The Oldest Attested Pāzand in the Bundahišn Text of the Munich Manuscript M51 An Orthographic and Phonological Analysis

Abstract

The present work constitutes the first complete description of a previously neglected type of Pāzand found in several passages of the Bundahišn text as contained in the Munich manuscript M51. The orthographic and phonological analysis presented here focuses on the Pāzand version of chapter 13 on animals, the longest specimen at our disposal. After a systematic description of the pāzandization system, a comparison with the already known pāzandization techniques (based mainly on the manuscripts L19 and M63) is conducted, with a view to defining the distinguishing features of the two systems. In the analysis, the importance of the BundahišnPāzand for the manuscript tradition of the Bundahišn and for the transmission of Zoroastrian writings in general is outlined.