Editing Tocharian B

{{Short description|Extinct Indo-European languages in Asia}}
{{Expand French|Koutchéen|date=May 2025}}
{{Infobox language
| name             = Tocharian B 
| altname          = Kuchean
| nativename       = {{lang|txb|Kuśiññe}}
| image            = Kizil standing Buddha. Tocharian inscription "This Buddha was painted by the hand of Sanketava".jpg
| imagealt         = 
| imagecaption     = Tocharian inscription "This Buddha was painted by the hand of Sanketava"
| states           = [[Kucha#History|Kucha]]
| region           = [[Tarim Basin]]
| ethnicity        = [[Tocharians]]
| extinct          = 850 AD
| ref              = <ref>{{cite web|title=The ASJP Database - Wordlist Tocharian B|url=https://asjp.clld.org/languages/TOCHARIAN_B|access-date=2025-05-27|website=asjp.clld.org|quote=extinct since 850}}</ref>
| familycolor      = Indo-European
| fam2             = [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian]]
| ancestor         = [[Proto-Tocharian]]
| script           = {{plainlist|
*[[Tocharian script]]
*[[Manichaean script]]}}
| iso3             = txb
| linglist         = xtb
| lingname         = Tocharian B
| glotto           = tokh1243
| glottorefname    = Tokharian B
| notice           = IPA
| map              = Tocharian languages.svg
| mapcaption       = Tocharian languages A (blue), B (red) and C (green) in the Tarim Basin.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|p=274}} Tarim oasis towns are given as listed in the ''[[Book of Han]]'' ({{circa}} 2nd century BC), with the areas of the squares proportional to population.{{sfn|Mallory|Mair|2000|p=67, 68}}
}}
{{Indo-European topics}}
'''Tocharian B''' (also known as '''Kuchean''' or '''West Tocharian''') was a Western member of the [[Tocharian languages|Tocharian branch]] of Indo-European languages, extinct from the ninth century. Once spoken in the [[Tarim Basin]] in [[Central Asia]], Tocharian B shows an internal chronological development; three linguistic stages have been detected.{{sfn|Peyrot|2008|p={{pn|date=June 2022}}}} The oldest stage is attested only in Kucha. There is also the middle ('classicalʼ), and the late stage.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Peyrot |first1=Michaël |title=Tocharian Language |encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Iranica |year=2015 |url=https://www.iranicaonline.org/articles/tocharian-language }}</ref>

==Nomenclature==
According to Peyrot, the self-designation for the language was ''kuśi'' 'Kuča'.<ref>Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: ''The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective''. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. p. 83. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.006.</ref> In scholarly works, it is known as Tocharian B, sometimes referred to as '''West Tocharian''' or '''Kuchean'''.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Fortson|first=Benjamin W.|title=Indo-European Language and Culture|publisher=Blackwell Publishing|year=2004|page=351|isbn=1-4051-0316-7|author-link=Benjamin W. Fortson IV}}</ref>

==Overview==

According to scholar Michael Peyrot, Tocharian B is dated between the 5th and 10th centuries AD, and was spread from [[Kucha|Kuča]] to Yānqi and [[Turfan]].<ref>Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: ''The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective''. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. p. 83. doi:10.1017/9781108758666.006.</ref> Paul Widmer, following Tamai's and Adams's studies, situates Tocharian B roughly between 400 and 1200, its oldest layer dating from ca. 400 to 600, around "Kucha and environs".<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110523874-034 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |year=2017 |last1=Widmer |first1=Paul |chapter=79. The dialectology of Tocharian |pages=1392–1393 |isbn=978-3-11-052387-4 |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/140805/1/Widmer2017.pdf }}</ref>

