ (B 239, q.
K 120), with almost identical development (from *kabuliko), as in
PSl *kobylica (< *kabūlĭko) ‘a pole for carrying loads on the
shoulder’, ‘beam of scales’, ‘trestle’, ‘horse-tree’, ‘saw-horse’, ‘wisp’,
and esp. ‘scaffolding, supporting beams’ (ESSJ X: 98) and PSl
*koby-lŭka ‘pole for carrying loads’ (ESSJ X:100). In this example,
the Burushaski form correlates more closely phonologically with
Thracian and Slavic.
We reconsider briefly some of the other correspondences in
myth, ritual and burial between Burushaski and Phrygian. For
example: Phrg itimbos ‘Bacchic dance’ (Haas 165) : Bur ṭimġúr,
ṭimzál man- ‘to dance well, to show off’ (and ṭimbáao -̇t- ‘to
discharge a gun, let off’ (B 445); Phrg iman ‘cultic substitute,
imitation, image, model’ (Orel 1997: 432) : Bur imán ‘duplicate,
counterpart, equal’ (B 213) < PIE *h2im-, zero-grade of PIE *h2eim‘copy’ (Wat 2) (Orel 432); Phrg bat(an) ‘(part of) religious
monument, (part of tombstone)’ (Orel 419) : Bur bat pl. batéṅ ‘flat
stone (for putting over a water channel, or over a grave’ (B 43) (Will
21), Lorimer (L 73) indicates that 3 or 4 flat thin stones are normally
put over the grave cavity; Phrg goutārion ‘sarcophagus’ (Haas 137,
163) : Bur gúṭas ‘corpse’; Phrg manka ‘gravestone, memorial’ (Orel
443) : Bur man ‘earth platform, sleeping and sitting platforms in
house, (stone) dais; mound over grave’ (B 278) (in Will 85 also: ‘a
cement slab or dirt mound placed over a grave’); Phrg thalámai
‘places consecrated for the cultic practice of the Galli’ [the castrated
priests of Cybele] (Gasparro 1985: 53) : Bur Tálmuśi Bat ‘stone
where the witches cut up their sacrifices’, Tálmuśi Dadií ‘name of a
fairy’ (B 509) etc. (for the complete etymological analysis, see Čašule
2004: 73–86).
Consider from the Phrygian inscriptions dumas, for which
Haas (142) suggests a meaning of ‘(funerary) mound’, whereas
Diakonoff and Neroznak (104) propose ‘village, municipality’. The
Phrygian word is also used in Greek inscriptions in Asia Minor with
the meaning of ‘cult union’. It has been derived from IE *dhō-mo‘pile’, the o-grade suffixed form of IE *dhē- ‘to set, to put’ (Wat 17):
Gk thomós ‘pile’, OIr dam ‘troop’ and with semantic changes in
Goth dōm-s ‘objection, decision’ and OInd dhāman ‘a multitude (of
servants)’ (Neroznak 128) (Orel 425) (IEW 238).
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
17
The Phrygian word can be phonetically and semantically
correlated with Burushaski dúuman ‘pile, heap’ (B 127) (< *dhōmen- ? or *dhōm-an). The Old Indian form dhāman (in Turner 6785:
‘dwelling place’, ‘sucking’) is semantically too removed to have been
the source of the Burushaski word, which keeps the core meaning. It
is important that the IE stem *dhē- is well represented in Burushaski:
note also -̇t- ‘do, make, build’ (B 413) and doók man-́ ‘put, set down,
build’ (B 121) (< IE *dhō-k- ‘do, make, put’) (IEW 235). The
Burushaski verb -̇t- is, as in Phrygian, most significantly also found
with an e- augment as ét-, stable in verbal compounds (B I:19.36) (L
39) (the augment does not occur with other verbs).
Note also the very close correspondences between Burushaski
and Phrygian names:
Phrg Arkiaewais (Orel 415) : Bur Argumaáq (B 486)
Phrg Bakio- (Orel 419) : Bur Bákuċ (B 488)
Phrg Ballion (Arkwright 50) : Bur Balíṣa (Berger segments ? Bali- + U šāh)
(B 488).
