شنبلیله

Persian

Alternative forms

شنبلیل‎ (šambalil)
شنبلید‎ (šambalid)
شنبلیت‎ (šambalit)
شملید‎ (šamlid)
شملیز‎ (šamliz)
شلمیز‎ (šalmiz)

Etymology

From Middle Persian šmblyt (šamblīt, šamblīd), šmblytk' (šambalīdag, “fenugreek”), whence also Old Armenian շամղիտակ (šamłitak) and Arabic شِمْلِيدِج‎ (šimlīdij). Ultimately borrowed from a Semitic language. Compare Jewish Babylonian Aramaic שִׁבְּלִילְתָא‎ (šibbəlīləṯā), Classical Syriac ܫܒܠܝܠܬܐ‎ (šebbəlīltā) and ܦܠܝܠܬܐ‎ (pəlīltā), all from Akkadian 𒊭𒄠𒁀𒇷𒅋𒌈 (šambaliltum), [script needed] (šabbaliltu), [script needed] (šammu baliltu, “fenugreek”, literally “mixture grass”).

The word is found in other modern Iranian languages: compare Harzani [script needed] (šunbulla), Badakhshan Tajik [script needed] (šalit, “orach”), Wakhi šlit, šliṭ (“Chenopodium album”), Shiraz Persian (šamliz).

Other theories

Ačaṙyan separates (šambalile, “fenugreek”) from (šambalid, “a kind of flower, probably Colchicum”) and writes about the former: "By this name the Turks of Tabriz understand a kind of field herb much liked by sheep; it yields a very hard seed, like a lentil but with irregular edges, which the Persians eat fried in oil after grinding. This seed is the cumin of Erzurum used in making ham. It grows abundantly in Qaradagh which is our [Armenian] ancient Paytakaran province. This word cannot be explained in Persian or Turkish, therefore I think it is borrowed from an Armenian *շնբաղեղ (*šnbałeł) form", the latter presumably composed of շուն (šun, “dog”) + բաղեղ (bałeł, “ivy”).

Asatryan rejects this, claiming that (šambalile, “fenugreek”) and (šambalid, “a kind of flower, probably Colchicum”) should not be separated—both go back to Middle Persian. The word is found in many Iranian dialects. All of them cannot be borrowed from Armenian.

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): /ʃæmbæliːˈlæ/
(Iranian Persian) IPA^(key): /ʃæmbæliːˈle/

Noun

شنبلیله • (šambalile)

fenugreek

References

Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892), “شنبلیله”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “šambalīdag”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press
Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971), “բաղեղն”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume I, 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 398b
Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1977), “շամղիտակ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume III, 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 492a
Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1977), “հուլպայ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), volume III, 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 121a
Asatryan, Gaṙnik (1990), “Ardyokʿ ka^?n haykakan pʿoxaṙutʿyunner nor parskerenum [Are There Armenian Borrowings in New Persian?]”, in Patma-banasirakan handes [Historical-Philological Journal]‎ (in Armenian), issue 3, pages 139–144
Steblin-Kamenskij, I.M. (1999), “šlit, šliṭ”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ vaxanskovo jazyka [Etymological Dictionary of the Wakhi Language] (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Peterburgskoje Vostokovedenije, →ISBN, pages 331–332
“šambaliltu” in Erica Reiner, Martha T. Roth (editors-in-charge) (1956–2011), Chicago Assyrian Dictionary, in 21 vols, Chicago: University of Chicago Oriental Institute, volume 17, part 1, page 310f
Palatecʿi, Gēorg Dpir (1829), “շէնպէլիյլ(է)”, in Baṙaran Parskerēn əst kargi haykakan aybubenicʿ [Persian Dictionary in the Order of the Armenian Alphabet] (in Armenian), Constantinople: Boghos Arabian Press, page 356a
Palatecʿi, Gēorg Dpir (1829), “շէմլիյտ”, in Baṙaran Parskerēn əst kargi haykakan aybubenicʿ [Persian Dictionary in the Order of the Armenian Alphabet] (in Armenian), Constantinople: Boghos Arabian Press, page 354a

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