Editing Tocharian languages (section)

==Morphology==

===Nouns===
Tocharian has completely re-worked the [[declension|nominal declension]] system of Proto-Indo-European.{{sfnp|Beekes|1995|p=92}} The only cases inherited from the proto-language are nominative, genitive, [[accusative case|accusative]], and (in Tocharian B only) vocative; in Tocharian the old accusative is known as the ''oblique'' case. In addition to these primary cases, however, each Tocharian language has six cases formed by the addition of an invariant suffix to the oblique case — although the set of six cases is not the same in each language, and the suffixes are largely non-cognate. For example, the Tocharian word ''{{IAST|yakwe}}'' (Toch B), ''{{IAST|yuk}}'' (Toch A) "horse" < PIE ''*eḱwos'' is declined as follows:<ref name="Tocharian Online" />

{| class=wikitable
|-
! rowspan=2|[[Grammatical case|Case]]
! colspan=3|Tocharian B
! colspan=3|Tocharian A
|-
! [[Suffix]]
! [[Grammatical number|Singular]]
! [[Plural]]
! [[Suffix]]
! [[Grammatical number|Singular]]
! [[Plural]]
|-
| [[nominative case|Nominative]]
| —
| {{IAST|yakwe}}
| {{IAST|yakwi}}
| —
| {{IAST|yuk}}
| {{IAST|yukañ}}
|-
| [[vocative case|Vocative]]
| —
| {{IAST|yakwa}}
| —
| —
| —
| —
|-
| [[genitive case|Genitive]]
| —
| {{IAST|yäkwentse}}
| {{IAST|yäkweṃtsi}}
| —
| {{IAST|yukes}}
| {{IAST|yukāśśi}}
|-
| [[oblique case|Oblique]]
| —
| {{IAST|yakwe}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃ}}
| —
| {{IAST|yuk}}
| {{IAST|yukas}}
|-
| [[instrumental case|Instrumental]]
| —
| —
| —
| -yo
| {{IAST|yukyo}}
| {{IAST|yukasyo}}
|-
| [[Perlative case|Perlative]]
| -sa
| {{IAST|yakwesa}}
| {{IAST|yakwentsa}}
| -ā
| {{IAST|yukā}}
| {{IAST|yukasā}}
|-
| [[comitative case|Comitative]]
| -mpa
| {{IAST|yakwempa}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃmpa}}
| -aśśäl
| {{IAST|yukaśśäl}}
| {{IAST|yukasaśśäl}}
|-
| [[allative case|Allative]]
| -ś(c)
| {{IAST|yakweś(c)}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃś(c)}}
| -ac
| {{IAST|yukac}}
| {{IAST|yukasac}}
|-
| [[ablative case|Ablative]]
| {{IAST|-meṃ}}
| {{IAST|yakwemeṃ}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃmeṃ}}
| {{IAST|-äṣ}}
| {{IAST|yukäṣ}}
| {{IAST|yukasäṣ}}
|-
| [[locative case|Locative]]
| {{IAST|-ne}}
| {{IAST|yakwene}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃne}}
| {{IAST|-aṃ}}
| {{IAST|yukaṃ}}
| {{IAST|yukasaṃ}}
|-
| [[causative case|Causative]]
| {{IAST|-ñ}}
| {{IAST|yakweñ}}
| {{IAST|yakweṃñ}}
| —
| —
| —
|}

The Tocharian A instrumental case rarely occurs with humans.