Phrg Basa, Basos, Bastos (Petrova 182) : Bur Basúu (B 489)
Phrg Beudos (Orel 420) : Bur Bádi (B 488) (B 492)
Phrg Boras, Boros, Boriskos (Arkwright 51) : Bur Boroṣ (B 490)
Phrg Botíeion (< *Botios) (Arkwright 59) : Bur Bóṭi (B 490)
Phrg /AncMcd Brygos, AncMcd Byrginos (Petrova 182) : Bur Birgáo,
Birgán (B 490)
Phrg Dado, Dadés (Orel 421) : Bur Dadóko, Dadií (B 493)
Phrg Dudes (Petrova 185) : Bur Dúdo (B 494)
Phrg/Gk Ekatēas (Orel 427) : Bur Katis Malčučo (L 430)
Phrg Gaiteas (Drew-Bear 383) : Bur Ġatósiṅ (B 496)
Phrg Kuliyas (Orel 439) : Bur Kulió, Kulí (B 501)
Phrg Lile, Lillia (Hitt Lilli) (Orel 441) : Bur Lilí (B 501)
Phrg Mamas (Zgusta 282–282) : Bur Mamú, Mamúro (B 502)
Phrg Mane, Mani (Orel 443): Bur Máni, Máno (B 502)
Phrg Nana (Orel 447) : Bur Nané Munúno (B 504)
Phrg/Gk Nikōn (Drew-Bear 388) : Bur Níko (B 504)
Phrg Pukros (Orel 455) : Bur Phuġóri (B 32-33)
Gk/Phrg Sīlēnṓs (Liddell-Scott 1598, Chantraine 1003) : Bur Silúm
(B 507)
Phrg Tuti (Hitt Tuttu) (Orel 465) : Bur Túto (B 510)
Phrg Tolos (Orel 464) : Bur Thol (B 510)
For the full and detailed discussion, see Čašule (2004: 88–92).
18
Ilija Čašule
Outside the semantic field of myth and ritual there are many
correspondences between Burushaski and Phrygian. Almost 80% of
the attested Phrygian glosses find correlation with Burushaski and
every third word in the inscriptions is also preserved in Burushaski.
Consider, for example the direct connection between Bur
úrunas ‘morning star, Venus’ (BYs 184) which we derive from IE
*u̯er-2 ‘raise, high place, top, high’ (IEW 1150), and NPhrg oruenos
(from the inscriptions) interpreted as ‘high, elevated’ (Neroznak 1978:
152) Phrg uranios ‘celestial’ (D-N 140), also Gk uránios ‘in the sky,
as high as the sky’ (Diakonoff-Neroznak 1985: 140). From the same
Indo-European stem we have the correspondence between Bur -úri,
Hay uru ‘summit, top, peak, crest, ridge’ (B 66) and the Phrygian
gloss orū ‘upwards, on top’ (Neroznak 1978: 151).
There is also the precise and direct correspondence between the
Phrygian gloss mā ‘Phrygian call to cattle’ (Neroznak 1978: 150)
interpreted as an interjection (prominent and specific to be recorded
by the ancient lexicographers) and the Burushaski interjection máha
‘come! – a call to a horse’ (B 275). Interjections of this type are
generally culture-specific, even if they have an expressive component
(Bashir p.c.).
It is remarkable that both Burushaski and Phrygian being
“kentum” languages should share one “satem” word belonging to the
basic vocabulary. Consider Burushaski -sán ‘chin’ (B 373–374), if
from IE *ĝenu- ‘jaw, chin, cheek’, e.g. Gk geneiás ‘beard, chin,
cheek’, Lat gena ‘cheek’, OInd hánu-s ‘jaw’, Av zānu ‘jaw’, Cymr
gen ‘cheek, chin’, OEng cin(n) ‘chin’ (IEW 381) which corresponds
with Phrygian: azen(wa) ‘jaws’, azenu ‘beard’ (D-N 96). It may be
that this word is a borrowing in both languages.
A rather important identical grammatical element shared with
Phrygian is the Burushaski conjunction ke ‘also, too, and; it also
seems to serve as an emphasising particle’ (...) “ke frequently follows
immediately after indefinite pronouns and indefinite adverbs of time
and place” (i.e. enclitic, same as in Indo-European) (L 231–232) (B
244) from IE *kwe ‘and (enclitic)’ - Phrygian ke ‘and, also, but’, Gk
te, Myc Gk -qe, Goth -h, Arm -k', Hitt -ki ‘and’, Lat que ‘and; generalising particle’, OInd ca, Av ča ‘and’ (IEW 519) (see Čašule
1998: 26).
