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#210580 04/22/13 10:31 PM
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Jackie Offline OP
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I googled bactrian, to make sure I'd remembered the correct number of humps, and to my surprise found this:
The Bactrian language (Bactrian: αρια, arya), also known as Altbaktrish,[1] is an extinct Eastern Iranian language ... Bactrian was natively known as αρια or "Arya" language. Because Bactrian was written predominantly in an alphabet based on the Greek script ... Among Indo-Iranian languages, the use of the Greek script is unique to Bactrian.

From wikipedia

Edit--shoot, sorry about the numbers; I don't know how to make the true depiction show here.

Last edited by Jackie; 04/22/13 10:32 PM.
Jackie #210581 04/22/13 11:06 PM
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Arya: source of Aryan???

Arya: name of main character in "Game of Thrones".


----please, draw me a sheep----
Jackie #210587 04/23/13 02:35 AM
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Not sure, Jackie, but something is wrong with your account.

(Bactrian: αρια, arya) ... Bactrian was natively known as αρια or "Arya" language.

Anyway, yes Arya is an Indo-Iranian term (Sanskrit, Old Persian/Avestan). It's an ethnonym, but suffered from misuse in the last century by some Germans and other folks. Some more from Wikipedia:
Quote:
Bactria (from Βακτριανή, the Hellenized version of Old Persian Bāxtriš; Bactrian: Baktra; Persian/Pashto: باختر Bākhtar; Tajik: Бохтар; Chinese: 大夏 Dàxià) is the ancient name of a historical region located south of the Amu Darya and west of Gandhara.


Ceci n'est pas un seing.
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Jackie Offline OP
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ethnonym Thanks! So I guess the people who lived there were called Bactrians also?

Jackie #211073 05/22/13 07:58 AM
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Hi Jackie- Semi-related but not as profound as the comments delving into Arya language, the way I remember camels and number of humps is easily solved thus: Bactrian (like its starting B turned side-on with two humps) and Dromedary (like its starting D turned side-on with one hump)


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