# Etymology of Persian هزینه/haziné “expenditure, cost, budget”



## PersoLatin

Is this word a corruption of Arabic خزینه/xazina?


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## raamez

But Arabic xazinah does not mean any of these.


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## Apollodorus

According to Wiktionary, Persian _xazine_ (خزینه), “treasury”, is from Arabic _ḵazīna_ (خَزِينَة‎), which is “from the root خ ز ن‎ (_ḵ-z-n_), likely from the same Iranian circle like كَنْز‎ (_kanz_) from Old Median _*ganǰəm_ (“treasure, treasury”)”.


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## PersoLatin

raamez said:


> But Arabic xazinah does not mean any of these.


What does it mean then please?


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## PersoLatin

Apollodorus said:


> According to Wiktionary, Persian _xazine_ (خزینه), “treasury”, is from Arabic _ḵazīna_ (خَزِينَة‎), which is “from the root خ ز ن‎ (_ḵ-z-n_), likely from the same Iranian circle like كَنْز‎ (_kanz_) from Old Median _*ganǰəm_ (“treasure, treasury”)”


So گنجینه/ganjiné (from _ganj_) which most likely was گنزینه/ganziné to هزینه/haziné, is that a correct conclusion?


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## Apollodorus

PersoLatin said:


> So گنجینه/ganjiné (from _ganj_) which most likely was گنزینه/ganziné to هزینه/haziné, is that a correct conclusion?



Wiktionary also says that Turkish _hazine_ is

“from Ottoman Turkish [_hazîne_] خزینه‎ (“treasure; treasury”), from Arabic خَزِينَة‎ (_ḵazīna_), *of Iranian origin*” (my emphasis).

The logical implication seems to be that it's an Iranian word.


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## raamez

PersoLatin said:


> What does it mean then please?


vault


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## Apollodorus

A "vault" can be a place/room where treasure (valuables) is kept, i.e., a _treasury_. See Wiktionary:

“Arabic خَزِينَة • (_ḵazīna_) _f_ (_plural_ خَزَائِن‎ (_ḵazāʾin_))

1. treasury, closet (room where valuables are stored)”.

According to Wiktionary, Old Median _*ganǰəm_ means both "treasure" (valuables) and "treasury" (room/vault where treasure is stored).


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## PersoLatin

In modern Persian گنجه/ganjé means closet.


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## Platytude

Apollodorus said:


> “from Ottoman Turkish [_hazîne_] خزینه‎ (“treasure; treasury”), from Arabic خَزِينَة‎ (_ḵazīna_), *of Iranian origin*” (my emphasis).


Turkish _h_ instead of Arabic _x_ is common but Persian retains Arabic _x_. Persian speakers were well-versed in Arabic from very early on. The idea of them not knowing how to pronounce or spell _xazīna _is interesting_._ If _hazīna _is from Arabic, it would have been borrowed and redefined by a Persian dialect (maybe western) before the ancestor of the later mainstream Persian (eastern) borrowed _xazīna. _

By the way, Arabic x_azīna _is not an Iranian loanword, but its root (x-z-n) is (via Aramaic, perhaps)_._ This means Persian _hazīna _could not be natively related to Arabic _xazīna. _


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## Apollodorus

Old Median _*ganǰəm_ is a reconstruction. But if (a) it actually existed and (b) it meant “treasure” and treasury”, it may be connected with both the Persian and Arabic words.

The way I interpret the Wiktionary page on Turkish _hazine_ is that it is from Arabic _ḵazīna_ which is from Iranian.

See also the Wiktionary page on _*ganǰəm_:

“Arabic خَزِينَة‎ (_ḵazīna_, “treasury”) apparently from a cognate Iranian stock”.

The same page states that the descendants of _*ganǰəm_ include:

Hebrew _g'nazím_ (גנזים) “treasures, hordes”;

Ancient Greek _gáza_ (γάζα), “treasury, treasure”;

Akkadian _ka₄-an-za_;

Imperial Aramaic _gnzʾ /*ganzā/_;

Arabic: كَنْز‎ (_kanz_), “treasure”, etc.

Ancient Greek _gáza_ (γάζα) was apparently borrowed from the Achaemenids (550–330 BC) who got it from Old Median, whereas Turkish _hazine_ must have been borrowed from Arabic in the Middle Ages. So, chronology is an important factor.


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## Platytude

Apollodorus said:


> The way I interpret the Wiktionary page on Turkish _hazine_ is that it is from Arabic _ḵazīna_ which is from Iranian.





Apollodorus said:


> The same page states that the descendants of _*ganǰəm_ include


Iranian _ganj _had already two forms _ganj_ and its metathesized _gazn _(or _γazn_)***_. _Both of them were borrowed in a number of languages, at different points of time. In Arabic, the former became _kanz_ (treasure) and the latter (_γazn_) became the _xzn _root (to store), which gave a large number of derivatives including _maxzan_ (store, and its plural _maxāzin_, the root of "magazine"), _xāzin _(treasurer), _xazāna _and _xazīna _(both meaning storage chamber, treasury), etc.

