STUDIES IN ARMENIAN ETYMOLOGY - Get a Free Blog

In P`awstos Buzand 3.20 (1883=1984: 45 L-4f ; transl. Garso�an 1989: 97): Aɫe�,
tese�k` acuɫ, orov erkat` �oɫac`usc`uk`, zi za‰`s xaresc`uk` zark`ayis Hayoc`. Ew
ande�n berin acuɫ, orov xare�in za‰`sn Tiranay : "`Now then! Bring [glowing] coals
with which to heat iron to the glowing point so as to burn out the eyes of the king of
Armenia'. And they immediately brought coals with which they burned out the eyes
of King Tiran". For discussion of the context and the place-name Acuɫ see s.v.
place-name Dalari-k`.
Yovhan Mandakuni (5th cent.) or Yovhan Mayragomec`i (7th cent.) mentions
acuɫ in a list of sorceries, between aɫ `salt' and asɫeni karmir `red thread'. This
attestation is not found in NHB and HAB s.v., though NHB (1: 314b) has it s.v.
asɫeni. Here the word is cited with auslaut -x. The recent edition (2003: 1262b L5f ),
however, has acuɫ.
In "Ya‰axapatum" 6: acux seaw e� k`an zstuer "the coal is blacker than the
shadow" [NHB 1: 21b].
In "Bar�girk` hayoc`" (Amalyan 1975: 9 Nr162 ), acux is rendered by gorceli `coal'
(on this word see HAB 4: 646b), mur `soot', and anjoɫ. On the latter see below.
The verb acxanam (var. acɫanam) `to become coal or ash' is attested in Philo
[NHB 1: 21a].
NHB (1: 21a) and HAB (1: 102b) record acx-a-ke�z, the second member meaning
`to burn', attested in T`ovmay Arcruni (9-10th cent.) 2.1. However, in V. Vardanyan
1985: 126 L20 one finds astuac-a-ke�z instead, with astuac `god', and this is reflected in
the English translation by Thomson (1985: 145): ew hur krakaranin borbok`eal,
astuacake�z ararin zna yormzdakan mehenin : "In the temple of Ormizd they had [the
marzpan] consumed by his god in the blazing fire of the pyraeum".
����DIAL DIAL All the dialectal forms recorded by A‰ar�yan (HAB 1: 103a), except for
R�odost`o ajux, contain an epenthetic -n-: �arabaɫ, Goris a�njuɫ, S�amaxi hanjuɫ (see
also Baɫramyan 1964: 185), Ararat a�njɔɫ, Nor Bayazet anjox, Ha‰ən anjoɫ. Note also
Sasun anjux `coal, half-burnt wood' [Petoyan 1954: 103; 1965: 443], and �azax etc.
(see HayLezBrbBar� 1, 2001: 63b, with textual illustrations). Apart from a�njuɫ and
a�njɔɫ, �arabaɫ has also a�njɔɫnə [Davt`yan 1966: 301].
As is informed by A‰ar�yan (HAB 1: 103a), the form anjoɫ is attested in E�fime�rte
(17th cent.). He does not mention the testimony of "Bar�girk` hayoc`", where acux is
rendered by three synonyms: gorceli `coal', mur `soot', and anjoɫ (see above). Since
*anjoɫ is present in limited areas, namely in the eastern (�arabaɫ, Ararat, etc.) and
extremely south-western (Sasun and Ha‰ən) dialects, one may take this as an
example of affiliation of "Bar�girk` hayoc`" with the eastern dialects, especially
�arabaɫ etc.; see par. XX. Note that in an older lexicographic work (abbreviated as
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