Publisher: Prods Oktor Skjservo
Date: 2003
Pages: 312
Learn Avestan in 20 lessons.
"This Introduction may be distributed freely as a service to teachers of Old Iranian, but please be sure to include this page. In my experience, this course can be taught as a two-term full (indivisible) course at 2 hrslw or (at a squeak) as a one-term full course at 3 hrslw. Ideally, a three-term course is recommendable, followed by 'one year of Old Avestan. The introduction and much of the general information included in the first lessons are intended for reference and should not be expected to be learned in their entirety at once. No section with complete paradigms is included, but the students should be encouraged to compile their own as the forms are introduced. An effort has been made to chose the same examples, but Avestan morphology is notoriously lacunary. Jackson's grammar is recommended for comparison with Sanskrit. Hoffmann and Forssman's grammar should be consulted for relatively up-to-date information and bibliography for individual phenomena. The Biblio, Intro, and additional commentaries on the texts are still being worked on."
Important Notice: I have not made myself personal thoughts on everything in the book, and much is traditional wisdom, without my necessarily subscribing to it; also, some of what deviates from the traditional wisdom reflects only provisional ideas. I therefore appeal to users not to cite anything in print without the my permission.