بالدران

Ottoman Turkish

بالدران

Etymology

Akin to Ottoman Turkish بالدرغان (baldırgan, baldırğan, “laserwort, hogweed; hing”), Azerbaijani baldırğan (“hogweed”), Kazakh балдырған (baldyrğan, “hogweed”), убалдырған (ubaldyrğan, “hemlock”), Kyrgyz балтыркан (baltırkan, “hogweed”), Bashkir балтырған (baltırğan, “hogweed”), Tatar балтырган (baltırgan, “hogweed”), Chuvash пултран (pultran) and пултӑран (pult̬ăran, “hogweed”), Tuvan палдырган (paldırgan, “hogweed”), Northern Altai палтырган (paltïrgan, “hogweed; angelica”), Khakas палтырған (paltırğan, “angelica; hogweed”), Chagatai بالدیرغان (baldırğan), بالدیرغو (baldırğu, “hogweed; angelica”). Passed into Northwest Caucasian: Kabardian батыргъэн (batərğɛn, “hogweed”), Adyghe батыргъэн (batərğɛn, “hogweed”), into Western Mari палдыран (paldyran, “hogweed”), and Dari بلدرغو (baldarğū, “hogweed; angelica”).

Ultimately from Proto-Mongolic, reflected as
Middle Mongol ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷᠭᠠᠨ᠎ᠠ (balčirɣan-a, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as ᠪᠠᠯᠴᠢᠷ (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix ᠭᠠᠨᠠ (-ɣana),
Mongolian балчиргана (balčirgana, “false hellebore; angelica”), composed as балчир (balčir, “infant; young, tender, fresh, rank”) + plant name suffix -гана (-gana)

Note how German Baldrian and its Romance appendage Medieval Latin valeriāna from which English valerian, distorted after the verb valēre (“to be powerful”) or also the gentilic name Valerius, derive from this Turkic and Mongolic word, as does Hungarian bojtorján for the burdock – consider the Pannonian Avars for context, direct neighbours of the Germans from the late 6^th to the early 9^th century. The Slavic designation of the valerian that can be reconstructed for the timeframe in question is already a calque of the Latin, *odolěnъ.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /bɑɫdɯˈɾɑn/

Noun

بالدران • (baldıran)

1. poison hemlock (Conium maculatum)

Descendants

• Turkish: baldıran
• → Armenian: պալտըրան (paltəran)

References

• Meyer, Gustav (1893) “Türkische Studien. I. Die griechischen und romanischen Bestandtheile im Wortschatze des Osmanisch-Türkischen”, in Sitzungsberichte der philosophisch-historischen Classe der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften (in German), volume 128, Wien: In Commission bei F. Tempsky, page 28 (wrongly derives Turkish from Italian)
• “Baldrian” in Digitales Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache (deemed the German and Latinate word unexplainable)