Abstract

In this paper, it is my intention to carry out a thorough survey of both Achaemenid Elamite and Old Persian indefinite pronouns in order to assess whether their occurrences and respective developments (Middle Persian indefinites) can shed some new light over the real nature of these morphological forms. I will show that, in many respects, the indefinite pronouns attested in both languages entail contact-induced formations. This phenomenon might have been caused by the learning of Achaemenid Elamite as a second (administrative) language by Iranian scribes.