परशु

See also: पर्शु

Sanskrit

Alternative scripts

পৰশু (Assamese script)
ᬧᬭᬰᬸ (Balinese script)
পরশু (Bengali script)
𑰢𑰨𑰫𑰲 (Bhaiksuki script)
𑀧𑀭𑀰𑀼 (Brahmi script)
ပရၐု (Burmese script)
પરશુ (Gujarati script)
ਪਰਸ਼ੁ (Gurmukhi script)
𑌪𑌰𑌶𑍁 (Grantha script)
ꦥꦫꦯꦸ (Javanese script)
𑂣𑂩𑂬𑂳 (Kaithi script)
ಪರಶು (Kannada script)
បរឝុ (Khmer script)
ປຣຨຸ (Lao script)
പരശു (Malayalam script)
ᢒᠠᡵᠠᡧᡠ (Manchu script)
𑘢𑘨𑘫𑘳 (Modi script)
ᢒᠠᠷᠠᠱᠤ (Mongolian script)
𑧂𑧈𑧋𑧔 (Nandinagari script)
𑐥𑐬𑐱𑐸 (Newa script)
ପରଶୁ (Odia script)
ꢦꢬꢯꢸ (Saurashtra script)
𑆥𑆫𑆯𑆶 (Sharada script)
𑖢𑖨𑖫𑖲 (Siddham script)
පරශු (Sinhalese script)
𑩰𑩼𑩿𑩒 (Soyombo script)
𑚞𑚤𑚧𑚰 (Takri script)
பரஶு (Tamil script)
పరశు (Telugu script)
ปรศุ (Thai script)
པ་ར་ཤུ (Tibetan script)
𑒣𑒩𑒬𑒳 (Tirhuta script)
𑨞𑨫𑨮𑨃 (Zanabazar Square script)

Etymology

Cognate with Ossetian фӕрӕт (færæt, “axe”) and Ancient Greek πέλεκυς (pélekus, “axe”),^[1]^[2] and hence apparently reconstructible back to Proto-Indo-European^[1]^[2] as *peleḱús (“axe”), though not derivable from PIE morphology or known roots. The word is often considered a Wanderwort,^[1] and the similarity of Akkadian 𒁄 (pilaqqu, “wooden handle; spindle, harp”) (from Sumerian 𒁄 (balag, “wooden handle; spindle, harp; possibly a split piece of wood or wooden wedge”)) has led some to suggest that the Proto-Indo-European word is a borrowing of the Akkadian word.^[3]^[1]^[2] Alternatively from another Semitic word, from the root *palaq- (compare Arabic فَلَقَ (falaqa, “to split apart”)). (Can this⁽⁺⁾ etymology be sourced?)

Pronunciation

(Vedic) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɾɐ.ɕú/
(Classical Sanskrit) IPA^(key): /pɐ.ɾɐ.ɕu/

Noun

परशु • (paraśú) stem, m ^[3]

a hatchet, an axe

Declension

Masculine u-stem declension of परशु
	singular	dual	plural
nominative	परशुः (paraśúḥ)	परशू (paraśū́)	परशवः (paraśávaḥ)
vocative	परशो (páraśo)	परशू (páraśū)	परशवः (páraśavaḥ)
accusative	परशुम् (paraśúm)	परशू (paraśū́)	परशून् (paraśū́n)
instrumental	परशुना (paraśúnā) परश्वा¹ (paraśvā́¹)	परशुभ्याम् (paraśúbhyām)	परशुभिः (paraśúbhiḥ)
dative	परशवे (paraśáve) परश्वे¹ (paraśvé¹)	परशुभ्याम् (paraśúbhyām)	परशुभ्यः (paraśúbhyaḥ)
ablative	परशोः (paraśóḥ) परश्वः¹ (paraśváḥ¹)	परशुभ्याम् (paraśúbhyām)	परशुभ्यः (paraśúbhyaḥ)
genitive	परशोः (paraśóḥ) परश्वः¹ (paraśváḥ¹)	परश्वोः (paraśvóḥ)	परशूनाम् (paraśūnā́m)
locative	परशौ (paraśaú)	परश्वोः (paraśvóḥ)	परशुषु (paraśúṣu)

¹Vedic

Derived terms

परशुराम (paraśurāma)

Descendants

Pali: parasu, pharasu
Prakrit: 𑀧𑀭𑀲𑀼 (parasu)
- Central:
  - Hindustani: parsā, parsiyā
    - Hindi: परसा, परसिया
    - Urdu: پَرسا, پَرسِیَ
- Northwestern:
  - Punjabi: pharsā
    Shahmukhi script: پھَرسا
    
    Gurmukhi script: ਫਰਸਾ
- Southern:
  - Dhivehi: ފުރޯ (furō)
  - Marathi: फरस (pharas), फरशी (pharśī)
  - Sinhalese: පොරොව (porowa)
Prakrit: 𑀨𑀭𑀲𑀼 (pharasu)
- Northern:
  - Kumaoni: फर्स (phars)
  - Nepali: फर्सा (pharsā)
- Western:
  - Gujarati: ફરશી (pharśī)

Borrowed terms

→ Tamil: பரசு (paracu)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 ^1.3 J. P. Mallory, D. Q. Adams, The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European (2006, →ISBN): "We find cognates in Grk pélekus, Oss færæt, and Skt paraśú, and the proto-form is often compared with Semitic forms, e.g. Akkadian pilakku which some translate as 'axe' but others translate as 'spindle', which is semantically very distant."
↑ ^2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 Martin Bernal, Black Athena: The linguistic evidence
↑ ^3.0 ^3.1 Mayrhofer, Manfred (1996) “paraśú-”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch des Altindoarischen [Etymological Dictionary of Old Indo-Aryan]‎^[1] (in German), volume 2, Heidelberg: Carl Winter Universitätsverlag, page 87