Contributions to Iranian Etymology II

Abstract In this article the possible Iranian etymology of three hitherto unexplained Old Armenian words is discussed: Arm. aptak ‘slap, blow’ < Ir. * apitāka -, to be compared with Man.Parth. and MP abdāg ‘assailant’; Arm. žapawēn ‘hem, border’ compound of Parth. * žī(h) , equivalent of NP zeh ‘string, hem, decoration’ + Arm. apawēn ‘cover, shelter, refuge’; Arm. xawsim ‘to speak’ from a metathetic form of MIr. * wā̆xs -, inchoative formation from the root * vac - ‘to speak’. Finally, Szemerényi’s convincing explanation of Arm. awgnem ‘to help’ and zawravign ‘aid, helper, defender’ as related to an OIr. noun * abigna - ‘helper’ attested in several anthroponyms (e.g. OP Bagābigna -) is reaffirmed and substantiated since it remained mostly unnoticed in the subsequent literature.