ծիրան

Armenian

ծիրան

Alternative forms

• ճիրան (čiran) — Alashkert, Mush

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Armenian ծիրան (ciran), from Old Armenian ծիրան (ciran). For the sense “vulva” compare մամուխ (mamux).

Pronunciation

• (Eastern Armenian) IPA^(key): /t͡siˈɾɑn/, [t͡siɾɑ́n]
• (Western Armenian) IPA^(key): /d͡ziˈɾɑn/, [d͡ziɾɑ́n]

• Audio (Eastern Armenian):

  (file)

Noun

ծիրան • (ciran)

1. apricot (the fruit of Prunus armeniaca)

   ծիրանի ծառ ― cirani caṙ ― apricot tree

2. (by extension, colloquial) apricot tree

   Synonym: ծիրանենի (ciraneni)

3. (dialectal, euphemistic) vulva

Declension

i-type, inanimate (Eastern Armenian)
	singular	plural
nominative	ծիրան (ciran)	ծիրաններ (ciranner)
dative	ծիրանի (cirani)	ծիրանների (ciranneri)
ablative	ծիրանից (ciranicʻ)	ծիրաններից (cirannericʻ)
instrumental	ծիրանով (ciranov)	ծիրաններով (cirannerov)
locative	ծիրանում (ciranum)	ծիրաններում (cirannerum)
	definite forms
nominative	ծիրանը/ծիրանն (ciranə/cirann)	ծիրանները/ծիրաններն (cirannerə/cirannern)
dative	ծիրանին (ciranin)	ծիրաններին (cirannerin)
	1st person possessive forms (my)
nominative	ծիրանս (cirans)	ծիրաններս (ciranners)
dative	ծիրանիս (ciranis)	ծիրաններիս (ciranneris)
ablative	ծիրանիցս (ciranicʻs)	ծիրաններիցս (cirannericʻs)
instrumental	ծիրանովս (ciranovs)	ծիրաններովս (cirannerovs)
locative	ծիրանումս (ciranums)	ծիրաններումս (cirannerums)
	2nd person possessive forms (your)
nominative	ծիրանդ (cirand)	ծիրաններդ (cirannerd)
dative	ծիրանիդ (ciranid)	ծիրաններիդ (cirannerid)
ablative	ծիրանիցդ (ciranicʻd)	ծիրաններիցդ (cirannericʻd)
instrumental	ծիրանովդ (ciranovd)	ծիրաններովդ (cirannerovd)
locative	ծիրանումդ (ciranumd)	ծիրաններումդ (cirannerumd)

Derived terms

• ծիրանափող (ciranapʻoġ)
• ծիրանենի (ciraneni)

 

Descendants

• → Georgian: წირანი (c̣irani)

Further reading

• Malxaseancʻ, Stepʻan (1944) “ծիրան”, in Hayerēn bacʻatrakan baṙaran [Armenian Explanatory Dictionary] (in Armenian), volume II, Yerevan: State Publishing House, page 339a

Middle Armenian

Etymology

Inherited from Old Armenian ծիրան (ciran).

Noun

ծիրան • (ciran)

1. apricot (the fruit of Prunus armeniaca)

   Synonym: մշմիշ (mšmiš)

   • 12–13th century, Mxitʻar Goš, Aṙakkʻ [Fables] 15:

     Ի միասին սալոր և դամոն և ծիրան ամբաստանեցան՝ թէ ընդէ՛ր զատամունս հարկանեն։

     I miasin salor ew damon ew ciran ambastanecʻan, tʻē əndḗr zatamuns harkanen.

     • Translation by Robert Bedrosian

       The plum, prune and apricot were all accused of setting the teeth on edge.

   • 13th century, Girkʻ Vastakocʻ [Geoponica] 237:

     Զծիրանն եւս այսպէս արա, որ կուտն քաղցրանայ։

     Zcirann ews ayspēs ara, or kutn kʻaġcʻranay.

Descendants

• Armenian: ծիրան (ciran), ճիրան (čiran) — Alashkert, Mush
  • → Georgian: წირანი (c̣irani)

Further reading

• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “ծիրան”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Norayr N. Biwzandacʻi (2000) “ծիրան”, in Martiros Minassian, editor, Baṙagirkʻ storin hayerēni i matenagrutʻeancʻ ŽA–ŽĒ darucʻ [Dictionary of Middle Armenian Based on the Literature of 11–17th Centuries]‎^[4], edited from the author's unfinished manuscript written 1884–1915, Geneva: Martiros Minassian, page 323
• Ġazaryan, Ṙuben, Avetisyan, Henrik (2009) “ծիրան”, in Miǰin hayereni baṙaran [Dictionary of Middle Armenian] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 346b

Old Armenian

Etymology

Uncertain. A presence in at least late Old Armenian is assured by appearance in the Greek section of the Galen dictionary and by the Arabic borrowing ثِيرَان (ṯīrān) attested in a work written in 902–903.

Almost certainly related to Old Armenian ծիրանի (cirani, “purple”) attested since the Classical period (5th c.), although some doubt persists because the purple is not the main color of the apricot.

