سبز

See also: سپر, ستر, and شتر

Persian

Alternative forms

  • سوز (sowz) (dialectal, Kazerun, Bushehr, Borazjan)

Etymology

From Middle Persian spz, sbz (sabz, green, fresh), of uncertain origin.

Morgenstierne derives the word from an unattested form [script needed] (*sapači-) and connects it, along with Pashto سابه (sābə́, vegetables, greens), to Ancient Greek κῆπος (kêpos, garden).[1]

Henning is skeptical of this, however, and relates the word to Parthian [script needed] (‘spyxt, radiant, verdant), deriving both from Proto-Iranian *(H)spar(H)- (to sprout, bloom, blossom), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pregʰ- (to scatter, to jerk);[2] compare Latin spargō (to scatter, strew), Old Irish arg (a drop), Lithuanian sprogti (a bud, a shoot), Northern Sami sprygg (active, brisk), Old Norse freknur (speckles) (whence English freckle), Avestan 𐬟𐬭𐬀-𐬯𐬞𐬀𐬭𐬈𐬔𐬀 (fra-sparega, twig, branch, something jerked off of a tree), Sanskrit पर्जन्य (parjanya, rain god, rain).

Cheung does not consider Parthian [script needed] (‘spyxt) to be descended from Proto-Iranian *(H)spar(H)-,[3] and instead derives it from Proto-Iranian *spaič / *spaiǰ (to shine; to bloom), which appears to be an exclusively Iranian root.[4]

Pronunciation

 

Readings
Classical reading? sabz
Dari reading? sabz
Iranian reading? sabz
Tajik reading? sabz
Dari سبز
Iranian Persian
Tajik сабз

Noun

سبز • (sabz) (plural سبزها)

  1. green

Adjective

سبز • (sabz)

  1. green

Descendants

  • Assamese: সেউজ (xeuz)
  • Baluchi: سبز (sabz)
  • Bengali: সবুজ (śobuj)
  • Hindi: सब्ज़ (sabz)
  • Odia: ସବୁଜ (sabuja)
  • Punjabi: ਸਬਜ਼ (sabaz)
  • Urdu: سبز (sabz)

See also

References

  1. ^ Morgenstierne, Georg (1927) “210 (> sābah > sabz)”, in An Etymological Vocabulary of Pashto (Skrifter utgitt av det Norske Videnskapsakademi i Oslo; 3), Oslo: J. Dybwad, page 66
  2. ^ Henning, Walter (1947) “Two Manichaen Magical Texts with an Excursus on the Parthian Ending -endeh”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, volume 12, number 1, Cambridge University Press, pages 46-47
  3. ^ Cheung, Johnny (2007) “*(H)spar(H)ǰ”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, pages 198-199
  4. ^ Cheung, Johnny (2007) “*spaič (*spaiǰ)”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Iranian Verb (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 2), Leiden, Boston: Brill, →ISBN, page 350

Urdu

Etymology

Borrowed from Classical Persian سَبْز (sabz), itself from Middle Persian spz, sbz (sabz, green, fresh). Compare Kashmiri سَبٕز (sabụz).

Pronunciation

Adjective

سَبْز • (sabz) (Hindi spelling सब्ज़)

  1. green
  2. raw
  3. unripe
  4. fresh

Synonyms