Old Armenian edit

Etymology edit

According to Ačaṙyan, the original meaning is “to speak”. For the semantic shift compare English spell (speech; magical spell). He derives the word from Proto-Indo-European *tow- (to talk, to read), with Sanskrit स्तुते (stute, to praise), Avestan 𐬯𐬙𐬎- (stu-, to praise) as cognates. Pokorny lists the Aryan words with Ancient Greek στεῦται (steûtai, to promise or threaten that one will) under Proto-Indo-European *stew- (to praise loudly) without Armenian. J̌ahukyan finds Ačaṙyan's etymology improbable and proposes derivation from Proto-Indo-European *tow-, from *tew- (to be attentive in a friendly manner).

Verb edit

թովեմ (tʻovem)

  1. (transitive) to cast a spell, to charm, to enchant
  2. (transitive) to incite, to provoke (into doing something bad)

Conjugation edit

Derived terms edit

Descendants edit

  • Armenian: թովել (tʻovel)

References edit