پوچ

See also: بوح and بوچ

Persian

Etymology

Uncertain. The word does not occur in Middle Persian writings, except possibly in the Dēnkard, a 10th-century compendium, where it can be interpreted as "nihility";^[1] whence it would be inherited from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (pwc /⁠pūč⁠/). The word became widespread in Iranian varieties first in the fifteenth century onward, but existed before it.^[1]

Possibly from the onomatopoetic Proto-Iranian *pū- (“to blow”), whence also Persian (pūk / puk, “hollow”).^[2] Has been compared to Middle Persian [Term?] (/⁠pūdag⁠/, “foul, rotten”).^[1]

Compare, however, also Proto-Turkic *boĺ (“free, empty”).

Iranic cognates

Cognate with Northern Kurdish pûç, Gurani [script needed] (pūt), Shughni [script needed] (pūč), Sangisari پوچ (pūč), Zazaki puç, Talysh püç (“empty”), possibly also dialectal Talysh poş (“empty”) (unless the latter is from Azerbaijani boş).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ˈpuːt͡ʃ/

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰuːt͡ʃ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [pʰuːt͡ʃ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [pʰut͡ʃ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰuːt͡ʃʰ]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰut͡ʃ]

Rhymes: -uːt͡ʃ

Readings
Classical reading^?	pūč
Dari reading^?	pūč
Iranian reading^?	puč
Tajik reading^?	puč

Adjective

پوچ • (pūč / puč) (Tajik spelling пуч)

empty, vacant
injudicious, ignorant, absurd

Derived terms

پوچی (pūčī / puči)
پوچ‌گرایی (pūč-garāyī / puč-garâyi, “nihilism”)

Descendants

→ Armenian: փուչ (pʻučʻ)
→ Azerbaijani: puç
→ Georgian: ფუჭი (puč̣i)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Yusef, Saadat (2020), “Contributions to Middle Persian Lexicography”, in The Digital Archive of Brief Notes & Iran Review (DABIR), volume 7, pages 128–148
^ Cabolov, R. L. (2010), Etimologičeskij slovarʹ kurdskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Kurdish Language] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Russian Academy Press Vostochnaya Literatura, page 124