Nāhidan (Hypothesis on an Obscure and Unfamiliar Word in the Shahnameh)
Document Type : pajoohesh
Author
10.22081/jap.2024.76664
Abstract
In the verse "Sar-e sarkeshan andar amad be khab / ze tāsidan-e badpayan bar ab" from the section on the reign of Zahhak in the Shahnameh, various manuscript versions have different readings of the word "tāsidan" as presented in Dr. Khaleghi-Motlaq's text. These variations include "tāzidan", "bāzidan", "nālidan", "nāhidan", "bāyandan", "yābidan", "hānidan", and "tāridan". The editors and scholars of the Shahnameh have selected and deemed correct the readings "nāvidan", "tāzidan", "bāzidan", "nādidan", "tāsidan", and "shāfidan" based on manuscript evidence or conjectural emendations. According to the principles of text editing, the spelling "nāhidan", found in at least twelve manuscripts from the 8th, 9th, and 10th centuries AH, appears to be the more challenging and possibly the original and correct version. However, the exact root and meaning of this word remain unclear to the author, and further elucidation and guidance from experts in historical linguistics and Persian lexicography are necessary.
Keywords
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