-stʾn'

Middle Persian

Alternative forms

• -𐭮𐭲𐭭 (-stn /⁠-estān⁠/) — Inscriptional Pahlavi
• -ystʾʾn (-estān) — Manichaean

Etymology

From Old Persian 𐎿𐎫𐎠𐎴 (s-t-a-n /⁠stāna⁠/), from Proto-Iranian *stā́nam (compare Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬁𐬥𐬀 (stāna)), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *sthā́nam (compare Sanskrit स्थान (sthā́na)), from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand”). Compare Old Armenian -ստան (-stan), an Iranian borrowing.

Suffix

-stʾn' • (-estān)

1. makes nouns of places

   ʾswlstʾn' ― Asōrestān ― Assyria, Persian Mesopotamia

   hndwstʾn' ― Hindūstān ― India

   cynstʾn' ― Čīnestān ― China

   dhmkstʾn' ― daxmagestān ― cemetry

   dpyrstʾn' ― dibīrestān ― school

2. of indeterminate function

   ẕmstʾn' ― Zamestān ― winter

   dʾtstʾn' ― dādestān ― law

   bʾlstʾn' ― bārestān ― patient, resigned

Derived terms

Middle Persian terms suffixed with -stʾn'

• bwdstʾn' (bōyestān)
• bʾlstʾn' (bārestān)
• cynstʾn' (Čīnestān)
• dhmkstʾn' (daxmagestān)
• dpyrstʾn' (dibīrestān)
• dʾtstʾn' (dādestān)
• gwstʾn' (gōstān)
• hmdʾtstʾn' (ham-dādestān)
• hndwstʾn' (Hindūstān)
• hwcstʾn' / 𐭧𐭥𐭰𐭮𐭲𐭭 (Hūzestān)
• hylptstʾn' (hērbedestān)
• KNYAstʾn' (nayestān)
• MDYNA (šahrestān)
• plʾhngstʾn' (frahangestān)
• skstʾn' (Sagestān)
• swkwstʾn' (Sōgestān)
• tplstʾn' (Tabarestān)
• twlkstʾn' (Turkestān)
• tʾp̄stʾn' (tābestān)
• špstʾn' (šabestān)
• ʾswlstʾn' / 𐭠𐭮𐭥𐭥𐭮𐭲𐭭 (Asōrestān)
• ẕmstʾn' (zamestān)

 

Descendants

• Persian: ـستان (-estân)
  • → English: -stan

References

• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press