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
19
In grammar we find an indicative shared development from IE
*mn̥-, *men- ‘remain, stay’ (> ‘be, become’) (IEW 729) : Bur man-10
‘be, become, turn into; become (absolute) > come into existence,
occur, take place; belong to; proceed to, be about to; be necessary to
do s-thing or for s-thing to be done’ (B 278). For the relevance of the
Indo-European middle passive for the understanding of the
development of the Burushaski verbal system note further the very
productive use of Bur verb man-, also used in forming periphrastic
verbal constructions (B 278) in compound verbs, in the sense
‘become’, ‘be’ (or sometimes semantically empty) + another stem,
e.g. hop -mán- ‘be puffed up, (of body parts) swell up suddenly’,
lam, lálam man- ‘shine, burn, light up; to beam’ (B 261), háak man-́
‘help s-one in their work’ (B 184). While this is a widespread pattern
and structure in the languages surrounding Burushaski (Bashir p.c.), it
seems to point also materially to the functions of the IE suffix -menoor -mno- in the passive middle, e.g. Gk epómenos ‘following’ (Phrg
gegrimenos ‘written’ (Diakonoff-Neroznak 1985: 111), which has
also been derived from the same IE *men- ‘remain’ (Szemerényi
1996: 320–321) and is a shared innovation in Greek and Phrygian.
Further examples where the two languages correspond closely
and match up directly within Indo-European include: –Phrg gloss
dáos ‘wolf’ (D-N 101) < IE *dhóhaus ‘+/- wolf’ (M-A 647) and Bur
diuċón, L: diusón pl. diuċóyu ‘hound-like wild animal’ and diú
‘lynx’ (BYs 142). In the Burushaski form there appears to be a
contamination between the expression di ét- ‘to set a hound loose on
s-one’ (B 118) and a nominal form *du(s); –Phrg gloss bambalon
‘penis’ < IE *bhal-bhal < *bhol- ‘swell (spec. of genitalia)’ (N 139)
(M-A 71) and Bur bambulá ‘male’ (B 35); Phrg gloss attagos ‘goat’
(D-N 95) : Bur thugár ‘he-goat’ (B 442), ḍágar ‘wether’ (B 128);
Phrg gloss bedu ‘well(?), spring, jug (?)’ (D-N 98) ‘vessel, spring(?)’
10
Bur man-́ is a very productive verb. Within developments from IE *men- ‘remain,
stay’ (a widespread and old IE stem), semantically the correspondence is direct with
TochAB mäsk- (< *mn̥-sk̂e/o-) ‘be, become’, and further Gk ménō ‘stand fast,
remain; await’, Lat maneō ‘remain’, Arm mnam ‘remain, expect’ and with other
semantic developments OIr ainmne ‘duty’, Wels amynedd ‘duty’ (note above the
Burushaski meaning ‘to be necessary to do s-thing’), also OInd man- ‘delay, stand
still’ and Hitt mimma ‘refuse’, which is a widespread and old stem in IE (M-A 482).
Note here also the earliest Hittite names (XVIII century BC) of the type Harsumnuman ‘of Harsumna’, considered to have the same IE element - in this sense the
possessive meaning in Burushaski (‘belong to’) corresponds very well.
20
Ilija Čašule
(N 139), and Bur baḍalík (also in Sh baḍulík) ‘a small metal bowl
(for drinking from)’ (B 29, who gives for Nager the meaning ‘big
vessel for water’) < *bad-al-ik (both -al and -ik are suffixal
elements); Phrg gloss bagaios ‘crazy, also Phrygian Zeus’ (N 137–
138) : Bur baġálta- ‘to be mad, to go mad’ (B 30) (-lta- is a suffix as
in harált ‘rainʼ from hará- ‘flow, urinate’ (B 192), both possibly from
IE *bhēɡh- : *bhōɡh- ‘to quarrel, dispute’ (> ‘wicked, warlike,
awkward, mischievous’) etc. There is a remarkable semantic and
phonological match between the Phrygian gloss kimeros “νου̃ς”
‘reason; sense, thought, desire, intention, will’ (N 147) and
Burushaski Ys xumár, xumór, Hz Ng qhimóor ‘desire, longing, lust,
appetite’ (B 356) – in both cases a word of unknown origin.
