Introduction to Avestan - Paperback

by Michiel de Vaan (Author), Javier Martínez García (Author)

This Introduction to Avestan provides a concise grammar of the Avestan language, the language of the followers of the Iranian prophet Zarathustra. The grammar focuses on spelling, phonology and morphology, but also includes a chapter on syntax. Abundant information on the historical development of the language is included, which renders the grammar very useful for students of Indo-Iranian and Indo-European. Also, a small number of selected Avestan texts is added, with a complete glossary, so that students can practise reading Avestan.

Author Biography

Michiel de Vaan, Ph.D. (2002), is Associate Professor of Comparative Indo-European Linguistics at Leiden University (The Netherlands). His publications include The Avestan Vowels and Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages (2008).

Javier Martínez, Ph.D. (1994), is Professor of Greek Linguistics at the University of Oviedo (Spain). He has published widely on Indo-Iranian and Ancient Greek, and has been editor of three different volumes concerning Forgery in Classical Literature.