On the etymology of New Persian malang ‘intoxicated; unorthodox dervish’
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.46991/jil/2025.01.02Keywords:
Bactrian, etymology, loanwords, PersianAbstract
This brief article discusses the etymology of the New Persian word malang, which has been widely borrowed into Indian languages. First its semantic range is established as encompassing the two basic meanings ‘intoxicated, drunk’ and ‘(unorthodox) dervish’, then a derivation from a Bactrian loanword into early New Persian is proposed, connecting it with the Indo-Iranian root *mad- ‘to be/become intoxicated’. The article thereby adds another lexical item to the list of Bactrian borrowings into New Persian and makes a contribution to the documentation of the Bactrian lexicon, as the presumable Bactrian source word is so far unattested in the known documents and inscriptions.
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