Even though the apricot has been considered an Armenian fruit (compare Translingual Prunus armeniaca, Latin armeniacum, Italian armellino, Ancient Greek μῆλον Ἀρμενιακόν (mêlon Armeniakón), Arabic [script needed] (tuffāḥ al-armanī, “apricot”)), it is not native to the Armenian Highland but has spread from Central Asia to West Asia to Mediterranean Europe & North Africa. See the Wikipedia article for more.

Closely related to Georgian ჭერამი (č̣erami), Abkhaz а-ҷара́м (a-čʼarám, “apricot”). Possibly also related to several words found in some Indo-Iranian languages of the Hindu Kush, Pamir and Western Himalaya: Yazghulami čiray, Munji čīrī, Prasuni cirẽ, Ashkun cirä̃, Kamkata-viri cirə, Kashmiri ژیر (ċēr), Bhadrawahi [script needed] (čīrõ, “apricot”). Note also Central Kurdish شْڵانە (şillane), شێڵانە (şêllane), Gurani شێڵانێ (šɛłānɛ) and Alviri-Vidari شیلان (šilān, “apricot”).

Old Armenian ծիրանի (cirani, “purple”) is closely related to Svan წჷრნი (c̣ərni), წჷრა̈ნი (c̣əräni, “red”), წჷრან (c̣əran, “measles; pear variety”), possibly also to Tsakhur чӏаран (čʼaran, “red”).

The interralationship of all these forms has not been satisfactorily explained.

Noun

ծիրան • (ciran)

1. apricot (the fruit of Prunus armeniaca)
   • 6th–12th? centuries, Baṙkʻ Gałianosi [The Greek–Armenian Dictionary to Galen] :

     բորոկոկին = ծիրան

     borokokin = ciran

     βερικόκκιον (berikókkion) = apricot

Further reading

More information

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1973) “ծիրան”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume II, Yerevan: University Press, pages 459–460
• Ališan, Ġewond (1895) “ծիրան”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʻiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 1198, pages 273–274
• Bailey, H. W. (1959) “Ambages Indoiranicae”, in AION (Annali Istituto Universitario Orientale di Napoli. Sezione linguistica), volume I, number 2, pages 124–125
• Bailey, H. W. (1990) “An Etymology of Cinnabar”, in Annual of Armenian linguistics‎^[5], volume 11, pages 18–19
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010) “ծիրան”, in Vahan Sargsyan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, pages 363–364, compares with Proto-Indo-European *ǵerh₂- (“to grow old, mature”), whence Old Armenian ծեր (cer, “old”), noting especially the derived term *ǵr̥h₂nóm (“grain”, literally “matured, grown old”); for the association of apricots with ripening compare the ultimate derivation of English apricot from Latin praecox (“ripe before its time, premature”)
• Kapancjan, G. A. (1951) “Хурритские слова армянского языка [The Hurrian words of Armenian]”, in HSSṘ GA Teġekagir hasarakakan gitutʻyunneri [Bulletin of the Academy of Sciences of the Armenian SSR: Social Sciences]‎^[6] (in Russian), number 5, pages 34–35
• Laufer, Berthold (1919) Sino-Iranica: Chinese contributions to the history of civilization in ancient Iran, with special reference to the history of cultivated plants and products (Fieldiana, Anthropology; 15), volume 3, Chicago: University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, pages 539–540
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1938) Iranian Pamir Languages (Indo-Iranian Frontier Languages), volume II, Oslo: Instituttet for Sammenlignende Kulturforskning; H. Aschehoug & Co. (W. Nygaard), pages 202–203
• Morgenstierne, Georg (1974) “čiray”, in Etymological Vocabulary of the Shughni Group (Beiträge zur Iranistik; 6), Wiesbaden: Dr Ludwig Reichert Verlag, →ISBN, page 27b
• Müller, Friedrich (1877) “Armeniaca V”, in Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Philosophisch-Historische Classe (in German), volume 88, number 1, page 14
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 450, derives from an Iranian descendant of Proto-Iranian *jr̥Hanyam (“gold”), referring to the fruit's colour; the borrowing would have to be very old for the Armenian consonant shift *dz → ծ (c) to operate, as perhaps in արծաթ (arcatʻ)
• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “ծիրան”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Thorsø, Rasmus (2023) Prehistoric loanwords in Armenian: Hurro-Urartian, Kartvelian, and the unclassified substrate‎^[7], PhD dissertation, Leiden University, pages 87-88
• Viredaz, Rémy (2009) “Notes d'étymologie arménienne II”, in Revue des Études Arméniennes‎^[8] (in French), volume 31, pages 8–18
• Vogt, Hans (1988) Linguistique caucasienne et arménienne (Studia Caucasologica; II)‎^[9] (in French), Oslo: Norwegian University Press, page 128
• Хачикян, М. Л. (1985) Хурритский и урартский языки [The Hurrian and Urartian languages] (Хурриты и урарты; 2) (in Russian), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 140, footnote 50, assumes Hurrian mediation