There is no doubt that Arabic _xazīna _is *not *Iranian, but a native Arabic derivative of an Arabic root (though *only *that root was an Iranian loan). Therefore, it is was *not *possible to create _hazina _in Persian as a cognate to _xazīna_, because Persian doesn't have a tri-radical morphology like Arabic. This is why either _xazīna_ and_ hazīna _are unrelated or the latter is a loan from Arabic, i.e. the former_. 

* _Which one was the metathesis of the other, probably the latter.


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## bearded

Platytude said:


> Iranian _ganj _had already two forms _ganj_ and its metathesized _gazn_


Probably absurd, but: is there a possible connection with Arabic غني (ghanii) = rich (see above: treasure...).


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## Apollodorus

What seems clear from Wiktionary is that Arabic خَزِينَة‎ (_ḵazīna_), “treasury” goes back to Old Median:

Arabic _ḵazīna_ is from a cognate Iranian stock. – Old Median/ganǰəm - Wiktionary

Arabic _ḵazīna_ is from the same Iranian circle like كَنْز‎ (_kanz_) from Old Median _*ganǰəm_ (“treasure, treasury”) – خزينة - Wiktionary

Arabic _kanz_, “treasure” is from Old Median _*ganǰəm_ (“treasure”). – كنز - Wiktionary

It is possible that the Iranian (Old Median) word entered Arabic in Achaemenid times (perhaps via Aramaic) and the Arabic word derived from it was later adopted by Middle Persian (presumably after the Arab conquest of Persia in the seventh century AD).

So, we’ve got Persian _xazine_, “treasury”, from Arabic _ḵazīna_ and Persian _hazine_, “cost, expenditure”, from …?


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## Platytude

Apollodorus said:


> It is possible that the Iranian (Old Median) word entered Arabic in Achaemenid times (perhaps via Aramaic)


Not that far back. They could have easily been borrowed a century before and after Islam. In the textual evidence, _kanz _appears earlier (it's mentioned in Quran). Aramaic had the k- version at that time, and a g->k- directly from Middle Persian also makes sense. The root _xzn_ is attested in a hadith (as a noun meaning gatekeeper). The wording of the hadith may or may not be authentic. If it's, this means the root also existed during Muhammad's lifetime, otherwise, it's probably a Persian-associated Abbasid invention. In the latter case, it would have come from a Persian/Iranian dialect with a _γazn _version (probably in East, cf. the city of Ghazni in Afghanistan). 

If my guess is right, the root then naturally generated _xazīna _(treasury) in Arabic which was then borrowed twice by Persian, once by Arabic-educated Persians who used it correctly, and another time by less-educated Persians, probably mercenaries or labourers, with the notion of "budget (from treasury)". The latter Persian speakers did not distinguish between_ h_ and_ x_ (that was actually a thing in MP). The difference in meaning and register let both words coexist.


bearded said:


> Probably absurd, but: is there a possible connection with Arabic غني (ghanii) = rich (see above: treasure...).


No. The last consonant (z or j) couldn't disappear in Arabic.


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## Derakhshan

A compelling theory, and I recall that Luri has the change of initial _x_ > _h_ even in some Arabic words (the direction of change from Middle to New Persian is _h_ > _x_ e.g. _hušk_ > _xošk_), but I'm afraid هزينه and خزينه are totally unrelated (despite Dehkhoda saying they are). 

هزینه comes directly from Middle Persian _uzēnag_ "cost; expenditure". For further etymology of the Middle Persian, perhaps @fdb  can help?


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## Apollodorus

Platytude said:


> If it's, this means the root also existed during Muhammad's lifetime, otherwise, it's probably a Persian-associated Abbasid invention. In the latter case, it would have come from a Persian/Iranian dialect with a _γazn _version (probably in East, cf. the city of Ghazni in Afghanistan).



The eastern connection sounds interesting. Incidentally, the name of the city of Ganzak is said to mean “treasury” from Old Median adopted into Persian during the Achaemenid Empire.

Ganzak - Wikipedia

Cf. GANZAK – Encyclopaedia Iranica (iranicaonline.org)

So, there is _gazn_- and _ganz_-.

In any case, Wiktionary’s affirmation “the Arabic word _x_ goes back to Old Median _y_” leaves many questions open. A more detailed (and evidence-based) chronology would be helpful, IMO.


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## Derakhshan

So, _uzēnag_ should be from _uzēnīdan_ "to expend", from preverb _uz_- "out, outwards", causative -_ēn_-, and nominal suffix -_ag_. For semantics cf. Latin _expendō_ "pay out".


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## PersoLatin

Derakhshan said:


> _uzēnīdan_ "to expend", from preverb _uz_- "out, outwards",


Hi Derakhshan, can you please provide a reference for the verb _uzēnīdan, _any information will be appreciated.

Also, has preverb _uz_- survived in NP in any form?


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## Derakhshan

PersoLatin said:


> Hi Derakhshan, can you please provide a reference for the verb _uzēnīdan, _any information will be appreciated.


It's not listed in any dictionaries or wordlists that I've checked, but _uzīdan_ "go out" is.

I found an example of _uzēnīd_ in this Pahlavi manuscript used as a past participle and translated "expenditure", attached a screenshot.


PersoLatin said:


> Also, has preverb _uz_- survived in NP in any form?


I don't know to be honest.


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