A E D n tymological ictionary of P E ersian , nglish and other I E L ndo- uropean anguages A l i N o u r a i (cid:5) Tracing Words to their Origins Will help us Understand our Cultures The Main Features of this Dictionary 1) Over 1600 COMMON ROOTS for 4700 Persian and 3300 English words 2) Over 9400 COGNATES in more than fifty other languages 3) NON INDO-EUROPEAN ROOTS are also included 4) GRAPHIC CHARTS showing word relations 5) WORD INDEX for each recorded language 6) DOCUMENTATION of word relations C ONTENTS PREFACE.................................................................................................. A-1 INTRODUCTION...................................................................................... A-2 THE SCIENCE OF ETYMOLOGY......................................................... A-5 BIBLIOGRAPHY...................................................................................... A-7 GUIDE TO USING THE DICTIONARY................................................ A-16 PRONUNCIATION KEYS....................................................................... A-18 ETYMOLOGICAL CHARTS ..................................... 1 - 541 INDEX OF ROOTS AND WORDS..................................................... 545 INTRODUCTION AND SELECTED ARTICLES IN PERSIAN..... 1 - 21 LIST OF TABLES IN THE ENGLISH ARTICLES TABLE I THREE MAJOR LANGUAGE GROUPS OF THE WORLD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A- 4 TABLE II SAMPLE OF CONSONANT SOUND CHANGES IN INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES . . . . . . . . . . . . . A- 6 TABLE III LIST OF REFERENCES BY LANGUAGE AND AUTHOR NAMES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . A-8 TABLE IV ABBREVIATION OF REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . A-9 TABLE V GUIDE FOR INTERPRETING ETYMOLOGICAL CHARTS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-17 TABLE VI PRONUNCIATION KEYS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A-19 P REFACE Words are the elements of a language used to identify objects, formulate ideas and express feelings. These words are also a mirror in that they are a reflection of the cultural history and development of a people. Tracing words to their origins will open a new window to human civilization and culture and help us understand the roots of some of our present social trends and attitudes. For example, the etymology of words for family members clearly shows the division of responsibilities and position of each member in the most basic unit of society - the family. Father was the “protector” of the family, mother was the “feeder”, brother was the load “carrier” and daughter was the “milker”. If one makes the effort to read beyond the shallow shell of sounds and symbols, one can recognize our human oneness portrayed in our words and their historical roots. Consider, for example, the English word family, referring to “a group of people belonging to the same house.” The equivalent of this word, in Persian, is dûdmân (family x£õdzd), meaning “a group of people sitting around the same fire.” These words have been derived from different roots and have evolved in distant places on earth. Yet, the “feelings and ideas” behind the composition of both words are expressive of the same intimacy innate to all human beings. Family and dûdmân both portray a parallel human situation: a group of people from the same “home” who sit around the same “fire.” Unfortunately, the superficial differences in our colorful words have disguised our oneness. The intolerance of differences has penetrated so deeply that, throughout history, many nations have attempted to use the differences in languages as a means to subjugate or humiliate others. For example, the word “barbarian,” which literally means “people who speak a different language,” has been so widely abused that today its meaning is all inclusive to mean wild and uncivilized. The primary motivation for writing this dictionary is the hope that it may foster a greater appreciation of the variances among different languages and cultures, and ultimately nurture a greater understanding among those who speak apparently different languages. After all, we have all come from the same “home”, have gathered around the same “fire” and share the same innate “Human Language.” A. Nourai A-1 I NTRODUCTION When we go through the process of tracing words to their origins, we are, in essence, tracing our civilization to its most basic roots. While archeology brings us physical facts about our ancestors, etymology portrays a clearer picture of their emotions, ideas and inner world. Persian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages which also includes English, French, German and many other languages (See Table I). It is quite evident that in tracing any Persian word to its origins, its cognates in other Indo-European languages must be considered. In this dictionary, English cognates are regularly referred to along with some other Indo-European equivalents. Since the Persian and English languages have borrowed many words from Semitic, Turkish and other languages that do not belong to the Indo- European group, these words are also analyzed and presented in this dictionary. Altogether, over 1,600 roots and 17,400 derived words are presented in this dictionary. About half of the entries are from Persian and other Iranian languages. These words can be divided into the following approximate language groups: Persian 4,700 words Other Iranian Languages (Avestan, Old Persian, Pahlavi, Sogdian, etc.) 4,300 words English 3,300 words Greek & Latin 1,500 words Indo-European roots 1,400 words Arabic, Hebrew & other Semitic languages 800 words French, German, Italian & Spanish 400 words Sanskrit & Indian (Hindustani) 400 words Other languages 700 words If we look at all languages collectively, and with a truly open mind, we see that there is little difference between what is considered as a “foreign” word and what is believed to be a “native” word. The difference is mainly in the time of entry into a language. Some words have entered a language “sooner” in history and are, therefore, better rooted and more widely accepted than others. All languages have exchanged words throughout their history. A “pure” language is nothing more than a myth. Probably the first known massive word exchanges among Indo- Europeans took place about four thousand years ago when they began to migrate A-2