Editing Tocharian languages (section)

==Comparison to other Indo-European languages==
{{cleanup-lang|date=January 2024}}
{| style="margin:0 auto;font-size: 90%;" class="toccolours" colspan="2" cellpadding="3"
|-
| colspan="14" align="center" style="background:#ccf" | '''Tocharian vocabulary (sample)'''
|-
|- bgcolor="#cdcdcd"
! ''English'' !! Tocharian A !! Tocharian B !! [[Ancient Greek]] 
![[Hittite language|Hittite]]!! [[Vedic Sanskrit|Sanskrit]] !! [[Latin]] !! [[Proto-Germanic language|Proto-Germanic]] !! [[Gothic language|Gothic]] !! [[Old Irish]] !! [[Proto-Slavic language|Proto-Slavic]] !! [[Armenian language|Armenian]] !! [[Proto-Indo-European language|Proto-Indo-European]]
|-
|''one''||'''sas'''||'''ṣe'''||heîs, hen
|ās||sa(kṛ́t)||semel{{efn|name=shifted|[[Cognate]], with shifted meaning}}||*simla{{efn|name=shifted}}||simle{{efn|name=shifted}}||samail{{efn|name=shifted}}||*sǫ-{{efn|name=shifted|[[Cognate]], with shifted meaning}}||mi||{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*sḗm}} > PToch *sems
|-
|''two''||'''wu'''||'''wi'''||dúo
|dān||dvā́||duo||*twai||twái||dá||*dъva||erku||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*dwóh₁}}''
|-
|''three''||'''tre'''||'''trai'''||treîs
|tēries||tráyas||trēs||*þrīz||þreis||trí||*trьje||erekʻ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*tréyes}}''
|-
|''four''||'''śtwar'''||'''śtwer'''||téttares, téssares
|meyawes||catvā́ras, catúras||quattuor||*fedwōr||fidwōr||cethair||*četỳre||čʻorkʻ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*kʷetwóres}}''
|-
|''five''||'''päñ'''||'''piś'''||pénte
|?||páñca||quīnque||*fimf||fimf||cóic||*pętь||hing||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*pénkʷe}}''
|-
|''six''||'''ṣäk'''||'''ṣkas'''||héx
|?||ṣáṣ||sex||*sehs||saihs||sé||*šestь||vecʻ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*swéḱs}}''
|-
|''seven''||'''ṣpät'''||'''ṣukt'''||heptá
|sipta||saptá||septem||*sebun||sibun||secht||*sedmь||eōtʻn||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*septḿ̥}}''
|-
|''eight''||'''okät'''||'''okt'''||oktṓ
|?||aṣṭáu, aṣṭá||octō||*ahtōu||ahtau||ocht||*osmь||utʻ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*oḱtṓw}}''
|-
|''nine''||'''ñu'''||'''ñu'''||ennéa
|?||náva||novem||*newun||niun||noí||*dȅvętь||inn||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₁néwn̥}}''
|-
|''ten''||'''śäk'''||'''śak'''||déka
|?||dáśa||decem||*tehun||taihun||deich||*dȅsętь||tasn||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*déḱm̥t}}''
|-
|''hundred''||'''känt'''||'''kante'''||hekatón
|?||śatām||centum||*hundą||hund||cét||*sъto|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*ḱm̥tóm}}''
|-
|''father''||'''pācar'''||'''pācer'''||patḗr
|atta||pitṛ||pater||*fadēr||fadar||athair|| *patr{{efn|name=shifted|[[Cognate]], with shifted meaning}}|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*ph₂tḗr}}''
|-
|''mother''||'''mācar'''||'''mācer'''||mḗtēr
|anna|||mātṛ||māter||*mōdēr||mōdar||máthair||*màti|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*méh₂tēr}}''
|-
|''brother''||'''pracar'''||'''procer'''||phrā́tēr{{efn|name=shifted}}
|negna/nekna||bhrātṛ||frāter||*brōþēr||brōþar||bráthair||*bràtrъ|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*bʰréh₂tēr}}''
|-
|''sister''||'''ṣar'''||'''ṣer'''||éor{{efn|name=shifted}}
|negah||svásṛ||soror||*swestēr||swistar||siur||*sestrà|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*swésōr}}''
|-
|''horse''||'''yuk'''||'''yakwe'''||híppos
|ekku||áśva-||equus||*ehwaz||{{lang|got|aiƕs}}||ech||([[Balto-Slavic]] ''*áśwāˀ'')|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₁éḱwos}}''
|-
|''cow''||'''ko'''||'''keu'''||boûs
|suppal / kuwāu||gaúṣ||bōs{{efn|name=borrowed|Borrowed cognate, not native.}}||*kūz||([[Old English|OE]] ''cū'')||bó||*govę̀do|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*gʷṓws}}''
|-
|''voice''{{efn|name=borrowed|Borrowed cognate, not native.}}||'''vak'''||'''vek'''||épos{{efn|name=shifted}}
|?||vāk||vōx||*wōhmaz{{efn|name=shifted}}||([[Dutch language|Du]] ge''wag''){{efn|name=shifted}}||foccul{{efn|name=shifted}}||*vikъ{{efn|name=shifted|[[Cognate]], with shifted meaning}}|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*wṓkʷs}}''
|-
|''name''||'''ñom'''||'''ñem'''||ónoma
|halzāi||nāman-||nōmen||*namô||namō||ainmm||*jь̏mę|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₁nómn̥}}''
|-
|''to milk''||'''mālkā'''||'''mālkant'''||amélgein
|?||–||mulgēre||*melkaną||(OE ''me(o)lcan'')||bligid ([[Middle Irish|MIr]])||*melzti|| ||''{{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₂melǵ-eye}}''
|}
{{notelist}}

