A Study of Ancient Vocabulary not Included in Dictionaries in Zakhire-ye Kharazmshahi

Introduction

In various Persian texts, it is still possible to encounter words that are not known and have not been included in Persian dictionaries. Sometimes, the meaning of some words in the texts is different from what is found in dictionaries or their pronunciation is not recorded correctly; therefore, it is necessary for every researcher who works in the field of Persian texts or edits old Persian manuscripts to research these words and reveal their meanings and correct pronunciation. This will make it less challenging and troublesome for other researchers to find new words and their meanings. While editing the book Zakhire-ye Kharazmshahi, the author came across words that were either not found in dictionaries or did not have an exact meaning or pronunciation. Therefore, he decided to examine these words and terms to determine their exact meaning and application. The aim of this research is to represent these ancient and lost words and also to give their correct meanings with regard to the text of Zakhire-ye Kharazmshahi, ancient Persian texts, the structure of words in the Persian language, and the study of various dictionaries. This research and study can make the work easier for editors and researchers of Persian texts who sometimes encounter unknown words, and can reveal some forgotten words, and words not included in dictionaries.

Literature Review

From the past to the present, researchers have been searching for unknown words or words not included in dictionaries and have tried to find and explain these words from ancient Persian texts. Perhaps the first person to undertake this task was the late Dehkhoda, who found many ancient words in his dictionary by studying ancient Persian texts. After him, Abdul Hossein Noushin wrote a dictionary to study difficult words in the Shahnameh, and Ali Rawa'ghi did this in his books Unknown Words in the Shahnameh and Appendix of Persian Dictionaries. The Quranic Dictionary under the supervision of Mohammad Jafar Yahaghi is also another research work in this field.

Methodology

In this study, the edited text of Zakhire-ye-Kharazmshahi, has been examined, and words that were unknown or less well-known in terms of structure and meaning in this text and were not included as entries in various Persian dictionaries have been examined. In order to obtain the correct meaning and usage of each of these words, attention has been paid to their etymological, structural, semantic, and contextual or functional issues. Also, with regard to reliable Persian and Pahlavi sources, an attempt has been made to explain their meaning and usage in the best possible way and to determine their pronunciation as much as possible. In this study, we have divided unknown words into four categories according to their type, form, and meaning: 1. Simple words that have not been included in dictionaries; 2. Compound words that have not been included in dictionaries; 3. Words that have been included in dictionaries, but their meaning or pronunciation is different in the text; 4. Familiar words with older forms.

Results and Discussion

As mentioned, in this study, unknown words were divided into four categories according to their type, form, and meaning: 1. The first group are simple words that have been left out of dictionaries for whatever reason, and lexicographers have either not encountered them throughout the history of the Persian language, or these words did not exist in their own language and dialect. In any case, these words exist in some texts and cannot be simply ignored; 2. The second group are compound words that have not been included in dictionaries; these words are formed from combinations of meaningful or meaning-making words (prefix and suffix); of course, not every compound word can be placed in this category; only words that have a specific meaning and use or are a specific name for something are placed in this category. 3. The third group are words that appear in dictionaries, but their meaning or pronunciation is different in the text; These words differ in meaning or pronunciation from what is found in dictionaries, and by carefully examining the text, another meaning and pronunciation can be considered for them. Their meaning has been recovered according to the context, and their pronunciation according to their meaning, structure, and form in the manuscripts. 4. The fourth group is familiar words that have been entered into the text in older forms; these types of words have a familiar form that exists in dictionaries; but an older form of them appears in manuscripts that has not been entered into dictionaries. Examining these words is very important in terms of the history of the Persian language and showing the evolution of words.

Conclusion

In this research, it was found that there are various words in our ancient texts, including Zakhire-ye Kharazmshahi, which can be found using ancient Persian manuscripts and their meaning, pronunciation, and structure can be examined. This research shows some forgotten or leftover words from Persian dictionaries and shows us the breadth of words in the Persian language. It also shows the structure and chain of evolution of some words, as well as different or ancient forms of a word throughout the history of the Persian language. The results of such research can pave the way for researchers and editors of ancient Persian texts and help them discover the meaning of unknown and ancient words.