This
map shows the regions of the world where Tocharian was
commonly spoken (red circle).
The Tocharian language is something of a mystery. Our only
evidence of it includes some fragmentary texts found
in the early twentieth-century
in Chinese Turkestan (central Asia). This language appears
in two forms, which linguists unimaginatively call "Tocharian A"
and "Tocharian B," which split from each other
about 700 CE. The Tocharians lived in the region until about
950 CE, and their writing makes reference to Chinese rulers.
What makes them so mysterious is that they appear to be a people
of European descent in an area of non Indo-European races.
Their
language is clearly most similar to those of the Centum
branch of Indo-European, but from their geographic position
we would expect the language to be most similar to that of the
Satem branch of Indo-European. Somewhere in the Tocharians'
lost past, this people must have engaged in a race-wide exodus
to the far east. The reasons for this herculean migration are
unknown.
| Daniel M. Short originally created this
map and the other Indo-European language charts for his website at http://www.danshort.com/.
I reproduce these images here with the author's permission, but they are
copyrighted by Daniel Short as of 2002. These charts should not be reproduced
or reused without Mr. Short's approval. You may contact him at danshort@gte.net
for more information. These images are not public domain. |