اسفناج

Persian

Alternative forms

• سپاناج (sepânâj), اسپاناج (espânâj), سپناج (sepanâj), اسپناج (espanâj), اسپانج (espânaj), اسپنانج (espanânaj), سفاناج (sefânâj), اسفاناج (esfânâj), سپاناخ (sepânâx), اسپاناخ (espânâx), اسپناخ (espanâx), سپناخ (sepanâx), اسپناخ (espanâx), اسپانخ (espânax), سفاناخ (sefânâx), اسفاناخ (esfânâx), اسفناخ (esfanâx), اسباناخ (esbânâx), اسبناخ (esbenâx), سبانخ (sabânax), سبانج (sebânaj), اسبانج (esbânaj), اسبناج (esbanâj), اسپاناغ (espânâğ), اسپناغ (espanâğ)

Etymology

Kulturwort of Iranian origin. According to Asatrian, there were probably two forms in late Middle Iranian, *ispanāg (or *ispināg) and (the dialectal) *ispanāx (or *ispināx), yielding Arabized forms إِسْفَنَاج / إِسْفِنَاج (ʔisfanāj / ʔisfināj) and إِسْفَنَاخ / إِسْفِنَاخ (ʔisfanāḵ / ʔisfināḵ), which were popularized in Persian and Arabic, respectively (alternative forms with پ (p) are directly from Middle Iranian). The Old Iranian form would be *spināka-, *spinaka- (compare Northern Kurdish sping), from the root *spin- (Northwestern Iranian), *sin- (Southwestern Iranian), ultimately from the Proto-Iranian *spai- (*spi-), from Proto-Indo-European *spey- (“thorn-like”) (*spi-), which are also reflected in Latin spina, Persian سنجد (senjed), Ossetian сындз (synʒ), синдзӕ (sinʒæ, “thorn”), Baluchi [script needed] (šinž), Central Iranian šeng, Kermani šank (“thorn”). Also akin to Semnani esbenāγa.

According to Cabolov, related to Northern Kurdish siping (“meadow salsify, possibly also spinach”) and Persian سپند (sepand, “wild rue”).

اسفناج

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʔis.fi.nɑːd͡ʒ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fɪ.nɑːd͡ʒ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fɪ.nɑːd͡ʒ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʔɪs.fɪ.nɑːd͡ʒ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʔis.fi.nɔːd͡ʒ̥]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔes.fe.nɒːd͡ʒ̥]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʔis.fi.nɔd͡ʒ]

Readings
Classical reading?	isfināj
Dari reading?	isfināj
Iranian reading?	esfenâj
Tajik reading?	isfinoj

Noun

اسفناج • (esfanâj, esfenâj) (plural اسفناج‌ها (esfanâj, esfenâj-hâ))

1. spinach

   Synonym: شومین (šumin, šomin)

   • 1258, Rumi, Masnavi, First Book:

     من سپاناخ تو با هرچم پزی
     یا ترش‌با یا که شیرین می‌سزی

     man sipānāx tō bā harčam pazī
     yā turš-bā yā ka šīrīn mī-sazī

     (please add an English translation of this quotation)

Descendants

Most are directly from Middle Iranian

• → Arabic: سَبَانِخ (sabāniḵ), إِسْفَانَاخ (ʔisfānāḵ), إِسْفَنَاخ (ʔisfanāḵ), إِسْفَنَاج (ʔisfanāj), إِسْفَانَاج (ʔisfānāj), سَبَانَغ (sabānaḡ), سَبَانَج (sabānaj)
  • Andalusian Arabic: إِسْفِنَاج (isfināj), إِسْبِنَاج (isbināj), إِسْبِنَاخ (isbināḵ)
    • → Aragonese: espinai
    • → Catalan: espinac
    • → Occitan: espinac, espinarc (influenced by french)
    • → Portuguese: espinafre
    • → Spanish: espinaca
      • → Medieval Latin: spinacium, spinachium, spinarchia (influenced by spina (“thorn”))
        • → Byzantine Greek: σπινάκιον (spinákion), σπανάκιν (spanákin), σπινάκι (spináki)
          • Greek: σπανάκι (spanáki), σπανάκιον (spanákion)
            • → Bulgarian: спанак (spanak)
            • → Romanian: spanac
            • → Serbo-Croatian: спанаћ / spanać
        • → Italian: spinacio, spinace (uncommon)
          • → Middle High German: spināt (final -t perhaps influenced by Salat)
            • German: Spinat
              • → Kashubian: szpinat
              • → Russian: шпинат (špinat)
                • → Bashkir: шпинат (şpinat)
              • → Serbo-Croatian: шпинат / špìnāt
              • → Ukrainian: шпина́т (špynát)
        • → Old French: espinoche, espinache, espinarde, espinaces
          • French: épinard, (obsolete) epinart
          • → English: spinach, (obsolete) spinage
          • → Irish: spionáiste
        • → Sicilian: spinacia
• → Georgian: ისპანახი (isṗanaxi)
• → Middle Armenian: սպանախ (spanax), ասպանախ (aspanax), սպաննախ (spannax)
  • Armenian: սպանախ (spanax)
• → Ottoman Turkish: اسفناج (isfinâj), اسپناخ (ispenâh), اسفاناخ (isfânâh)
• → Turkic:
  • Azerbaijani: ispanaq
  • Kipchak:
    • Kipchak: yspanac
  • Ottoman Turkish: اسپانق, اسپناق, اسپاناق (ispanak, ıspanak), اسپاناك, اسپناك (ispanâk)
    • Turkish: ıspanak
  • Turkmen: ysmanak

References

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “اسفناج”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Asatrian, Garnik (2011) A Comparative Vocabulary of Central Iranian Dialects‎^[1] (in Persian), Tehran: Safir Ardehal Publications, pages 43–45
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “اسپناج”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• Lokotsch, Karl (1927) Etymologisches Wörterbuch der europäischen Wörter orientalischen Ursprungs (in German), Heidelberg: Carl Winter’s Universitätsbuchhandlung, § 126, page 11
• Cabolov, R. L. (2010) “siping”, in Etimologičeskij slovarʹ kurdskovo jazyka (in Russian), volume II, Moscow: Russian Academy Press Vostochnaya Literatura, page 263
• Redhouse, J. W. (1884) “spinach”, in A Lexicon, English and Turkish, 3rd edition, Constantinople: A. H. Boyajian, page 703
• Redhouse, J. W., Wells, Charles (1880) “spinach”, in Redhouse's Turkish Dictionary, in Two Parts, English and Turkish, and Turkish and English, 2nd edition, London: Bernard Quartch, 15 Piccadilly, page 306
• Abajev, V. I. (1979) Историко-этимологический словарь осетинского языка (in Russian), volume III, Moscow and Leningrad: Academy Press, pages 201–202