# Origin and meaning of Persian Xuršēd



## Dhira Simha

In various sources I came across translations of  Pesian _xuršēd_ as 'radiant sun', in others as 'shining sun' and in Roman Jakobson  ("Marginalia to Vasmer's Russian Etymological Dictionary (Р-Я)", _International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Phonetics_ 1/2 (1959), pp. 266-278.)  as  ‘the worshipped radiant sun’.  As I understand, the new-Persian _xuršēd _is actually a fusion of  Avestan  _hvarə хšаētəm_  where the first part is the h-variant of  Skr. _svar_ 'the sun, sunshine, light, lustre'  and the second bit is comparable to the Present Act. Part. of Skr.  _kṣi '_to burn; to singe':  _kṣāyat_  'burning'. If this is so, my question is where does the meaning 'shining/radiant' come from and also why is it also translated as ‘the worshipped radiant sun’?


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## fdb

Persian _xwaršēδ_ continues Avestan _huuarə-xšaēta-_ which is a merger of the two elements of the (unattested) noun-adjective phrase (nom./acc. neuter) _huuarə xšaētəm_. Av. _huuar- _ (Gathic also _xvan-_) “sun” is a neuter heteroclite, cognate with Skt. _svar-, _Goth. _sunna_, Eng. _sun_ etc.

The best explanation for _xšaēta- _is given by Gershevitch, _Avestan hymn to Mithra_, p. 331: It is a t-expansion of the very common root *xšay-  “be powerful, rule”; _huuar- xšaēta- _is thus originally “the mighty sun”, but the constant juxtaposition with _huuar-_ caused _xšaēta- _ to be reinterpreted as “bright, brilliant”, and used as the epithet of (for example) _raočah- _“light”. It survives in Iron _æхсид_, Digoron _æхсед _“evening glow, morning glow”.


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## aruniyan

fdb said:


> Persian _xwaršēδ_ continues Avestan _huuarə-xšaēta-_ which is a merger of the two elements of the (unattested) noun-adjective phrase (nom./acc. neuter) _huuarə xšaētəm_. Av. _huuar- _ (Gathic also _xvan-_) “sun” is a neuter heteroclite, cognate with Skt. _svar-, _Goth. _sunna_, Eng. _sun_ etc.
> 
> The best explanation for _xšaēta- _is given by Gershevitch, _Avestan hymn to Mithra_, p. 331: It is a t-expansion of the very common root *xšay-  “be powerful, rule”; _huuar- xšaēta- _is thus originally “the mighty sun”, but the constant juxtaposition with _huuar-_ caused _xšaēta- _ to be reinterpreted as “bright, brilliant”, and used as the epithet of (for example) _raočah- _“light”. It survives in Iron _æхсид_, Digoron _æхсед _“evening glow, morning glow”.



_*huuarə-xšaēta*
_
I read somewhere_, xšaēta would seem to refer to the color of the sun (golden or reddish).
_
As in Tamil its செஞ்ஞாயிறு *Sen-*Gyaairu(*attractive/red* Sun).


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## Dhira Simha

Thank you! This is very helpful!


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## Dhira Simha

fdb said:


> It is a t-expansion of the very common root *xšay-  “be powerful, rule”; _huuar- xšaēta- _is thus originally “the mighty sun”, but the constant juxtaposition with _huuar-_ caused _xšaēta- _ to be reinterpreted as “bright, brilliant”, and used as the epithet of (for example) _raočah- _“light”. It survives in Iron _æхсид_, Digoron _æхсед _“evening glow, morning glow”.



Sorry, still pondering on your reply. You had the root *xšay-  “be powerful, rule”  with an asterisk as if it were  a reconstructed root. Have you done it deliberately? There is a root  _xša_- "to rule" in Jackson. I suppose you meant it. Generally, the reasoning "but the constant juxtaposition with _huuar-_ caused _xšaēta- _ to be reinterpreted as “bright, brilliant”" seems rather unconvincing to me. The whole etymology of _xwaršēδ,  _based on the"(unattested) noun-adjective phrase (nom./acc. neuter) _huuarə xšaētəm" _with the added confusion between "mighty" and "shining", appears rather  shaky. I am not arguing with you, just reflecting. I would like to read it in Gershevitch if you give me the full ref. The exact meaning of _xwaršēδ _and its etymology is important for the paper I am working on.  Thank you!


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## fdb

In New Persian _xwaršēδ _(modern Western Persian _xoršid_), _xwar_ (_xor_), and _šēδ_ (_šid_) all mean simply “sun”, though the last two really occur only in old poetry. 

I put the asterisk before xšay- only because it is proto-Iranian. But since this root actually occurs in Avestan the asterisk is superfluous. 

The reference is to I. Gershevitch, _The Avestan hymn to Mithra_, Cambridge University Press, 1959. You should be able to find it in university libraries.


