OLD PERSIAN. The ancient Iranian lan guage of Persia. its entire granmmtieal struc ture is closely akin to Avesta (q.v.). The in adequaey of the alphabet in which it is written (see turrioNs) and the ness of the remnant, of the language, however, prevent a complete knowledge either of its pho nology or It. principal phonologi cal characteristics are as follows: Itlo.Germanie r is represented by or, as Skt. krt a, 'deed.' Old Pers. karto: Indo-Germanic nasalized vowel, lose their nasalization, at least in the script, a. Skt.
11.4a , I said.' Old Pers. (Oa ha in ; (Tent lictic u developed bI'twcett (1 and 1', 11111.1 hetWPC11 y and (I, as Skt. Ill'el'iV ()ill Pers. Av. Su-; /1 et, 'Soghlnna,' Old Pers.
gild , Sion,' ; Indo-4lerniauie heroines lir, as Skt. p n I , 'non,' Old Pers. p br a ; 1 balo-G er nie written i11, Ire :1141•1' ('llllslIl:Whs, as Skt. yarn, 'if,' 0111 l'erss gad; y, Ski, /lmlut(, 'let him Old Per.. domsaturu Indo-Oertnanic ti becomes 5, as Skt. tortyn, 'man.' (111(1 l'ers. IndlMlerinanie final 1 and 41, the only final eui•ollatts remaining in Iranian. are lost in Ohl Persian, as Skt. 1, bore,' Ohl Pers. a ba ra, but Av, ha ra : 1ndrnOctmaolr s is lost, at least in the script, before r, and m , as Skt.
, 'rich in horses,' Old Pers. oru.spo, Skt.
'I am,' old Per,. (I Mill, 'river.' ((III I'-rs. room: Iranian s and 7 become t) and d before vowels and r, as Av. sura?lo, 'sort,' Old Pers, II 11(.110 . sri ?mom , 'I restore.' Old n tia (I ea int . re,..iored.' The inflection, so far as it can be revonstructed, does cant ly from .1vesta. except that the imperfect tense of the Old Peisian ?erb invariably ha. the augment which is usually laek.ing in .1vesta, tild odoobl, 'he gave,' Av. dot/iit. The at which has been made by vertain .4•1101;11.-; to ploy,• the f\xistenee of various dialeels in the extant Old Pctsian can scarcely be regarded as sueee.sful.
The Old rceords. apart front glosses and moper c'mtiNi'.t of a number of form inseript ions carved by the .1chamienian Kings ('? rus. Darin. l., Nerxes I.. .11.taxprxe, I.. .1rta \crxes Ilnenum. and Artaxerxes ()elms. These inscriptions arc eltielly at Belli-Ann, Naks i 11listam. Elvand, Van. Susa. and Suez. (If them by for the most important are the live tablets. amounting to •11t1 lines, and a few minor texts, carved by order of Darius 1. on the mountain-side at Behistun (q.v.). Here the king relates his history in a dignified tone. Nvhieli in the fourth tablet rises to some degree of literary merit. Next in impor tance is the inscription of Darius at Naks-i-E.us tam (see PEnsEifoi.is) in sixty lines, conspicuous for its stylistie merit, and two briefer texts, of 34 lines each, of the same king at Persepolis.
The texts of Xerxes and the three .1rtaxerxe.es are little more than replicas of the minor tablet.; of Darius. hi the latest inscriptions, espeeially in the single one of ..1rtaxerxes Alitenion, set up by him at Susi), a decay in grammar seems evi dent. The style of the Old Persian inseriptions, which shows marhed traces of literary influence from the Assyrollabylouian tablets, is simple narrative. and in general the meaning of the words is tolerably certain. There are, however.
a number of where the lonian and New Susian version, carved side by side with the Persian inscription of Behistun give no help. This Babylonian translation is, unfortunately, very fragmentary, while the New f-iusian, interpreted only by identifying words in it which correspond to known Old Persian terms, is not a safe guide in doubtful passages. There are a number of gaps in the 1)1(1 Persian inscriptions, and the reading of several words is ma yet determined. it is almost certain that there are other Old Per.ian inscriptions which not yet hoot discovered, and when found may give a .olution of at least sotne of the priiblems which now beset the interpretation of these texts.
Rawlinson, Persian t'inteif.irin Inscription at Behistun." in .I (Junin I of the le °yid t lc Noe iCiy, OM Series, Vols.. N., NI. London, IS Ili-19 ) Beilley, (Leipzig, IS-171 Oppert, "Alemoire sue les in scriptions achemenilles concues dans Pidionte des nucleus Perses." in dour/mil „Iyia blur, fourth ser ies, vols. Nvii.-xix. ( Paris. : I:ossowieZ., /else/qv/Mous Pala o- Prr,irit. .1 a Wars( m faint Petersburg. 1872 ; Spiegel. Jule allper siseh ci I iaschri to.41 (241 e (1 Leipzig 18S1) ; Tolman, tiranllorr of the Ohl P1 ..Sinn 1.angHage the I tisrri pt ions 1S!131: id.. (I11idr' to the old r.sinn I nscri pt ions York, 189:3i ; and llang. Die t rsi.Ych( n rili nsch ri f ten ( Leipzig. 1 893 I I I ilsing, Die ra it 'schen Ei yen (Ill ll:( 11 ill dell I rho, 111C11 idelli 44- b ri f to•lt (Norden , ; Spiegel, l'erylcirliende 0 m m(i ik der all i ranisrlicn .N'pn.11eben 18'12); Ii:u•tholonute. I/am/bitch der all ira n tr 1 Sti3 : id.. "A west iselt und AltpersiseIC and Wl'issbacbs "Itie allper .iselten in Geiger and 1:ultn. tirand riss isrlo 1 '14 i 1 olo pa it 18951903) : izzi minati ea etc men t re dell' 0 a Chitin 1s97 ga " si.-eben (:lossen der in his Ilr.cIl(nuu!! .1 bimadianyea I Leipzig. 1 SM1 : .hist i, /tiro• oischrs l wool/me/I (Nlarburg. 1895).