Inscriptions on the Monuments of the Achcemenides. 271 
THE OLD PERSIAN LANGUAGE. 
We have now translated all the inscriptions of the Achaemenides 
which have been discovered. Before closing this work I wish to speak 
a word for the Old Persian language. Not only the historian feels an 
interest in reading the records written by the monarchs of one of the 
greatest empires of past ages, but the philologist recognizes in the 
speech, which has been preserved to us through the ambition of these 
oriental despots another offspring of our mother-tongue. Of that great 
sisterhood of languages, to which our own speech belongs, the Old Per¬ 
sian is a most ancient member. In its grammatical structure it most 
closely resembles the Vedic dialect of the Sanskrit and we have to rely 
almost entirely upon the combined help of the Sanskrit and Zend for an 
understanding of its vocabulary. For the sake of illustration I add a 
few Old Persian words with their cognates in the other members of our 
family. 
Old Persian. Sanskrit. 
Zend. 
Greek. 
Latin. 
Gothic. 
English. 
AITA. 
ETAT. 
AETAD. 
To. 
ISTE. 
TPIA. 
THE. 
UPARIY. 
UPARI. 
UPARA. 
V7t£f). 
super. 
UFAR. 
OVER. 
TUVM. 
TVAM. 
THWAM. 
6v (tv)- 
TU. 
THOU. 
GAM. 
GAM. 
GAM. 
VENIO. 
QUAM. 
COME. 
PITAR. 
PITAR. 
PITA. 
7taTT}p. 
PATER. 
FADAR. 
FATHER 
In its phonetic system the Old Persian showed a striking analogy to 
that of the Greek in allowing an original sibilant to pass over into the 
aspiration, e. g. ah be for Skt. as.; so in Greek 6 and rj for Skt. sas and 
SA. 
A few peculiar points of syntax I shall note.* The nominative is some¬ 
times used apparently as the direct object of a verb. The instrumental 
assumes a temporal sense by denoting the association of time with an 
event. The dative has disappeared from the language and its place is 
taken by the genitive. This datival genitive is simply a pregnant use of 
the possessive genitive and occurs likewise in the Prakrit and late San¬ 
skrit. e. g. khshatram mana frabara, he gave the kingdom to me (made 
* For a fuller discussion of the peculiarities of Old Persian syntax, cp. my article in the 
Proceedings of the Oriental Society (1892) p. 100. 
