Reconstruction:Old Persian/nauciš

This Old Persian entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Old Persian

Etymology

Of uncertain origin.

In view of isolated distribution and no obvious correspondences in any other branch of Indo-European, Gamkrelidze / Ivanov consider the word borrowed from Proto-Kartvelian *naʒw- (“spruce”). On the other hand, according to Ačaṙean the Kartvelian forms themselves are borrowed from Iranian.

Gamkrelidze / Ivanov give an alternative native etymology from Proto-Indo-European *néh₂us (“ship”), remarking that in case the direction of borrowing is the reverse, contacts between Iranian and Kartvelian languages would have to be posited as early as the period of Proto-Kartvelian unity, no later than the first half of the second millennium B.C.

Compare also Persian ناژو (nâžu, “pine”), ناجو (nâju, “pine”), ناژون (nâžun, “juniper”), Ossetian нӕзы́ (næzý) / нази (nazi, “pine”), Chechen наж (naž, “oak”), Ingush наж (naž, “oak”) which may be related.

Noun

*nauciš

1. cedar

Derived terms

• 𐎴𐎢𐎨𐎡𐎴 (naučaina, “of cedar”, adjective)

Descendants

• Early Middle Persian: *nōǰ
  • Late Middle Persian: *nōz
    • Persian: نوج (nôj), نوژ (nōž), نوز (nōz)
  • → Old Armenian: նոճ (noč), նոճի (noči, “cypress”)
• → Elamite: 𒈾𒌋𒍢𒅖 (na-u-zí-iš /⁠nauziš⁠/)

References

• Abajev, V. I. (1973) Историко-этимологический словарь осетинского языка [Historical-Etymological Dictionary of the Ossetian Language] (in Russian), volume II, Moscow and Leningrad: Academy Press, pages 177–178
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1977) “նոճ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, volume III, Yerevan: University Press, page 464a
• Brandenstein, Wilhelm, Mayrhofer, Manfred (1964) Handbuch des Altpersischen (in German), Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz, page 134
• Gamkrelidze, Th. V., Ivanov, V. V. (1995) Indo-European and the Indo-Europeans. A Reconstruction and Historical Analysis of a Proto-Language and Proto-Culture. Part I: The Text (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 80), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, pages 545—546
• 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 898
• Edelʹman, D. I. (2015) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume V, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, pages 507–508