When referring to humans, the oblique singular of most adjectives and of some nouns is marked in both varieties by an ending ''-(a)ṃ'', which also appears in the secondary cases. An example is ''{{IAST|eṅkwe}}'' (Toch B), ''{{IAST|oṅk}}'' (Toch A) "man", which belongs to the same declension as above, but has oblique singular ''{{IAST|eṅkweṃ}}'' (Toch B), ''{{IAST|oṅkaṃ}}'' (Toch A), and corresponding oblique stems ''{{IAST|eṅkweṃ-}}'' (Toch B), ''{{IAST|oṅkn-}}'' (Toch A) for the secondary cases. This is thought to stem from the generalization of ''n''-stem adjectives as an indication of determinative semantics, seen most prominently in the weak adjective declension in the [[Germanic languages]] (where it cooccurs with definite articles and determiners), but also in Latin and Greek ''n''-stem nouns (especially proper names) formed from adjectives, e.g. Latin ''Catō'' (genitive ''Catōnis'') literally "the sly one" < ''catus'' "sly",<ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=A Latin Dictionary |date=1879 |first1=Charlton T. |last1=Lewis |first2=Charles |last2=Short |title=Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, Căto |publisher=Clarendon Press |via=the [[Perseus Project]] |entry=Cato |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3DCato |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507004317/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aentry%3DCato |archive-date=2022-05-07 }}</ref><ref>{{cite dictionary |dictionary=A Latin Dictionary |date=1879 |first1=Charlton T. |last1=Lewis |first2=Charles |last2=Short |title=Charlton T. Lewis, Charles Short, A Latin Dictionary, C , cătillātĭo , cătus |publisher=Clarendon Press |via=the [[Perseus Project]] |entry=catus |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D25%3Aentry%3Dcatus1 |archive-date=2022-05-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220507004733/https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0059%3Aalphabetic+letter%3DC%3Aentry+group%3D25%3Aentry%3Dcatus1}}</ref> Greek ''Plátōn'' literally "the broad-shouldered one" < ''platús'' "broad".<ref name="Tocharian Online" />

===Verbs===
[[File:龜茲國 Qiuci Kucha in Wanghuitu 王会图, circa 650 CE.jpg|thumb|upright|Ambassador from [[Kucha]] ({{lang|zh|龜茲國}} ''Qiuci-guo'') at the Chinese [[Tang dynasty]] court. ''[[Wanghuitu]]'' ({{lang|zh|王会图}}), circa 650 AD]]
In contrast, the [[grammatical conjugation|verbal conjugation]] system is quite conservative.{{sfnp|Beekes|1995|p=20}} The majority of Proto-Indo-European verbal classes and categories are represented in some manner in Tocharian, although not necessarily with the same function.<ref>Douglas Q. Adams, "On the Development of the Tocharian Verbal System", ''Journal of the American Oriental Society'', Vol. 98, No. 3 (Jul. – Sep., 1978), pp. 277–288.</ref> Some examples: athematic and thematic present tenses, including null-, ''-y-'', ''-sḱ-'', ''-s-'', ''-n-'' and ''-nH-'' suffixes as well as ''n''-infixes and various laryngeal-ending stems; ''o''-grade and possibly lengthened-grade perfects (although lacking reduplication or augment); sigmatic, reduplicated, thematic, and possibly lengthened-grade aorists; optatives; imperatives; and possibly PIE subjunctives.

In addition, most PIE sets of endings are found in some form in Tocharian (although with significant innovations), including thematic and athematic endings, primary (non-past) and secondary (past) endings, active and mediopassive endings, and perfect endings. Dual endings are still found, although they are rarely attested and generally restricted to the third person. The mediopassive still reflects the distinction between primary ''-r'' and secondary ''-i'', effaced in most Indo-European languages. Both root and suffix ablaut is still well-represented, although again with significant innovations.

====Categories====
Tocharian verbs are conjugated in the following categories:<ref name="Tocharian Online" />
*Mood: indicative, subjunctive, optative, imperative.
*Tense/aspect (in the indicative only): present, preterite, imperfect.
*Voice: active, mediopassive, deponent.
*Person: 1st, 2nd, 3rd.
*Number: singular, dual, plural.
*Causation: basic, causative.
*Non-finite: active participle, mediopassive participle, present gerundive, subjunctive gerundive.

====Classes====
A given verb belongs to one of a large number of classes, according to its conjugation. As in [[Sanskrit]], [[Ancient Greek]], and (to a lesser extent) [[Latin]], there are independent sets of classes in the indicative present, [[subjunctive]], [[perfect (grammar)|perfect]], imperative, and to a limited extent [[optative]] and [[imperfect]], and there is no general correspondence among the different sets of classes, meaning that each verb must be specified using a number of [[principal parts]].

