Re: CHAT: Scythes and Scythians (was: Re: CHAT: Re: Japanese English)

On Sat, 25 Mar 2000 10:52:59 PST, wayne chevrier <wachevrier@...>
wrote:

>>From: And Rosta <a.rosta@...>
>>
>>
>>Roger Mills:
>> > AFAIK there is almost no record of the Scythian language-- perhaps a
few
>> > scattered words in Greek sources. They may or may not have been IE,
>>Turkic,
>> > who knows?
>>
>>Are they not considered Iranian? My books are always in a different home
>>from my weekend PC, so I can't check. Oh hang on: I do have Mallory's
>>_In search of the IEans_ handy, and he says they're Iranian, though a
>>cursory glance through the text doesn't reveal to me the relevant
>>authorities or reasons for that identification.
>>
>>--And.
>
>According to a book I am reading, the Scythians and Sarmatians spoke
>a North-Eastern Iranian language, and that its closest living relative
>is Ossetian, spoken in Caucasia just north of Georgia (although an
>extinct dialect, Jassic, was spoken in Hungary during the Middle
>Ages).
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It seems that there is a considerable number of short inscriptions (in
Greek alphabet). I sort of recall them being adduced while discussing
the origin of Ossetians.

Ossetians are believed to be the direct descendants of Alans - the part
of them that rested near Caucasus instead of crossing the entire Europe.
Some inscriptions in their language have preserved in North Caucasus, but
I don't know if the language of those Alans who reached Spain is attested
at all.


Basilius