شنگرف

Persian

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian [Term?] (unattested, but borrowed into Arabic زِنْجَفْر (zinjafr, “cinnabar, vermilion”)), inherited from Old Persian 𐎿𐎡𐎣𐎲𐎽𐎢𐏁 (s-i-k-b-ru-u-š /⁠sinkabruš⁠⁠/, “carnelian”). Achaemenid-era Akkadian ṣingabrû (“carnelian”) is most likely not the source of the Persian, but rather an Akkadian transcription of the Persian word. For the etymology beyond Old Persian, compare Sanskrit हिङ्गुल (hiṅgula, “cinnabar, vermilion”) as well as Persian شنگار (šengâr, “bugloss (flower used for red dye)”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʃan.ˈɡaɾf]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃäŋ.ɡǽɾf]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃäŋ.ɡǽɾf]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʃäŋ.ɡǽɾf]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʃäŋ.ɡǽɾf]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃæɲ.ɡʲǽɹf]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃäŋ.ɡǽɾf]

Readings
Classical reading?	šangarf
Dari reading?	šangarf
Iranian reading?	šangarf
Tajik reading?	šangarf

Noun

شنگرف • (šangarf)

1. cinnabar, vermilion
2. (by extension) any red dye or ink
   • c. 1520, Selim I of the Ottoman Empire, edited by Benedek Péri, The Persian Dīvān of Yavuz Sulṭān Selīm, Budapest, Hungary: Research Centre for the Humanities, Eötvös Loránd Research Network, →ISBN, page 131:

     خامه مژگان سلیمی ساز پر شنگرف اشک
     زان که وصف لعل آن شیرین دهن خواهم نوشت

     xāma-yi mužagān-i salīmī sāz pur-i šangarf-i ašk
     z-ān ki wasf-i la'l-i ān šīrīn dahan xwāham niwišt

     Make the brush of Selim's eyelashes full of the red ink of tears [red from eyes bloodshot due to weeping]
     For I will write descriptions of the ruby [metaphor: lips as red as rubies] of her sweet mouth.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Further reading

• Hayyim, Sulayman (1934) “شنگرف”, in New Persian–English dictionary, Teheran: Librairie-imprimerie Béroukhim