On a concluding note, we believe it is not insignificant that we
have a close and precise correspondence between Phrygian and
Burushaski in the word for “writing” in a form of great antiquity:
We have Bur girmín- ‘to write’, girmínum ‘inscription, i.e.
certificate’ (pp. nikírmin Hz Ng, Ganesh nukírmin) (B 155) (with
the Bur b >/: m change, see Berger 2008: 3.21); for the full
discussion, see Čašule (2004: 71–72). Note the alternation k : g11 .
Morgenstierne (L, I:XXXI) noted the similarity between the
Burushaski verb and the Armenian gri ‘writing’, but dismissed it on
the grounds of the improbability of it being an old borrowing.
The Burushaski verb can be derived from IE *g(w)hrēi- :
w
*g( )hrī- ‘smear, scratch’, and thus cognate with Phrg gegrimenos,
gegrimena ‘written, inscribed’, Arm gream ‘write’, Gk khríō ‘I
write’ (D-N 1985: 111) (Haas 237) or IE *gerbh- ‘to scratch’ : e.g.
Gk graphein ‘to scratch, draw, write’ (Wat 27) (IEW 392: *gerebh-).
Especially interesting is Arom zgîrma, zgrîma, sgrîma ‘to scratch, to
scrape’ believed to originate from the Balkan substratum (Illyes 1988:
237).
11
In both Phrygian and Burushaski there is evidence that points to a
Lautverschiebung in their historical phonology, but this is a topic that cannot be
discussed properly here. In Burushaski, in many cases, voiceless stops are voiced in
the anlaut or have both voiced and voiceless allophones – p- > b-, k- > g-, t- > d-.
See the examples and discussion of this alternation/change in Berger (2008: 3.11),
who treats them as internal variation, and on the historical plane Čašule (2010: 8–10).
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
21
5. Extralinguistic considerations
An objection could be levelled that it would be impossible for the
Phrygians to turn up in North Western Pakistan, so far away from
Asia Minor. If they had been evidenced in the vicinity of today’s
Burushaski speaking areas, the correspondences found would be
accepted more easily. Yet, there is evidence of an eastward migration
of the Phrygians.
Most recently, the eminent Russian archaeologist L. S. Klein
(2007, 2010) has published two major studies on Indo-European
ancient migrations. He devotes an entire chapter (Klein 2007: 108–
120) specifically to the migrations of the Phrygians / Bryges from the
Balkans. On the basis of archaeological evidence, historical sources,
some linguistic aspects and mythical and religious comparisons he
traces their movement from Macedonia and its north via Asia Minor,
Central Asia and most importantly all the way to Swat in NorthWestern Pakistan, very close to the Burushaski speaking areas. He
argues for an early contact between Phrygian and Sanskrit. He notes
that Indian scholars (Kosambi: 1968: 89–90, q. in Klein 116) have
long ago linked Bhrigu, the carrier of fire and the son of the Indian
god Varuna, with the Phrygians. In light of new evidence, Klein
believes these claims should be taken very seriously.
Sidky (1999) suggests a possible later intrusion of the
Phrygians into the Burushaski speaking areas of NW Pakistan. He
provides extralinguistic evidence for the possibility of Phrygian
presence and interaction in the area during the Bactrian kingdom, esp.
in the face of Euthydemus, the king of Bactria, who came from Asia
Minor. As Sidky (1999: 246) points out “men from Thrace, Phrygia
(and elsewhere in Asia Minor) as well as Mesopotamia, were certainly
among those who came to Bactria as colonists during the Hellenistic
period (…) It is conceivable that some of these colonists, or their
descendants, may have found their way to the Hunza valley.”
Genetic studies appear to confirm our findings. In a major
genetic study (Oefner et al. 2013: 841) the authors conclude that all
Burushaski samples (20) in the Y-chromosome microsatellites clusters
group distinctly and consistently with Italian and Russian Y
chromosomes, and not with the Pakistani samples. They cite in some
detail our work on Burushaski and Phrygian indicating that the
genetic make up they have investigated supports directly our
22
Ilija Čašule
conclusions, i.e. that genetically Burushaski fits within North-Western
Indo-European, just as Phrygian.
They also cite Mansoor et al. (2004) which is a previous study
of 113 autosomal microsatellite in extant Pakistani and Greek
populations who concluded “that there was evidence for a
southeastern European contribution to the gene pool of the Burusho
and the Pathan that probably predated the invasion of the Indian
subcontinent in 327-323 BC by Alexander the Great,” (Ibid 839).
