tocharian
/təʊˈkɛəɹi.ən/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.34 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
9
Letters
3
Syllables
8
Unique Chars
Meaning
adj
[from 20th c.] Of or pertaining to the Tocharian languages or the Tocharians of the Tarim Basin.
noun
[from 20th c.] Any member of a people who inhabited the Tarim Basin and spoke the so-called Tocharian languages.
name
An extinct branch of the Indo-European language family, consisting of two languages, Tocharian A and Tocharian B, written in an abugida derived from Brahmi.
Example Sentences
- "We have now come to one of the great names in ancient Indian history, that of the Indo-Scythian prince Kanishka, whose conversion to the faith of Sâkya Muni gave a sudden impulse to the propagation of Buddhism, which rapidly spread its doctrines to the utmost bounds of the Tocharian dominion."
- "Hyrcanian and Tocharian independence, b 613–4, b 619"
- "Beyond the Attaci or Attacores, the Thyrians and Tocharians do inhabit; yea, and the Caſirians, who now by this time belong to the Indians, & are a part of them."
- "The Moon presides over: […] Tocharians, […]"
- "Meanwhile Bactria submitted to the Tochari of Western writers (Sanskrit, Tukhāra). They have been sometimes supposed to have been a branch of the Turkish tribes, while the Hiung-nu have been seen as Mongols, the forerunners of the Hūnas and Chionites. It was a section of the Tocharians who later followed the Greeks across the Hindu-kush and created the great Kushan empire in North India."
Etymology
From Latin Tocharī + -ian, the first element deriving from Ancient Greek Τόχαροι (Tókharoi, “Tochari/Tukharas (an ancient people of Bactria)”), plural of Τόχαρος (Tókharos), probably from an Indo-Iranian source (Old Persian [script needed] (tuxāri-), Khotanese [script needed] (ttahvāra)); compare Sanskrit तुखार (tukhāra). When manuscripts in an unknown Indo-European language were discovered in the early 20th century in the Tarim Basin, scholars linked them to the Tochari/Tukharas mentioned in ancient sources. As a result, the language was called "Tocharian". However, most scholars now believe this identification was incorrect.
Origin
- Source language: Latin
Word Breakdown
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /təʊˈkɛəɹi.ən/