=== Documentation ===
According to J. H. W. Penney, Tocharian B is reported to be documented as Buddhist religious literature, and as secular material "pertaining to everyday life".<ref>{{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110523874-029 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |year=2017 |last1=Penney |first1=J. H. W. |chapter=74. The documentation of Tocharian |page=1299 |isbn=978-3-11-052387-4 }}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{refbegin}}
;Studies:
* {{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110523874-029 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |year=2017 |last1=Penney |first1=J. H. W. |chapter=74. The documentation of Tocharian |pages=1298–1303 |isbn=978-3-11-052387-4 }}
* {{cite book |doi=10.1163/9789004358218 |title=Variation and change in Tocharian B |year=2008 |last1=Peyrot |first1=Michaël |isbn=978-90-04-35821-8 }}
* Peyrot, Michaël. “Tocharian”. In: ''The Indo-European Language Family: A Phylogenetic Perspective''. Edited by Thomas Olander. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2022. pp.&nbsp;83–101. {{doi|10.1017/9781108758666.006}}.
* {{cite book |doi=10.1515/9783110523874-034 |title=Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics |year=2017 |last1=Widmer |first1=Paul |chapter=79. The dialectology of Tocharian |pages=1389–1396 |isbn=978-3-11-052387-4 |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/140805/1/Widmer2017.pdf }}

;Tocharian literature:
* Lundysheva, Olga and Maue, Dieter. "An Old Uyghur text fragment related to the Tocharian B “History of Kuchean kings”". In: ''Religion and State in the Altaic World: Proceedings of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Permanent International Altaistic Conference (PIAC), Friedensau, Germany, August 18–23, 2019''. Edited by Oliver Corff, Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter, 2022, pp. 111-124. https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110730562-010
* {{cite journal |last1=Peyrot |first1=Michaël |last2=Wilkens |first2=Jens |title=Two Tocharian B fragments parallel to the Hariścandra-Avadāna of the Old Uyghur Daśakarmapathāvadānamālā |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |date=September 2014 |volume=67 |issue=3 |pages=319–335 |doi=10.1556/aorient.67.2014.3.6 |jstor=90004169 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Wilkens |first1=Jens |last2=Pinault |first2=Georges-Jean |last3=Peyrot |first3=Michaël |title=A tocharian B parallel to the legend of kalmāṣapāda and sutasoma of the old uyghur daśakarmapathāvadānamālā |journal=Acta Orientalia Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae |date=March 2014 |volume=67 |issue=1 |pages=1–18 |doi=10.1556/aorient.67.2014.1.1 |jstor=90004088 }}
* {{Citation |last1=Mallory |first1=J.P. |title=The Tarim Mummies |url=https://archive.org/details/tarimmummiesanci00mall |year=2000 |postscript=. |place=London |publisher=Thames & Hudson |isbn=0-500-05101-1 |last2=Mair |first2=Victor H. |author-link=J. P. Mallory |author-link2=Victor H. Mair }}
{{refend}}