=====Present indicative=====
The most complex system is the present indicative, consisting of 12 classes, 8 thematic and 4 athematic, with distinct sets of thematic and athematic endings. The following classes occur in Tocharian B (some are missing in Tocharian A):
*I: Athematic without suffix < PIE root athematic.
*II: Thematic without suffix < PIE root thematic.
*III: Thematic with PToch suffix ''*-ë-''. [[Mediopassive]] only. Apparently reflecting consistent PIE ''o'' theme rather than the normal alternating ''o/e'' theme.
*IV: Thematic with PToch suffix ''*-ɔ-''. Mediopassive only. Same PIE origin as previous class, but diverging within Proto-Tocharian.
*V: Athematic with PToch suffix ''*-ā-'', likely from either PIE verbs ending in a syllabic laryngeal or PIE derived verbs in ''*-eh₂-'' (but extended to other verbs).
*VI: Athematic with PToch suffix ''*-nā-'', from PIE verbs in ''*-nH-''.
*VII: Athematic with infixed nasal, from PIE infixed nasal verbs.
*VIII: Thematic with suffix ''-s-'', possibly from PIE ''-sḱ-''?
*IX: Thematic with suffix ''-sk-'' < PIE ''-sḱ-''.
*X: Thematic with PToch suffix ''*-näsk/nāsk-'' (evidently a combination of classes VI and IX).
*XI: Thematic in PToch suffix ''*-säsk-'' (evidently a combination of classes VIII and IX).
*XII: Thematic with PToch suffix ''*-(ä)ññ-'' < either PIE ''*-n-y-'' (denominative to n-stem nouns) or PIE ''*-nH-y-'' (deverbative from PIE ''*-nH-'' verbs).

[[Palatalization (phonetics)|Palatalization]] of the final root [[consonant]] occurs in the 2nd singular, 3rd singular, 3rd dual and 2nd plural in thematic classes II and VIII-XII as a result of the original PIE thematic vowel ''e''.

=====Subjunctive=====
The [[subjunctive]] likewise has 12 classes, denoted ''i'' through ''xii''. Most are conjugated identically to the corresponding indicative classes; indicative and subjunctive are distinguished by the fact that a verb in a given indicative class will usually belong to a different subjunctive class.

In addition, four subjunctive classes differ from the corresponding indicative classes, two "special subjunctive" classes with differing suffixes and two "varying subjunctive" classes with root ablaut reflecting the PIE perfect.

Special subjunctives:
*iv: Thematic with suffix ''i'' < PIE ''-y-'', with consistent palatalization of final root consonant. Tocharian B only, rare.
*vii: Thematic (''not'' athematic, as in indicative class VII) with suffix ''ñ'' < PIE ''-n-'' (palatalized by thematic ''e'', with palatalized variant generalized).

Varying subjunctives:
*i: Athematic without suffix, with root ablaut reflecting PIE ''o''-grade in active singular, zero-grade elsewhere. Derived from PIE perfect.
*v: Identical to class i but with PToch suffix ''*-ā-'', originally reflecting laryngeal-final roots but generalized.

=====Preterite=====
The [[preterite]] has 6 classes:
*I: The most common class, with a suffix ''ā'' < PIE ''Ḥ'' (i.e. roots ending in a laryngeal, although widely extended to other roots). This class shows root ablaut, with original ''e''-grade (and palatalization of the initial root consonant) in the active singular, contrasting with zero-grade (and no palatalization) elsewhere.
*II: This class has reduplication in Tocharian A (possibly reflecting the PIE reduplicated aorist). However, Tocharian B has a vowel reflecting long PIE ''ē'', along with palatalization of the initial root consonant. There is no [[ablaut]] in this class.
*III: This class has a suffix ''s'' in the 3rd singular active and throughout the mediopassive, evidently reflecting the PIE sigmatic [[aorist]]. Root ablaut occurs between active and mediopassive. A few verbs have palatalization in the active along with ''s'' in the 3rd singular, but no palatalization and no ''s'' in the mediopassive, along with no root ablaut (the vowel reflects PToch ''ë''). This suggests that, for these verbs in particular, the active originates in the PIE sigmatic aorist (with ''s'' suffix and ''ē'' vocalism) while the mediopassive stems from the PIE perfect (with ''o'' vocalism).
*IV: This class has suffix ''ṣṣā'', with no ablaut. Most verbs in this class are causatives.
*V: This class has suffix ''ñ(ñ)ā'', with no ablaut. Only a few verbs belong to this class.
*VI: This class, which has only two verbs, is derived from the PIE thematic aorist. As in Greek, this class has different endings from all the others, which partly reflect the PIE secondary endings (as expected for the thematic aorist).