In traditional Indo-European studies, no hypothesis of a closer genealogical relationship of the Tocharian languages has been widely accepted by linguists. However, [[lexicostatistical]] and [[glottochronological]] approaches suggest the [[Anatolian languages]], including [[Hittite language|Hittite]], might be the closest relatives of Tocharian.<ref>Holm, Hans J. (2008). "The Distribution of Data in Word Lists and its Impact on the Subgrouping of Languages", In: Christine Preisach, Hans Burkhardt, Lars Schmidt-Thieme, Reinhold Decker (Editors): ''Data Analysis, Machine Learning, and Applications. Proc. of the 31st Annual Conference of the German Classification Society (GfKl)'', University of Freiburg, March 7–9, 2007. Springer-Verlag, Heidelberg-Berlin.</ref><ref>Václav Blažek (2007), "From August Schleicher to Sergej Starostin; On the development of the tree-diagram models of the Indo-European languages". ''Journal of Indo-European Studies'' '''35''' (1&2): 82–109.</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Bouckaert |first1=Remco |last2=Lemey |first2=Philippe |last3=Dunn |first3=Michael |last4=Greenhill |first4=Simon J. |last5=Alekseyenko |first5=Alexander V. |last6=Drummond |first6=Alexei J. |last7=Gray |first7=Russell D. |last8=Suchard |first8=Marc A. |last9=Atkinson |first9=Quentin D. |year=2012 |title=Mapping the Origins and Expansion of the Indo-European Language Family |journal=Science |volume=337 |issue=6097 |pages=957–960 |bibcode=2012Sci...337..957B |doi=10.1126/science.1219669 |pmc=4112997 |pmid=22923579}}</ref>
As an example, the same Proto-Indo-European root {{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₂wrg(h)-}} (but not a common suffixed formation) can be reconstructed to underlie the words for 'wheel': Tocharian A ''wärkänt'', Tokharian B ''yerkwanto'', and Hittite ''ḫūrkis''.

=== Contact with other languages ===
Michaël Peyrot argues that several of the most striking typological peculiarities of Tocharian are rooted in a prolonged contact of Proto-Tocharian with an early stage of [[Proto-Samoyedic]] in South Siberia. This might explain the merger of [[Proto-Indo-European language#Consonants|all three stop series]] (e.g. *t, *d, *dʰ > *t), which must have led to a huge number of [[homonyms]], restructuring of the vowel system, development of [[Agglutinative language|agglutinative]] case marking, the loss of the [[dative case]], and others.{{sfnp|Peyrot|2019}}

In historic times, the Tocharian language stood in contact with various surrounding languages, including [[Iranian languages|Iranian]], Turkic, and [[Sinitic languages]]. Tocharian borrowings, and other Indo-European loanwords transmitted to Uralic, Turkic and Sinitic speakers, have been confirmed.{{sfnp|Bjørn|2022}} Tocharian had a high social position within the region, and influenced the [[Turkic languages]], which would later replace Tocharian in the [[Tarim Basin]].{{sfnp|Bjørn|2022}}