A fall into the pit: remarks on Tocharian B koṣko, koṣkīye

Bernard, C.B.A.S.; Chen, R.

doi:doi:10.1163/15728536-06501001

Persistent URL of this record https://hdl.handle.net/1887/3455695

View statistics

In Collections

This item can be found in the following collections:

Centre for Linguistics (LUCL)

Bernard, C.B.A.S.; Chen, R. (2022)

A fall into the pit: remarks on Tocharian B koṣko, koṣkīye

Article / Letter to editor

This paper argues that Tocharian B koṣko, koṣkīye does not mean ‘hut’, as was taken for granted, but ‘pit, hole’; and that it is not an inherited Indo-European word, but an Iranian loanword in Tocharian B. Although the possibility of a borrowing from an unknown Middle Iranian language cannot be excluded, an unattested (Pre-)Bactrian form *kōškā is demonstrated to be the most likely source of this loanword.

Tocharian studies

Iranian studies

Language contact