Publisher's Synopsis
The Etymological Dictionary of Persian is the most comprehensive and up-to-date work in the field of New Persian historical lexicology and etymology, since the publication of P. Horn's Grundriss (1893) and H. Hübschman's Persische Studien (1895). It synthesizes the achievements of Iranian, and Indo-European, comparative linguistics over the last century with regard to the study of the inherited lexicon of Persian. The dictionary covers the principal vocabulary of the Persian language attested in sources such as: Classical poetry, historical narratives, early Judaeo-Persian texts, medical treatises, mediaeval dictionaries ('Farhangs'), as well as its use in modern urban vernaculars. Included in the listing, moreover, is a sizable amount of non-Turko-Mongolian and Arabic lexemes, particularly borrowings from Greek, Indian, and Caucasian languages. Copious references are given to the relevant literature, whereby each lemma is supplied with an extensive bibliography. The lemmas are rendered in the original Arabo-Persian script followed by a transcription, and are arranged according to the Arabic alphabet. The indexes, a.o. include, a detailed list of discussed New Persian forms both in their original alphabet and in transcription, as well as the different languages. The Etymological Dictionary of Persian is a basic source for Indo-Europeanists and experts in comparative linguistics, as well as a reference guide for those researching and studying Persian languages.
