Hi all, I need some help!
- Why is Avestan mutually intelligible with Sanskrit, instead of other Iranian languages like Old Scythian, Old Persian and Old Median?
- All extinct East Iranian languages (like Avestan, Bactrian and Chorasmian) are classified as "Northeastern Iranian". However, the living East Iranian languages in the region (Pashto and Pamiri languages) are classified as "Southeastern Iranian". From which old language do the modern "Southeastern Iranian" derive?
- At what location did Proto-Indo-Iranian develop into Old Iranian, Old Nuristani and Old Indo-Aryan?
- Is the language isolate Burushaski related to other non-Indo-European languages spoken by caucasoid people, eg. Caucasian languages and Basque?
- Since Tocharians carried the haplogoup R1a (see "Tarim mummies" on wikipedia), it makes them related to Satem speakers (like Indo-Iranians and Slavics); as opposed to Centum speakers (like Germanics, Celtics and Italics) who carry the haplogroup R1b instead. Then why did Tocharians speak a Centum language?
(Tocharians spoke Tocharian originally which is considered Centum, and adopted Bactrian later during the Kushan Empire.)