6. Conclusions
The unique correspondence within Indo-European between
Burushaski hargín ‘dragon, ogre, which comes into being from an
ordinary snake, when it becomes big and old’, (Sh ‘female snake’) and
Phrygian argwitas ‘dragon, Lamia [mythological woman-snake]’
(from IE *h2erĝ-n̥t-om ‘silver’), is a solid and precise one. The fact
that it is a longer phonological and very specific semantic correlation
rules out chance.
It may also be the case that the Burushaski material provides us
with a possible solution for the etymology of the Indo-European term
for ‘silver’: *silVbVr- may be a compound noun, consisting of IE
*sul- : *sil- ‘water, liquid’ + *bhru- ‘white’, i.e with a semantics as
‘white [shining] as water’, or rather ‘water-white’.
All the numerous correspondences in myth, cult and ritual, in
onomastics (22 personal names) and in basic vocabulary between
Burushaski and Phrygian, many of them unique within IndoEuropean, argue very convincingly for a strong relationship between
the two languages. Not least, Burushaski preserves three terms
associated with the Phrygian supreme goddess, the Great Mother
Kubela. As noted, almost 80% of the attested Phrygian glosses find
correlation with Burushaski and the latter preserves every third word
from the inscriptions.
Whatever the depth of this connection, our comparative analysis
with Phrygian strengthens significantly the position that the
Burushaski language belongs to the North-Western branch of IndoEuropean.
Further comparison of the Phrygian texts with Burushaski will
shed more light on the close relationship between the two languages.
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
23
Abbreviations of languages and dialects
Alb – Albanian, Arm – Armenian, Arom – Aromanian, Av –
Avestan, Balt – Baltic, Bret – Breton, Bur – Burushaski, Celt –
Celtic, Celt-Iber – Ibero-Celtic, Cymr – Cymric, Eng – English, Gk
– Greek, Goth – Gothic, Grm – German, Grmc – Germanic, H –
Hindi, Hitt – Hittite, Hz – Hunza dialect of Burushaski, IA – IndoAryan, IE – Indo-European, IH – Indo-Hittite, Ind – Indian, Ir –
Irish, Irn – Iranian, Itl – Italic, Khw – Khowar, Kshm – Kashmiri,
Lat – Latin, Lett – Lettish, Lith – Lithuanian, Mcd – Macedonian,
Myc Gk – Mycenean Greek, Ng – Nager dialect of Burushaski, NH –
Nasiruddin Hunzai, Berger’s Burushaski informant, NPers – New
Persian, NPhrg – New Phrygian, NWels – New Welsh, OChSl – Old
Church Slavonic, OEng – Old English, OHG – Old High German,
OInd – Old Indian, ON – Old Norse , Panj – Panjābī, Pers –
Persian, Phrg – Phrygian, PSl – Proto-Slavic, Russ – Russian, Sh –
Shina, Skt – Sanskrit, Sl – Slavic, Soghd – Soghdian, Thrac –
Thracian, Toch A, Toch B – Tocharian A, Tocharian B, U – Urdu,
Wels – Welsh, Ys – Yasin dialect of Burushaski.
Abbreviations of sources cited
B = Berger, H. 1998; BYs = Berger, H. 1974; Cunn = Cunningham,
A. 1854; DC = Tiffou, E. and Y.C. Morin. 1989; E-K = Edel’man, D.
I. and G. A. Klimov 1970; G = Gluhak 1993; Hay = Hayward 1871;
IEW = Pokorny, Julius. 1959; Lei = Leitner, 1889; L = Lorimer, D.
L.R. 1938; LYs = Lorimer, D. L.R. 1962; M-A = Mallory, J.P. and
D.Q. Adams (eds.). 1997; RMJ = Rečnik (1961-1966), T = Turner, R.
L. 1966; T-M = Tiffou, E. and Y. C. Morin 1989; T-P = Tiffou, E.
and J. Pesot. 1989; Wat = Watkins, C. 2000; Will = Willson, S. R.
1999; W-I-S = Wodko, D. S., B. Islinger and C. Schneider. 2008.
24
Ilija Čašule
References
Arkwright, W. G. 1918. Lycian and Phrygian names. The Journal of
Hellenic Studies, Vol. 38: 45–73.
