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Tocharian

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English

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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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From Latin Tocharī + -ian, the first element deriving from Ancient Greek Τόχαροι (Tókharoi, “Tochari/Tukharas (an ancient people of Bactria)”), plural of Τόχαρος (Tókharos), probably from an Indo-Iranian source (Old Persian [script needed] (tuxāri-), Khotanese [script needed] (ttahvāra)); compare Sanskrit तुखार (tukhāra).

When manuscripts in an unknown Indo-European language were discovered in the early 20th century in the Tarim Basin, scholars linked them to the Tochari/Tukharas mentioned in ancient sources. As a result, the language was called "Tocharian". However, most scholars now believe this identification was incorrect.

Pronunciation

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Adjective

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Tocharian

  1. (original sense) Of or relating to the Tochari (people of Bactria).
    • 1871, Alexander Cunningham, Archæological Survey of India, volume 2, Shimla, page 67:
      We have now come to one of the great names in ancient Indian history, that of the Indo-Scythian prince Kanishka, whose conversion to the faith of Sâkya Muni gave a sudden impulse to the propagation of Buddhism, which rapidly spread its doctrines to the utmost bounds of the Tocharian dominion.
    • 1890, D. O. Kellogg, editor, The Encyclopædia Britannica‎[1], Index, Philadelphia: J. M. Stoddart Co., page 689:
      Hyrcanian and Tocharian independence, b 613–4, b 619
  2. [from 20th c.] Of or pertaining to the Tocharian languages or the Tocharians of the Tarim Basin.

Translations

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Noun

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Tocharian (plural Tocharians)

  2. (original sense) Any member of the Tochari, a people who inhabited Bactria.
    Synonyms: Tokhar, Tukhar, Tukhara
    • 1634, C. Plinius Secundus, The Historie of the World, volume 1, page 124:
      Beyond the Attaci or Attacores, the Thyrians and Tocharians do inhabit; yea, and the Caſirians, who now by this time belong to the Indians, & are a part of them.
    • 1871, H. Kern, “The Bṛhat-Saṅhitâ; or, Complete System of Natural Astrology of Varâha-mihira.”, in Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, page 232:
      The Moon presides over: […] Tocharians, […]
    • 1957, Osbert Guy Stanhope Crawford, editor, Antiquity‎[2], volumes 31–32, page 137:
      Meanwhile Bactria submitted to the Tochari of Western writers (Sanskrit, Tukhāra). They have been sometimes supposed to have been a branch of the Turkish tribes, while the Hiung-nu have been seen as Mongols, the forerunners of the Hūnas and Chionites. It was a section of the Tocharians who later followed the Greeks across the Hindu-kush and created the great Kushan empire in North India.
  4. [from 20th c.] Any member of a people who inhabited the Tarim Basin and spoke the so-called Tocharian languages.
    Hyponyms: Agnean, Kuchean

Usage notes

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  • The application of the name Tocharian to the Tarim Basin peoples is modern and is not securely connected to the classical Tochari.

Translations

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Proper noun

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Tocharian

  1. (linguistics) An extinct branch of the Indo-European language family, consisting of two languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, written in an abugida derived from Brahmi. [from 20th c.]
    Hyponyms: Agnean, Kuchean, Proto-Tocharian, Tocharian A, Tocharian B

Derived terms

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Translations

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Anagrams

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