परशु

See also: पर्शु

Sanskrit

Etymology

From Proto-Indo-Aryan *paraśúṣ, from Proto-Indo-Iranian *paraĉúš. Cognate with Ancient Greek πέλεκυς (pélekus, “axe”),[1][2] and hence apparently reconstructible back to Proto-Indo-European[1][2] as *peleḱús (“axe”). The word is often considered a Wanderwort,[1] and the similarity of Akkadian 𒁄 (pilaqqu, “wooden handle; spindle, harp”) (from Sumerian 𒁄 (balag, “wooden handle; spindle, harp; possibly a split piece of wood or wooden wedge”); compare Arabic فَلَقَ‎ (falaqa, “to split apart”)) has led some to suggest that the Proto-Indo-European word is a borrowing of the Akkadian word.[1][2]

Compare also German Beil (“axe”); see *bilją (with which Beil's etymon was conflated).

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɽɐ.ɕú/
(Classical) IPA^(key): /ˈpɐ.ɽɐ.ɕu/

Noun

परशु • (paraśú) m

hatchet
axe

Declension

Masculine u-stem declension of परशु (paraśú)
	Singular	Dual	Plural
Nominative	परशुः paraśúḥ	परशू paraśū́	परशवः paraśávaḥ
Vocative	परशो páraśo	परशू páraśū	परशवः páraśavaḥ
Accusative	परशुम् paraśúm	परशू paraśū́	परशून् paraśū́n
Instrumental	परशुना / परश्वा¹ paraśúnā / paraśvā̀¹	परशुभ्याम् paraśúbhyām	परशुभिः paraśúbhiḥ
Dative	परशवे / परश्वे² paraśáve / paraśvè²	परशुभ्याम् paraśúbhyām	परशुभ्यः paraśúbhyaḥ
Ablative	परशोः / परश्वः² paraśóḥ / paraśvàḥ²	परशुभ्याम् paraśúbhyām	परशुभ्यः paraśúbhyaḥ
Genitive	परशोः / परश्वः² paraśóḥ / paraśvàḥ²	परश्वोः paraśvóḥ	परशूनाम् paraśūnā́m
Locative	परशौ paraśaú	परश्वोः paraśvóḥ	परशुषु paraśúṣu
Notes	¹Vedic ²Less common

Descendants

Tamil: பரசு (paracu)

References

Monier Williams (1899), “परशु”, in A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, […], new edition, Oxford: At the Clarendon Press, OCLC 458052227, page 589/2.

J. P. Mallory, D. Q. Adams, The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European (2006, →ISBN): "We find cognates in Grk pélekus, Oss færæt, and Skt paraśú, and the proto-form is often compared with Semitic forms, e.g. Akkadian pilakku which some translate as 'axe' but others translate as 'spindle', which is semantically very distant."
Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The linguistic evidence

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[OxfordPIE-1] J. P. Mallory, D. Q. Adams, The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European (2006, →ISBN): "We find cognates in Grk pélekus, Oss færæt, and Skt paraśú, and the proto-form is often compared with Semitic forms, e.g. Akkadian pilakku which some translate as 'axe' but others translate as 'spindle', which is semantically very distant."

[Bernal-2] Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The linguistic evidence