Bashir, Elena. 2004. Le préfixe d- en Bourouchaski: deixis et point de
référence. In: Tiffou, É. (ed.) Bourouchaskiana. Bibliothèque
des Cahiers de l'Institut de Linguistique de Louvain. No. 113:
17–62. (French translation of “The d-prefix in Burushaski:
Deixis and Viewpoint” originally presented at the 36th
International Congress of Asian and North African Studies,
Montreal, 2000).
Berger, Hermann. 1974. Das Yasin Burushaski (Werchikwar).
Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz.
——— 1985. Mythologie der Zigeuner. In Haussig, Walter (ed.)
Wörterbuch der Mythologie. Bd. 5: Götter und Mythen des
indischen Subkontinents. Stuttgart: Klett-Cotta: 775–826).
——— 1990. Burushaski in Encyclopaedia Iranica. Ehsan Yarshater
ed. London and New York: Routledge and Kegan Paul. Vol IV:
567–568.
——— 1998. Die Burushaski-Sprache von Hunza und Nager. Teil I.
Grammatik. Teil II. Texte. Teil III. Wörterbuch. BurushaskiDeutsch; Deutsch-Burushaski. Neuindische Studien 13.
Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz Verlag.
——— 2008. Beiträge zur historischen Laut- und Formenlehre des
Burushaski. Neuindische Studien 15. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz
Verlag.
Biddulph, J. 1880/1986. Tribes of the Hindoo Koosh. Calcutta:
Government Printing Office. (Reprinted 1986: Lahore: Ali
Kamran Publishers.)
Bomhard, A., Kerns, I.C. 1994. The Nostratic Macrofamily: A Study
in Distant Linguistic Relationship. New York: Mouton de
Gruyter.
Brixhe, C. and M. Lejeune. 1984. Corpus des inscriptions paléophrygiennes. Paris: Recherche sur les civilisations.
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
25
Buck, C. D. 1949. A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal
Indo-European Languages. Chicago-London: University of
Chicago Press.
Calder, W.M. 1912. Inscriptions d’Iconium. RPhLH XXXVI: 72–74
(in Gasparro 1985).
Čašule, Ilija. 1998. Basic Burushaski Etymologies. (The IndoEuropean and Paleobalkanic Affinities of Burushaski). MunichNewcastle: Lincom Europa.
——— 2003a. Burushaski Names of Body Parts of Indo-European
Origin. Central Asiatic Journal. 47/1: 15–74.
——— 2003b. Evidence for the Indo-European Laryngeals in
Burushaski and Its Genetic Affiliation with Indo-European. The
Journal of Indo-European Studies. 31/1-2: 21–86.
——— 2004. Burushaski-Phrygian Lexical Correspondences in
Ritual, Myth, Burial and Onomastics. Central Asiatic
Journal.48/1: 50–104.
——— 2009a. Burushaski Shepherd Vocabulary of Indo-European
Origin. Acta Orientalia. Vol. 70: 147–195.
——— 2009b. Burushaski Numerals of Indo-European Origin.
Central Asiatic Journal. 53/2: 163–183.
——— 2010. Burushaski as an Indo-European "Kentum" Language:
Reflexes of the Indo-European Gutturals in Burushaski.
Munich: Lincom GmbH.
——— 2012a. Macedonian and South Slavic Lexical Correspondences with Burushaski. Balkanistica. Vol. 25: 221–256.
——— 2012b. Correlation of the Burushaski Pronominal System with
Indo-European and Phonological and Grammatical Evidence
for a Genetic Relationship. The Journal of Indo-European
Studies. Vol. 40, Numbers 1&2, 59–154.
——— 2013. Burushaski kinship terminology of Indo-European
origin. In Owen-Smith, Thomas & Nathan Hill (eds). TransHimalayan Linguistics, Historical and Descriptive Linguistics
of the Himalayan Area. Series: Trends in Linguistics. Studies
26
Ilija Čašule
and Monographs [TiLSM] 266, New York: De Gruyter, 181–
220.
Čausidis, Nikos. 2005. Kosmološki sliki. Simbolizacija i mitologizacija na kosmosot vo likovniot medium. Vol. 1 (text), Vol. 2
(illustrations, catalogue). (Summary: N. Čausidis, Cosmological
Images. Symbolisation and Mythologisation of the Cos-mos in
the Pictorial Medium). Skopje.