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## Dhira Simha

fdb said:


> In New Persian _xwaršēδ _(modern Western Persian _xoršid_), _xwar_ (_xor_), and _šēδ_ (_šid_) all mean simply “sun”, though the last two really occur only in old poetry. /QUOTE]
> 
> Thank you! I have found the book at British Library. The last question: _xwaršēδ/_ _xoršid_  is also said to mean a sort of a sun-god. This seems  strange. Did such a deity exist in the time modern Persian was spoken?  Does _xwaršēδ/_ _xoršid  _ have any religious connotation at all?  Would it be correct to translate it as ‘the worshipped radiant sun’  as Jakobson had it?


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## fdb

In Muslim Persian _xwaršēδ _has no specifically religious meaning. It just means “sun”. In Zoroastrianism, the sun, moon and a few other astral phenomena are thought of as divine beings. Xwar is a fairly minor deity, and one of the 30 days of the ritual month is dedicated to him. There is also a non-Zoroastrian (Mithraic?), or marginal Zoroastrian, tradition of identifying the god Miθra (Mihr) with the sun, and for this reason in New Persian the sun is also called _mihr_, though in this meaning it is much less frequent that _xwaršēδ_. Gershevitch discusses all this at some length.


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## Dhira Simha

Thank you! I do touch the _mihr  _cult in my paper.  The connection  between _xwaršēδ and  __mihr_ is mentioned in Boyce, M.
Zoroastrians: Their Religious Beliefs and      Practices_, London: Routledge, _*1979* , p.181.


> After recitation of the  Khorshed-Mihr Niyayesh,  whereby the sun  and  Mihr were called  upon  as  witnesses....


  I look forward to reading Gershevitch. Thank you for your useful  information.


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## Phosphorus

fdb said:


> The best explanation for _xšaēta- _is given by Gershevitch, _Avestan hymn to Mithra_, p. 331: It is a t-expansion of the very common root *xšay-  “be powerful, rule”; _huuar- xšaēta- _is thus originally “the mighty sun”, but the constant juxtaposition with _huuar-_ caused _xšaēta- _ to be reinterpreted as “bright, brilliant”, and used as the epithet of (for example) _raočah- _“light”. It survives in Iron _æхсид_, Digoron _æхсед _“evening glow, morning glow”.



I speculate that modern Persian "-shid" may originally be associated with "light" rather than "mighty", because in Central and Southern Kurdish "x/hwer, besides being used on its own, is frequently accompanied by "-taw" (< "tapa-"): "x/hweretaw" (also Hewramani "weretaw"). It is comparable with Per. "mahtaab" or Central Iranian and Semnani "maafto(w)" ~ "moon; moonlight". By the way Ossetic "axse/id" and Kurdish "she" both in senses related to "light" may weaken a connection with a "xshay-*" in sense of "rule" (but perhaps not with a supposed "xshay-*" in sense of "glowing" or the like).

I am not that much introduced with the Avestan grammar and syntax at all but I feel like the "mighty sun" would, based on Gershevitch, give "xshaeta huuar-*" or something in Avesta; while I have the feeling that "huuara xshaet-" might better be interpreted as "_xshaet_ of sun" rather than the "_xshaet_ sun".


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## fdb

Phosphorus said:


> I speculate that modern Persian "-shid" may originally be associated with "light" rather than "mighty", because in Central and Southern Kurdish "x/hwer, besides being used on its own, is frequently accompanied by "-taw" (< "tapa-"): "x/hweretaw" (also Hewramani "weretaw"). It is comparable with Per. "mahtaab" or Central Iranian and Semnani "maafto(w)" ~ "moon; moonlight". By the way Ossetic "axse/id" and Kurdish "she" both in senses related to "light" may weaken a connection with a "xshay-*" in sense of "rule" (but perhaps not with a supposed "xshay-*" in sense of "glowing" or the like).



There is no doubt that _*x__šayta-_ does mean “bright, brilliant, shining” across a broad spectrum of Iranian languages. The problem is how to link this with other Iranian and Indo-European cognates. The explanation which I quoted links it ultimately with _*x__ša(y)-_ , which we find (for example) in Old Persian _x__šāya__ϑiya- > _MP./NP. _šāh_. But this is perhaps not the only possible explanation.




Phosphorus said:


> I am not that much introduced with the Avestan grammar and syntax at all but I feel like the "mighty sun" would, based on Gershevitch, give "xshaeta huuar-*" or something in Avesta; while I have the feeling that "huuara xshaet-" might better be interpreted as "_xshaet_ of sun" rather than the "_xshaet_ sun".



In Avestan the meaning is not determined by the word order, but by the case endings. Avestan _x__šaēta- _is in any event an adjective, not a noun.


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## Phosphorus

Thanks for your clarification professor. So there remain no room for speculating any connection between "-taw" and "-shid", since the later is an adjective.


