Kuśiññe Kantwo: Elementary Lessons in Tocharian B,
with Exercises, Vocabulary, and Notes on Historical Grammar

by Michael Weiss

Pp. xxix + 307 ISBN 979-8-9871781-0-2

Paper, $54.95

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Tocharian B, an Indo-European language spoken in the first millennium C.E. in western China, is of great importance to numerous disciplines, from Indo-European historical linguistics to the study of Central Asia, the Silk Road, and Buddhism. This first-ever textbook in the language makes Tocharian B, hitherto familiar mostly to specialists, readily accessible to a broad audience. In twenty graduated lessons, the student is introduced to all the language's grammar, with translation exercises between English and Tocharian in both directions and numerous passages taken from original texts. The book assumes no familiarity with the scholarly disciplines above, but simultaneously contains much information useful to specialists by virtue of the author's broad knowledge and full familiarity with the most up-to-date literature. A full glossary, together with tables of declensions and conjugations, key to the exercises, and bibliography round out the volume.