Indo-Aryan superstrate in Mitanni
Some theonyms, proper names and other terminology of the Mitanni are considered to form an Indo-Aryan superstrate, suggesting that an Indo-Aryan elite imposed itself over the Hurrian population in the course of the Indo-Aryan expansion.
In a treaty between the Hittites and the Mitanni, the deities Mitra, Varuna, Indra, and Nasatya are invoked. Kikkuli's horse training text includes technical terms such as aika, tera, panza, satta, na, vartana. The numeral aika "one" is of particular importance because it places the superstrate in the vicinity of Indo-Aryan proper as opposed to Indo-Iranian or early Iranian in general.
Another text has babru, parita, and pinkara. Their chief festival was the celebration of the solstice which was common in most cultures in the ancient world. The Mitanni warriors were called marya, the term for warrior in Sanskrit as well; note mišta-nnu "payment ".
Sanskritic interpretations of Mitanni names render Artashumara as Arta-smara "who thinks of Arta/Ṛta", Biridashva as Prītāśva "whose horse is dear" , Priyamazda as Priyamedha "whose wisdom is dear", Citrarata as Citraratha "whose chariot is shining", Indaruda/Endaruta as Indrota "helped by Indra", Shativaza as Sātivāja "winning the race price", Šubandu as Subandhu "having good relatives",
Tushratta as *tṷaišaratha, Vedic Tveṣaratha "whose chariot is vehement" .
Attested words and comparisons
All of the following examples are from Witzel. For the pronunciation of the sounds transcribed from cuneiform as š and z, see Proto-Semitic language#Fricatives.Names of people
Names of gods
From treaties of Mitanni.| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
| a-ru-na, ú-ru-wa-na | Varuna | Varuṇa | - |
| mi-it-ra | Mitra | Mitra | |
| in-tar, in-da-ra | Indra | Indra | |
| na-ša-ti-ya-an-na | Nasatya | Nāsatya | Hurrian grammatical ending -nna |
| a-ak-ni-iš | Āgnis | Agni | only attested in Hittite, which retains nominative -/s/ and lengthens stressed syllables |
Horse training
From Kikkuli.| Transcription of cuneiform | Interpretation | Vedic equivalent | Comments |
| a-aš-šu-uš-ša-an-ni | āśva-san-ni? | aśva-sana- | "master horse trainer" |
| -aš-šu-wa | -aśva | aśva | "horse"; in personal names |
| a-i-ka- | aika- | eka | "1" |
| ti-e-ra- | tera- ? | tri | "3" |
| pa-an-za- | pańća- ? | pañca | "5"; Vedic c is not an affricate, but apparently its Mitanni equivalent was |
| ša-at-ta | satta | sapta | "7"; /pt/ to /tː/ is either an innovation in Mitanni or a misinterpretation by a scribe who had Hurrian šinti "7" in mind |
| na-a-a- | nāva- | nava | "9" |
| wa-ar-ta-an-na | vartana | vartana | round, turn |