Maksim V. Vyzhlakov (Выжлаков Максим В.)

Central Asiatic Journal, Jahrgang 64 (2021), Ausgabe 1-2, Seite 75 - 102

There are at least six verbs of disappearance and destruction in Tocharian A that are often translated synonymously, näk-, wik-, mänt-, spärk-, nut-, and musk-. The analysis provided in this paper shows that näk- is the “main” verb in this group, having the largest number of examples and the widest semantics, 'to destroy (including physically); to lose something precious (particularly life); to be destroyed; to perish; to disappear (mainly by dissipating or supernaturally)'. Wik- has a more specific meaning, 'to disappear (of something bad); to drive away, to remove (something bad)'. Spärk- also tends to have a narrower meaning than näk-, that is 'to vanish, to disappear (from one's sight, not supernaturally)'. Its causative paradigm means either 'to cause to disappear, remove; to be destroyed (not physically)' or 'to break a normal way/functioning of a process [e.g. fulfilment of wishes]'. The most surprising result is that the other two verbs, mänt- and nut-, probably are not synonymous to the discussed lexemes at all. Mänt- means 'to violate, to defile; to be angry, to scold; to be violated, defiled', and the semantics of nut- can be generally described as ‘to end, to be stopped; to cease, to stop’. Musk- is the only case where the evidence is so scarce and uninformative that it is hard to offer a more specific translation than ‘to disappear; to destroy’.