یلدا

Persian edit

FWOTD – 16 June 2014

Persian Wikipedia has an article on:

یلدا

Etymology edit

Loanword (with accompanying change of meaning) from Persian Christian technical term for Christmas, in the early church celebrated on the winter solstice, from Syriac Christian technical term for Christmas, Classical Syriac ܝܠܕܐ (yaldā, “birth, nativity”), i.e. of Christ.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Pronunciation edit

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [jal.ˈdɑː]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [jäl̪.d̪ɑ́ː]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [jäl̪.d̪ɑ́ː]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [jäl̪.d̪ɔ́ː]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [jæl̪.d̪ɒ́ː]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [jäl̪.d̪ɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading^?	yaldā
Dari reading^?	yaldā
Iranian reading^?	yaldâ
Tajik reading^?	yaldo

Proper noun edit

یلدا • (yaldâ)

Yalda, an Iranian festival celebrated during the longest and darkest night of the year (i.e. winter solstice)^[3]
- 1184-1291, Saadi Shirazi, Divan, ghazal #112
  نظر به روی تو هر بامداد نوروزیست
  شب فراق تو هر شب که هست یلداییست
  nazar ba rōy-i tu har bāmdād Naurōzēst
  šab-i firāq-i tu har šab ki hast Yaldāēst
  (please add an English translation of this quotation)
a female given name, Yalda

Derived terms edit

شب یلدا (šab-e yaldâ)

References edit

^ Āryān, Qamar. (1999). "Christianity VI: In Persian Literature." Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 5, f5. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers. pp. 539-542.[p. 541] "Persian or persianized forms in the second category [i.e. 'words and phrases that entered Persian ... as a result of contacts with Christian communities in Persia'] are fewer, for example, [...] yaldā (winter solstice, i.e., Christmas)."
^ Dehkhoda, Ali Akbar; et al. (1995). "یلدا". Loghat Nāmeh Dehkhodā: The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Persian Language. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers.
"[...] Syriac word for Noel [...]"
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Krasnowolska, Anna. (2009). "Sada Festival." Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition. New York: iranicaonline.org.[par. 8] "In Islamic Persia, the night of the winter solstice (the last night of autumn) was known under its Syriac name of Šab-e Yaldā (the night of nativity) [...]. Being the longest and the darkest night of the year, additionally connected with Christianity, Šab-e Yaldā usually has negative connotations in Persian poetry ([...])"[par. 7] "Yet, the authors, who reported on the fire festivals [call them X, Y and Z] interchangeably, thus identifying Sada with the Christian holiday of the Christmas which approximately falls on the winter solstice."
^ Krasnowolska, Anna. (1999). "Šab-e Čella." Folia Orientalia 35. pp. 55-74.[p. 56] "in multicultural areas of the Middle East, Christmas (Syr. Yaldā- "Nativity") was celebrated by local Christians. The festival's name (maybe with some elements of its rite) passed to their non-Christian neighbours".[p. 59] "The Syriac term yaldā, adopted in Persian for the longest night of the year, [...]"

[EIr_Chr4-1] Āryān, Qamar. (1999). "Christianity VI: In Persian Literature." Encyclopedia Iranica, vol. 5, f5. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers. pp. 539-542.[p. 541] "Persian or persianized forms in the second category [i.e. 'words and phrases that entered Persian ... as a result of contacts with Christian communities in Persia'] are fewer, for example, [...] yaldā (winter solstice, i.e., Christmas)."

[Dekhoda-2] Dehkhoda, Ali Akbar; et al. (1995). "یلدا". Loghat Nāmeh Dehkhodā: The Encyclopaedic Dictionary of the Persian Language. Costa Mesa: Mazda Publishers.
"[...] Syriac word for Noel [...]"

[EIr_Sada-3] 3.0 ^3.1 Krasnowolska, Anna. (2009). "Sada Festival." Encyclopedia Iranica, online edition. New York: iranicaonline.org.[par. 8] "In Islamic Persia, the night of the winter solstice (the last night of autumn) was known under its Syriac name of Šab-e Yaldā (the night of nativity) [...]. Being the longest and the darkest night of the year, additionally connected with Christianity, Šab-e Yaldā usually has negative connotations in Persian poetry ([...])"[par. 7] "Yet, the authors, who reported on the fire festivals [call them X, Y and Z] interchangeably, thus identifying Sada with the Christian holiday of the Christmas which approximately falls on the winter solstice."

[FO_Chella-4] Krasnowolska, Anna. (1999). "Šab-e Čella." Folia Orientalia 35. pp. 55-74.[p. 56] "in multicultural areas of the Middle East, Christmas (Syr. Yaldā- "Nativity") was celebrated by local Christians. The festival's name (maybe with some elements of its rite) passed to their non-Christian neighbours".[p. 59] "The Syriac term yaldā, adopted in Persian for the longest night of the year, [...]"

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