Sogdian etymological notes

Yakubovich, Ilya (2011) Sogdian etymological notes. Acta Orientalia, 64 (2). pp. 161-181. ISSN 0001-6446

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Abstract

The paper addresses meanings and etymologies of several problematic Sogdian lexemes. Sogd. ’ps’ynk- ‘motley’ is compared with Ved. piśánga- ‘red, red-brown’, Sogd. ’pt’r- ‘to pluck’ is analysed as a derivative of Ir. *dar ‘to tear’, ’rw’št(’)k ‘fixed, established’ is argued to represent an etymological participle of IE *(∂₁)werĝ ‘to lock∝, Sogd. ’rwynt- is assigned the meaning ‘to massage’ and linked to Av. var∂duua- ‘soft’, Sogd. (’)sty(y)w ‘although, even (if)’ is traced back to the phrase *’sty yw, approximately ‘be it (that)’, Sogd. ’ynδ(’y) is assigned a general meaning ‘female attendant’ and reconstructed as Ir. *yaunī dāhī ‘young female slave’. Sogd. βrk’yr- ‘to neglect’ is compared with YAv. kāraiia- ‘to celebrate, praise’, on the assumption that the semantic pejoration in the Sogdian lexeme is due to the prefix *fra-. The proposed original meaning of Sogd. ptfr’w- ‘to float up in memory’ is argued to point to its connection with Ir. *fraw ‘to swim, float’. Sogd. θrβ- ‘to tremble’ is analysed as an irregular derivative of *θrap/tarp ‘to be unsteady, to move unsteadily’.

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