All except preterite class VI have a common set of endings that stem from the PIE perfect endings, although with significant innovations.

=====Imperative=====
The [[imperative mood|imperative]] likewise shows 6 classes, with a unique set of endings, found only in the second person, and a prefix beginning with ''p-''. This prefix usually reflects Proto-Tocharian ''*pä-'' but unexpected connecting vowels occasionally occur, and the prefix combines with vowel-initial and glide-initial roots in unexpected ways. The prefix is often compared with the Slavic perfective prefix ''po-'', although the phonology is difficult to explain.

Classes i through v tend to co-occur with preterite classes I through V, although there are many exceptions. Class vi is not so much a coherent class as an "irregular" class with all verbs not fitting in other categories. The imperative classes tend to share the same suffix as the corresponding preterite (if any), but to have root vocalism that matches the vocalism of a verb's subjunctive. This includes the root ablaut of subjunctive classes i and v, which tend to co-occur with imperative class i.

=====Optative and imperfect=====
The [[optative]] and [[imperfect]] have related formations. The optative is generally built by adding ''i'' onto the subjunctive stem. Tocharian B likewise forms the imperfect by adding ''i'' onto the present indicative stem, while Tocharian A has 4 separate imperfect formations: usually ''ā'' is added to the subjunctive stem, but occasionally to the indicative stem, and sometimes either ''ā'' or ''s'' is added directly onto the root. The endings differ between the two languages: Tocharian A uses present endings for the optative and preterite endings for the imperfect, while Tocharian B uses the same endings for both, which are a combination of preterite and unique endings (the latter used in the singular active).

====Endings====
As suggested by the above discussion, there are a large number of sets of endings. The present-tense endings come in both thematic and athematic variants, although they are related, with the thematic endings generally reflecting a theme vowel (PIE ''e'' or ''o'') plus the athematic endings. There are different sets for the preterite classes I through V; preterite class VI; the imperative; and in Tocharian B, in the singular active of the optative and imperfect. Furthermore, each set of endings comes with both active and mediopassive forms. The mediopassive forms are quite conservative, directly reflecting the PIE variation between ''-r'' in the present and ''-i'' in the past. (Most other languages with the mediopassive have generalized one of the two.)

The present-tense endings are almost completely divergent between Tocharian A and B. The following shows the thematic endings, with their origin:

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;"
|+Thematic present active indicative endings
! rowspan=2| !! rowspan=2|Original PIE !! colspan=2|Tocharian B !! colspan=2|Tocharian A !! rowspan=2|Notes
|-
! PIE source !! Actual form !! PIE source !! Actual form
|-
| 1st sing || ''*-o-h₂'' || ''*-o-h₂'' + PToch ''-u'' || ''-āu'' || ''*-o-mi'' || ''-am'' || ''*-mi'' < PIE athematic present
|-
| 2nd sing || ''*-e-si'' || ''*-e-th₂e''? || ''-'t'' || ''*-e-th₂e'' || ''-'t'' || ''*-th₂e'' < PIE perfect; previous consonant palatalized; Tocharian B form should be ''-'ta''
|-
| 3rd sing || ''*-e-ti'' || ''*-e-nu'' || ''-'(ä)ṃ'' || ''*-e-se'' || ''-'ṣ'' || ''*-nu'' < PIE ''*nu'' "now"; previous consonant palatalized
|-
| 1st pl || ''*-o-mos''? || ''*-o-mō''? || ''-em(o)'' || ''*-o-mes'' + V || ''-amäs'' ||
|-
| 2nd pl || ''*-e-te'' || ''*-e-tē-r'' + V || ''-'cer'' || ''*-e-te'' || ''-'c'' || ''*-r'' < PIE mediopassive?; previous consonant palatalized
|-
| 3rd pl || ''*-o-nti'' || ''*-o-nt'' || ''-eṃ'' || ''*-o-nti'' || ''-eñc'' < ''*-añc'' || ''*-o-nt'' < PIE secondary ending
|}