——— 2008 [2004-2006]. The Trebenište crater and the myth of
Kadmus and Harmonia. Macedoniae Acta Archaeologica. 19:
157–175.
Chantraine, P. 1974. Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque.
Paris: Klincksieck.
Cunningham, A. 1854. Ladak, Physical, Statistical and Historical:
With Notes on the Surrounding Country. London. [pp 398–418
a short word list].
Diakonoff, I. M., Neroznak, V. P. 1985. Phrygian. New York: Caravan Books Delmar.
Drew-Bear, T., C.M. Thomas, M. Yildizturan. 1999. Phrygian Votive
Steles. Ankara: Ministry of Culture, Museum of Anatolian
Civilizations.
Edel’man, Dž. I. 1997. Burušaski jazyk. In: Volodin, A.P. et al.
Paleoaziatskie jazyki. Series Jazyki mira : 204–220. Rosiijskaja
akademija nauk. Moscow: Indrik. Edel’man, Dž. I., Klimov, G.
A. 1970. Jazyk burušaski. Moscow: Nauka.
Gasparro, Julia Sfameni. 1985. Soteriology and Mystic Aspects in the
Cult of Cybele and Attis. Leiden: E.J. Brill.
Georgiev, V. 1981. Introduction to the History of the Indo-European
Languages. Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences.
Gluhak, Alemko. 1993. Hrvatski etimološki rječnik. Zagreb: A.
Cesarec.
Haas, Otto. 1966. Die phrygischen Sprachdenkmäler. Sofia: Bulgarian
Academy of Sciences.
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
27
Hamp, Eric P. 1973. Lith sidâbras, OCS srĕbro. Baltistica. IX: 1. 57–
58.
——— 1990. The pre-Indo-European language of northern (central)
Europe. In Markey, T. L. and Greppin, J. A. C. (eds). When
Worlds Collide: Indo-Europeans and Pre-Indo-Europeans. Ann
Arbor: Karoma. 291–305.
——— 2013. The expansion of the Indo-European languages: An
Indo-Europeanist’s evolving view. Sino-Platonic Papers.
Number 239.
Hayward, G.W. 1871. Hunza and Nager, and Yassin. Vocabularies.
Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society. Vol. XLI. p.18ff.
Huld, Martin E. 1984. Basic Albanian Etymologies. Columbus:
Slavica.
Illyes, Elemér. 1988. Ethnic Continuity in the Carpatho-Danubian
Area. Eastern European Monographs. CCXIIX. New York:
Columbia University Press.
Jettmar, Karl. 1975. Die Religionen des Hindukusch. Die Religionen
der Menschheit. Bd. 4, 1. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.
Katičić, Radoslav. 1976. Ancient Languages of the Balkans. The
Hague: Mouton.
Klein, Lev S. 2007. Drevnie migracii i proisxoždenie indoevropejskix
narodov. St. Peterburg.
——— 2010. Vremja kentavrov. Stepnaja prarodina grekov i ariev.
Evroazija: St. Peterburg.
Kosambi, D. D. 1965. The Culture and Civilisation of Ancient India in
Historical Outline. London: Routledge and Paul.
Leitner, G. W. 1889. The Hunza and Nagyr Handbook. Pt. 1. Calcutta.
Liddell, H. G. and R. Scott (1968) [1897]. Greek-English Lexicon.
Oxford: Clarendon Press.
Lorimer. D.L.R. 1935. The Burushaski Language. Vol. 1. Introduction
and Grammar with a preface by G. Morgenstierne. Oslo:
Institutet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning. H. Aschehoug
& Co.
28
Ilija Čašule
——— 1938. The Burushaski Language. Vol. 3. Vocabularies and
Index. Oslo: Institutet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning. H.
Aschehoug & Co.
——— 1962. Werchikwar-English Vocabulary. Oslo: Norwegian
Universities Press.
Mallory, J.P., Adams, D.Q. (eds.) 1997. Encyclopedia of IndoEuropean Culture. London - Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn
Publishers.
Mann, Stuart E. 1984-1987. An Indo-European Comparative
Dictionary. Hamburg: Helmut Buske.
Mansoor et al. (2004). Investigation of the Greek ancestry of
populations from northern Pakistan Human Genetics 114: 484–
490.
Morgensteirne, Georg. 1935. Preface to Lorimer (1935 I: vii–xxx).
Neroznak, Vladimir. 1978. Paleobalkanskie jazyki. Moscow: Nauka.
