Pahlavi Language: Script, Phonology and Grammar
This domain tests Middle Persian as written in Pahlavi scripts, especially Book Pahlavi. Expect questions on script ambiguity, heterograms, sound values, and the analytic grammar of Middle Persian.
Script and phonology
- Pahlavi is written right-to-left in Aramaic-derived scripts; Book Pahlavi is cursive and has few distinct letter shapes, so several sounds share one graph.
- Vowels are often omitted or ambiguous; the reader must use context and known spellings.
- Huzvarishn are Aramaic heterograms written in the text but read as Middle Persian words.
Grammar
Middle Persian is analytic: Old Iranian case endings are largely lost, and relationships are shown by prepositions, postpositions, and the ezafe linker ī. Plural endings include -ān; abstract nouns often use -īh. Verb forms mark person and number, with past stems and auxiliary constructions.
Worked example
In Book Pahlavi, MLKʾ is an Aramaic heterogram written for 'king' but read šāh. Thus MLKʾ ī MLKʾān is read šāh ī šāhān, 'King of Kings'. Reasoning: MLKʾ is not pronounced malkā in reading; ī is the ezafe linker; -ān marks the plural in šāhān.
Traps
Do not read heterograms with their Aramaic pronunciation; do not expect full vowel pointing; do not confuse Book Pahlavi with Avestan script; and do not impose Old Iranian case endings on Middle Persian forms.