شنبلیله

Persian

Alternative forms
  • شنبلیل‎ (šambalil)
  • شنبلید‎ (šambalid)
  • شنبلیت‎ (šambalit)
  • شملید‎ (šamlid)
  • شملیز‎ (šamliz)
  • شلمیز‎ (šalmiz)

Etymology

From Middle Persian šmblyt (šamblīt, šamblīd), šmblytk' (šambalīdag, “fenugreek”), whence also Old Armenian շամղիտակ (šamłitak) and Arabic شِمْلِيدَج‎ (šimlīdaj). Ultimately borrowed from a Semitic language. Compare Jewish Babylonian Aramaic שִׁבְּלִילְתָא‎ (šibbəlīləṯā), Classical Syriac ܫܒܠܝܠܬܐ‎ (šebbəlīltā) and ܦܠܝܠܬܐ‎ (pəlīltā), all from Akkadian 𒊭𒄠𒁀𒇷𒅋𒌈 (/šambaliltum/), 𒊭𒁀𒇸𒌅 (/šabbaliltu/), 𒊭𒄠𒈬 𒁀𒅋𒌈 (/šammu baliltu/, “fenugreek”, literally “mixture grass”).

The word is found in other modern Iranian languages: compare Harzani [script needed] (šunbulla), Badakhshan Tajik [script needed] (šalit, “orach”), Wakhi šlit, šliṭ (“Chenopodium album”), Shiraz Persian شملیز‎ (šamliz) and Central Kurdish شمڵی‎ (şimllî).

Other theories

Ačaṙyan separates شنبلیله (šambalile, “fenugreek”) from شنبلید‎ (šambalid, “a kind of flower, probably Colchicum”) and writes about the former: "By this name the Turks of Tabriz understand a kind of field herb much liked by sheep; it yields a very hard seed, like a lentil but with irregular edges, which the Persians eat fried in oil after grinding. This seed is the cumin of Erzurum used in making ham. It grows abundantly in Qaradagh which is our [Armenian] ancient Paytakaran province. This word cannot be explained in Persian or Turkish, therefore I think it is borrowed from an Armenian *շնբաղեղ (*šnbałeł) form", the latter presumably composed of շուն (šun, “dog”) + բաղեղ (bałeł, “ivy”).

Asatryan rejects this, claiming that شنبلیله (šambalile, “fenugreek”) and شنبلید‎ (šambalid, “a kind of flower, probably Colchicum”) should not be separated—both go back to Middle Persian. The word is found in many Iranian dialects. All of them cannot be borrowed from Armenian.

Pronunciation

Noun

شنبلیله • (šambalile)

  1. fenugreek

References
  • Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “شنبلیله”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
  • MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “šambalīdag”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
  • Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971), “բաղեղն”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume I, 2nd edition, reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 398b
  • Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1977), “շամղիտակ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume III, 2nd edition, reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 492a
  • Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1977), “հուլպայ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume III, 2nd edition, reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 121a
  • Asatryan, Gaṙnik (1990), “Ardyokʿ ka?n haykakan pʿoxaṙutʿyunner nor parskerenum [Are There Armenian Borrowings in New Persian?]”, in Patma-banasirakan handes [Historical-Philological Journal]‎ (in Armenian), issue 3, pages 139–144
  • Meninski, Franciszek à Mesgnien (1687), “hermodactylus”, in Complementum thesauri linguarum orientalium, seu onomasticum latino-turcico-arabico-persicum, simul idem index verborum lexici turcico-arabico-persici, quod latinâ, germanicâ, aliarumque linguarum adjectâ nomenclatione nuper in lucem editum, Vienna, column 692
  • Steblin-Kamenskij, I.M. (1999), “šlit, šliṭ”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ vaxanskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Wakhi Language] (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Peterburgskoje Vostokovedenije, →ISBN, pages 331–332
  • “šambaliltu”, in The Assyrian Dictionary of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago (CAD), volume 17, Š, part 1, Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, 1989, page 310f
  • Palatecʿi, Gēorg Dpir (1829), “շէնպէլիյլ(է)”, in Baṙaran Parskerēn əst kargi haykakan aybubenicʿ [Persian Dictionary in the Order of the Armenian Alphabet] (in Armenian), Constantinople: Boghos Arabian Press, page 356a
  • Palatecʿi, Gēorg Dpir (1829), “շէմլիյտ”, in Baṙaran Parskerēn əst kargi haykakan aybubenicʿ [Persian Dictionary in the Order of the Armenian Alphabet] (in Armenian), Constantinople: Boghos Arabian Press, page 354a
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.