——— 1998. Foreword to Čašule (1998): ix–xiii.
Oefner, Peter J.; Hölzl, Georg; Shen, Peidong; Shpirer, Isaac, Gefek,
Dov; Lavi, Tal; Wolf, Eilon; Cohen, Jonathan; Cinnioglu.
Cengiz; Underhill, Peter A.; Rosenberge, Noah A.; Hochrein,
Jochen; Granka, Julie M.; Hillel, Jossi and Feldman, Marcus W.
2013 Genetics and the history of the Samaritans: Ychromosomal microsatellites and genetic affinity between
Samaritans and Cohanim. Human Biology Open Access PrePrints. Paper 40 : 825–857.
https://web.stanford.edu/group/rosenberglab/papers/OefnerEtAl
2013-HumBiol.pdf
Orel, Vladimir. 1997. The Language of Phrygians. New York:
Caravan Books, Delmar.
Petrova, Eleonora, 1996. The Briges in the Central Balkans: 2nd – 1st
Millenium BC. (Bilingual Macedonian-English edition). Skopje:
Museum of Macedonia.
Radenković, Lj. 2001. Lamja. In Tolstoj, S. M. and Lj. Radenković
(eds.) Slovenska mitologija. Enciklopedijski rečnik. Beograd:
Zepter Book World: 329–331. Rečnik na makedonskiot
Evidence for a Burushaski-Phrygian connection
29
literaturen jazik. (I-III) 1961-1966. Skopje: Institut za
makedonski jazik Krste Misirkov.
Schrader, O. 1901. Reallexikon der indogermanischen Altertumskunde. Strassburg.
Sidky, Homayun. 1999. Alexander the Great, the Graeco-Bactrians,
and Hunza: Greek descents in Central Asia. Central Asiatic
Journal 43/2: 232–248.
Steblin-Kamenskij, Ivan. M. 1999. Etimologičeskij slovar’vaxanskogo
jazyka. St Petersburg: Peterburgskoe Vostokovedenie.
Steingass, Francis Joseph. 1999 [1892]. A Comprehensive PersianEnglish Dictionary,[orig. edition: London: Routledge & K.
Paul], reprint: Lahore: Sang-e-Meel Publications.
Szemerényi, O.J.L. 1996. Introduction to Indo-European Linguistics.
Oxford: University Press.
Tiffou, Étienne and Yves-Charles Morin. 1993. Le Préfix d- en
bourouchaski du Yasin. In Crochetière, André et al. (eds.).
Endangered Languages. Proceedings of the XVth International
Congress of Linguists, Quebec, Université Laval, 9-14 August
1992. Sainte-Foy, Canada: PU Laval.
Tiffou, É., Morin, Y.C. 1989. Dictionnaire complèmentaire du
Bourouchaski du Yasin. AMI 17. SELAF 304. Paris:
PEETERS/SELAF.
Tiffou, É, Pesot, J. 1989b. Contes du Yasin. (Introduction au
bourouchaski du Yasin avec grammaire et dictionnaire
analytique). Paris: PEETERS/SELAF.
Tiffou, É. (manuscript) Yasin Burushaski-French dictionary.
Tikkanen, Bertil.1999. Concerning the Typology of Burushaski and
the Roots of Its Prefixes d- and n-. Studia Orientalia 85: 277–
300.
Trubačev, Oleg N. 1974-. Etimologičeskij slovar’ slavjanskix jazykov.
Moskva: Nauka.
30
Ilija Čašule
——— 1999. INDOARICA v Severnom Pričernomorie. (Rekonstrukcija reliktov jazyka; Etymologičeskij slovar’). Moskva:
Nauka.
Watkins, Calvert. 2000. The American Heritage Dictionary of IndoEuropean Roots. (2nd edition). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
Willson, Stephen, R. 1999. Basic Burushaski Vocabulary. Studies in
Languages of Northern Pakistan, Vol. 6. Islamabad: National
Institute of Pakistan Studies/Summer Institute of Linguistics.
Zarubin, I. 1927. Veršikskoe narečie kandžutskogo jazyka. Kollegija
vostokovedov. Zapiski 2: 275–364.
Zgusta, L. 1964. Kleinasiatische Personennamen. Prague.
Zoller, Claus Peter. 2010. Aspects of the Early History of Romani.
Acta Orientalia 71: 49–83.