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## Dhira Simha

Sorry to bother you again, Avestan is not my strength. Would you agree with this statement: "Prejs derived_ Xors_ from the new-Persian_ hor/hur_ ‘sun’ and he took the final -_s_ in _Xors_  not as a part of the root but as a morphological (masc. sing. Nom.)  ending.  Linguistically, this was not correct because nouns are not  declined in New Persian and even in Old Persian and  Avestan nouns in _r_ were _s_-less so the Nom. and Acc. sing. form of _hvar-_ ‘sun’ would be _hvarǝ_."


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## fdb

What language is Xors supposed to be?


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## Dhira Simha

It is a Russian deity from Vladimir's pantheon.

While you are there, perhaps you would also comment on this as well:

"Xuršēd is believed to be a contraction of the unattested (!) Avestan hvarə хšаētəm allegedly meaning ‘the mighty sun’ (Gershevitch, 1959, 331). The fact that this phrase is unattested and also bearing in mind that xšayta- means ‘bright, brilliant, shining’ in many Iranian languages, Xuršēd may also be interpreted simply as ‘bright sun’. Therefore, Jakobson's ‘the worshipped radiant sun’ should be taken with caution."


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## fdb

OK, interesting. You are right to say that _huuar-_ is neuter in Avestan and cannot take _–s/-h/–š_ in the nominative. But I suppose it could have been personified, and transferred to the masculine gender, in which case the nominative could well have been *Xwarš. But perhaps you have a better explanation for the Russian form.


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## mataripis

Dhira Simha said:


> In various sources I came across translations of  Pesian _xuršēd_ as 'radiant sun', in others as 'shining sun' and in Roman Jakobson  ("Marginalia to Vasmer's Russian Etymological Dictionary (Р-Я)", _International Journal of Slavic Linguistics and Phonetics_ 1/2 (1959), pp. 266-278.)  as  ‘the worshipped radiant sun’.  As I understand, the new-Persian _xuršēd _is actually a fusion of  Avestan  _hvarə хšаētəm_  where the first part is the h-variant of  Skr. _svar_ 'the sun, sunshine, light, lustre'  and the second bit is comparable to the Present Act. Part. of Skr.  _kṣi '_to burn; to singe':  _kṣāyat_  'burning'. If this is so, my question is where does the meaning 'shining/radiant' come from and also why is it also translated as ‘the worshipped radiant sun’?


  Is is possible that the word "radiant" can be "golden" or shining? I don't know how " Xursed" is read or pronounced but it is almost "Xrisos" of Ellinika! Xrisos i  think is gold or golden .


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## Dhira Simha

Thank you! It is a good point but  has *Xwarš  ever been attested?


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## Dhira Simha

I have been considering χρυσός. It is very relevant to the work I am doing, however, it is not related to _xuršēd_.  Both the initial  x and the medial  s/_š  _are of a totally different origin.


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## fdb

Dhira Simha said:


> Thank you! It is a good point but  has *Xwarš  ever been attested?



Not as far as I know. But it would be the expected form, assuming the mentioned shift in gender.

Greek χρυσός has no connection with Persian _xwaršēδ_. It is generally agreed that the Greek word (already in Mycenaean as _ku-ru-so_) was borrowed from a Semitic form cognate to Hebrew _ḥārūṣ_, Akkadian _ḫurāṣu_ etc.


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## fdb

Dhira Simha said:


> "Prejs derived_ Xors_ from the new-Persian_ hor/hur_ ‘sun’ _...._



Obviously not New Persian, for the reason that you have stated. If it is from Iranian, then from Old Iranian.


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## Qureshpor

Just a side note. Some Punjabi people of the older generation pronounce this word as "xurshaid" and not "xurshed". I believe this is also the case amongst some Urdu speakers.


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## Dhira Simha

Thank you for your note. This made me dig up in my archive and re-read carefully the passage relating to Xors (God) in Preijs (Прейс, П. Донесение      П. Прейса г. министру народного просвещения из Праги от 26 декабря 1840      года_. Журнал Министерства народного      просвещения, _*1841*_,      29_, Отд. IV, 32-52). I have to admit that I was mistaken. Preijs did  write "new-Persian_ hor/hur_ ‘sun’" but he rejected it as a direct source of Russian _Xors _precisely  because "the people which passed this word on to Russians should have  pronounced in the end the sound -s or similar". I have to revise my  text.


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## Dhira Simha

Sorry,  you use the spelling _huuar  _while in many other sources it is  _hvar_.  Is there a difference? Will it be a mistake if I continue using  _hvar _?


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## fdb

Don't worry about it too much. _hvar_ is the old (Bartholomae) transliteration, _huuar_ is the new (Hoffmann) transliteration. The Avestan character is actually u+u (quite literally : double u), so the new system has its logic.


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## Dhira Simha

Thank you! Your comments have been most helpful!


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