گاه

See also: کاه

Persian

Alternative forms

• گه (gah) (metrical variant)

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɡɑːh]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡɑːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡɑːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ɡɑː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ɡɔː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡ̥ɒːʱ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡɔʱ]

Readings
Classical reading?	gāh
Dari reading?	gāh
Iranian reading?	gâh
Tajik reading?	goh

Etymology 1

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (gʾs), 𐫃𐫀𐫍 (gʾh /⁠gāh⁠/, “place, throne, bed; time”), from Old Persian [script needed] (gāθu-, “place; throne, chair”), from Proto-Iranian *gātu- / *gāθu-, from Proto-Indo-Iranian [Term?], from Proto-Indo-European *gʷem- (“to step”). Compare Avestan 𐬔𐬁𐬙𐬎 (gātu, “place, seat, throne”) and Sanskrit गातु (gātú, “going; way; place”). Doublet of جاه (jâh), which passed through Arabic.

Noun

گاه • (gâh)

1. A word for time:
   1. time (in general)

      Synonyms: وقت (vaqt), زمان (zamân)

      در آن گاه ― dar ân gâh ― at that time

   2. (Zoroastrianism) One of the five ritual divisions of a 24-hour day, each with a specific Zoroastrian prayer.
2. A word for place:
   1. office, seat, position
   2. (archaic) throne
   3. (obsolete, except as a suffix) place (in general)

      Synonyms: جا (jâ), مکان (makân)

Derived terms

• گاهنبار (gâhambâr)
• گاهی (gâhi)
• گهگاه (gahgâh)
• گهگدار (gahgodâr)

 

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: gah
• → Northern Kurdish: geh

Suffix

ـگاه • (-gâh)

1. A suffix forming words of location.
2. A suffix forming words of time.

Derived terms

Persian terms suffixed with گاه

Descendants

• → Urdu: گاہ (gāh)

Adverb

گاه • (gâh)

1. Contraction of گاهی (gâhi, “sometimes”).

References

• Rastorgujeva, V. S., Edelʹman, D. I. (2000) Etimologičeskij slovarʹ iranskix jazykov [Etymological Dictionary of Iranian Languages] (in Russian), volume 1, Moscow: Vostochnaya Literatura, page 269

Etymology 2

Inherited from Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (gʾs /⁠gāh⁠/, “Gatha; hymn, song”), from Avestan 𐬔𐬁𐬚𐬁 (gāθā, “Gatha; song”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *gaHtʰás (“song”) from Proto-Indo-European *g⁽ʷ⁾eH-tHó-s, from the root Proto-Indo-European *g⁽ʷ⁾eH- (“to sing, cry”).

Noun

گاه • (gâh)

1. (archaic) hymn, song
2. (Can we verify⁽⁺⁾ this sense?) Gatha, the most archaic segment of the Avesta, composed by Zoroaster himself

Derived terms

• دستگاه (dast-gâh, “dastgah”)
• سه‌گاه (se-gâh)

 

References

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “گاه”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “gāh”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 34