==Further reading==
{{refbegin}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Douglas Q. |title=Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary II: Words Pertaining to the Lower Limbs in Tocharian B |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=July 1983 |volume=103 |issue=3 |pages=611–613 |doi=10.2307/602042 |jstor=602042 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Douglas Q. |title=Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary III: Three Tocharian B Terms for Parts of the Upper Body |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=October 1983 |volume=103 |issue=4 |pages=759–760 |doi=10.2307/602235 |jstor=602235 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Adams |first1=Douglas Q. |title=Studies in Tocharian Vocabulary IV: A Quartet of Words from a Tocharian B Magic Text |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=April 1986 |volume=106 |issue=2 |pages=339–341 |doi=10.2307/601599 |jstor=601599 }}
* {{cite book |editor1-last=Arndt |editor1-first=Walter W. |editor2-last=Brosman Jr. |editor2-first=Paul W. |editor3-last=Coenen |editor3-first=Frederic E. |editor4-last=Friedrich |editor4-first=Werner P. |chapter=On the Interrelationship of the Tocharian Dialects |pages=105–134 |jstor=10.5149/9781469657035_arndt.13 |title=Studies in Historical Linguistics in Honor of George Sherman Lane: Festschrift for George S. Lane |date=1967 |volume=58 |publisher=The University of North Carolina Press |isbn=978-1-4696-5703-5 |doi=10.1353/book.75772 |hdl=20.500.12657/39808 |url=https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/39808/1/9781469657035_WEB.pdf }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.13173/centasiaj.63.1-2.0071 |title=Paper in Eighth-Century Kucha: Discovery of Cotton Fibres within Chinese and Kuchean Documents |year=2020 |last1=Chao-Jung |last2=慶昭蓉 |last3=Enami Kazuyuki |last4=江南和幸 |last5=Okada Yoshihiro |last6=岡田至弘 |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=63 |issue=1–2 |page=71 |s2cid=236875646 }}
* {{cite journal |doi=10.13173/centasiaj.61.2.0217 |title=Vignettes of Buddhist Asceticism: Jottings on Six Fragments in Tocharian B |year=2018 |last1=Chen |last2=陳瑞翾 |journal=Central Asiatic Journal |volume=61 |issue=2 |page=217 |s2cid=198766202 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Hilmarsson |first1=Jörundur |title=West Tocharian lyauto 'hole, opening' and related words |journal=Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics |date=1988 |volume=101 |issue=1 |pages=166–169 |jstor=40848921 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Kim |first1=Ronald I. |title=Another Look at Tocharian B ṣarya |journal=Historische Sprachforschung / Historical Linguistics |date=2009 |volume=122 |pages=111–117 |doi=10.13109/hisp.2009.122.1.111 |jstor=41430701 }}
* {{cite book |last1=Malzahn |first1=Melanie |chapter=Now you see it, now you don't – Bewegliches -o in Tocharisch B |pages=33–82 |jstor=j.ctt3fgk5q.5 |title=Multilingualism and History of Knowledge, Vol. 2: Linguistic Developments Along the Silkroad: Archaism and Innovation in Tocharian |date=2012 |volume=12 |publisher=Austrian Academy of Sciences Press |doi=10.2307/j.ctt3fgk5q.5 |isbn=978-3-7001-7304-5 |author-link=Melanie Malzahn}}
* {{cite book |last1=Ogihara |first1=Hirotoshi |chapter=Two Fragments of Tocharian B laissez-passers Kept in the Berlin Collection |pages=33–45 |doi=10.1163/9789004362253_004 |title=Great Journeys across the Pamir Mountains |year=2018 |isbn=978-90-04-36222-2 }}
* Pinault, Georges-Jean. "Surveying the Tocharian B Lexicon". In: ''Orientalistische Literaturzeitung'', vol. 114, no. 2, 2019, pp.&nbsp;91–97. https://doi.org/10.1515/olzg-2019-0030
* {{cite journal |last1=Stumpf |first1=Peter |title=Westtocharisch se-seṃ: zwei Paradigmen oder nur eines? |journal=Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung |date=1976 |volume=90 |issue=1/2 |pages=114–127 |jstor=40848492 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Winter |first1=Werner |title=A Linguistic Classification of 'Tocharian' B Texts |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=October 1955 |volume=75 |issue=4 |pages=216–225 |doi=10.2307/595385 |jstor=595385 |author-link= Werner Winter (linguist)}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Winter |first1=Werner |title=Lexical Interchange between 'Tocharian' A and B |journal=Journal of the American Oriental Society |date=August 1961 |volume=81 |issue=3 |pages=271–280 |doi=10.2307/595658 |jstor=595658 }}
* {{cite journal |last1=Woolner |first1=A. C. |title=Sanskrit Names of Drugs in Kuchean |journal=The Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland |date=1925 |volume=57 |issue=4 |pages=623–638 |doi=10.1017/S0035869X00168807 |jstor=25220813 |s2cid=162418763 }}
{{refend}}

==External links==
* ''[https://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/natlang/ie/tochB.html A dictionary of Tocharian B]'' by [[Douglas Q. Adams]]
* [[:wikt:Category:Tocharian B lemmas|Tocharian B lemmas]] in [[Wiktionary]]
{{Indo-European languages}}
[[Category:Extinct languages of Asia]]
[[Category:Tocharian languages| ]]
[[Category:Indo-European languages]]
[[Category:Languages of Xinjiang]]
[[Category:Languages extinct in the 9th century]]