پرسیاوشان

Persian

پرسیاوشان

Siyāwaš in a Šahnāma manuscript

Alternative forms

• پرشیاوشان (paršeyâvošân, paršeyâvašân, paršeyâvešân), پرسیاووشان (parseyâvušân), پرسیاوش (parseyâvoš, parseyâvaš), پرسیاووش (parseyâvuš)
• پر سیاوشان, پر شیاوشان, پر سیاووشان, پر سیاوش, پر سیاووش (with ezafe vowel)

Etymology

Inherited from Middle Persian *par-⁠i siyāwaxš⁠ān equivalent to Neo-Persian پر (par, “feather”) + a by-form of سیاوش (siyāwuš) unattested in isolation, likening the plant to the mythological character’s crested helmet, in a cultural contrast to the Western ideas that conceived it as “maidenhair fern”. In the S͟ẖahnāme then the term was reinforced as the legendary prince falls into the hands of افراسیاب (afrāsiyāb) and then where his blood was spilled this plant grew, beyond خون سیاوشان (xūn-i siyāwušān, “dragon's blood, Dracaena cinnabari”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [paɾ.si.jɑː.wu.ʃɑːn], [paɾ.si.jɑː.wa.ʃɑːn], [paɾ.si.jɑː.wi.ʃɑːn]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wʊ.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wä.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wɪ.ʃɑːn]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wʊ.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wä.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wɪ.ʃɑːn]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wʊ.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wä.ʃɑːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɑː.wɪ.ʃɑːn]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [pʰäɾ.si.jɔː.wu.ʃɔːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɔː.wä.ʃɔːn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɔː.wi.ʃɔːn]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰæɹ.si.jɒː.vo.ʃɒːn], [pʰæɹ.si.jɒː.væ.ʃɒːn], [pʰæɹ.si.jɒː.ve.ʃɒːn]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [pʰäɾ.si.jɔ.vu.ʃɔn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɔ.vä.ʃɔn], [pʰäɾ.si.jɔ.vi.ʃɔn]

Readings
Classical reading?	parsiyāwušān, parsiyāwašān, parsiyāwišān
Iranian reading?	parsiyâvošân, parsiyâvašân, parsiyâvešân
Tajik reading?	parsiyovušon, parsiyovašon, parsiyovišon

Noun

پرسیاوشان • (parseyâvošân, parseyâvašân, parseyâvešân)

1. maidenhair fern (Adiantum capillus-veneris)

Descendants

• → Arabic: بَرْسِيَاوَشَان (barsiyāwašān), بَرْشِيَاوَشَان (baršiyāwašān), بَرْسَاوَشَان (barsāwašān), بَرْشَاوَشَان (baršāwašān)

Further reading

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “پر سیاوشان”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Hammer-Purgstall, Joseph Freiherr von (1844) “[Recension of] Le livre des rois par Abou’l Kasim Firdousi, publié, traduit et commente par M. Jules Mohl. Paris 1842”, in Jahrbücher der Literatur, volume 107, Wien: Carl Gerold, pages 108 of 101–115
• Lagarde, Paul de (1877) Armenische Studien (in German), Göttingen: Dieterich, pages 116–117 § 1688
• Lagarde, Paul de (1884) Persische Studien (Abhandlungen der Königlichen Gesellschaft der Wissenschaften in Göttingen; 31) (in German), Göttingen, page 76
• Löw, Immanuel (1881) Aramæische Pflanzennamen‎^[1] (in German), Leipzig: Wilhelm Engelmann, page 278 Nr. 223