Persian, Dari: shadi شادى

[Xence]

Hello,

We, in Algeria, as well as in some other Arab countries (Irak,etc.), use the word shadi (shaadi) to mean monkey.
I found in some old glossary that this may come from Turkish or Persian. But as far as I know, the commonly word used in both of those languages is maymoon (sorry for the spelling).
On another side, I have read beside a youtube video this sentence : "In the Dari Persian language, Shadi, also known as Meimoon, means monkey."
So, could someone please confirm that the word shadi is really used with this meaning in some language or the other ?
Are there any references/links available on the net ?

Thanks in advance.

 

[truce]

In Iranian version of Persian "شادی" means "happiness" and "joy" and does not mean "monkey" and the following words are used for different types of monkey (primates):
میمون - بوزینه - عنتر - شامپانزه - گوریل

I think the word "قرد" (qerd) in Arabic also means "monkey".

 

[PersoLatin]

This is a theory, but I wonder if this has come about because the Arabic word ميمون meaning auspicious, used in terms like عيد نوروز ميمون, has got confused with the Persian ميمون which means monkey. (I remember as kids, we always used to snigger when we heard نورزتان ميمون باد)

So maybe because of association of شادى (happiness) at Nôruz & ميمون (auspicious), the latter has gradually got confused with the Persian ميمون meaning monkey.

 

[mundiya]

In some forms of Persian, shādī apparently does mean monkey/ape.

شادی shādī, Gladness, festivity, joy, re- joicing; a wedding; an ape; name of a certain boy; construed with the verbs āmadan, āwardan, bar-ḵẖāstan, ḵẖẉurdan, dīdan, gustardan, gusistan, gushādan.

 

[PersoLatin]

شادى is listed in Dehxodâ as: میمون - در شرق خراسان (افغانستان) کنونی, so in modern day Afghanistan, the question is, why?

 

[Xence]

In addition to the aforementioned references, I found this word is/was also used in the Balti language, as it appears in Sprigg's dictionary.
Thanks again everyone for your valuable contribution.

 

[Alfaaz]

Here are a few more references:

Quotes from a thread (فارسی سیکھئے) in an Urdu forum (اردو محفل) where this topic was discussed are provided below with approximate English translations. Please excuse any mistakes in the translations!

قند فارسی صفحہ 11 سے معلوم ہوا ہے کہ فارسی میں بندر کو شادی بھی کہتے ہیں

Approximate English Translation: From page 11 of قند فارسی it was learned that in Farsi a "monkey" is also called "shaadii".

یہ ایک بہت نادر عامیانہ لفظ ہے۔ آج سے قبل تک تو مجھے یہ ہی نہیں معلوم تھا کہ یہ لفظ فارسی میں بوزینہ کے معنی میں بھی استعمال ہوا ہے۔ نیٹ پر ڈھونڈنے سے اطلاع ملی ہے کہ اِس معنی میں اِس لفظ کا رواج افغان گفتاری لہجوں میں ہیں۔

Approximate English Translation: This is a very عامیانہ لفظ - colloquial/slang word. Prior to today I did not know that this word is used with the meaning of بوزینہ in Farsi. Searching on the net revealed that the usage of the word with this meaning is found in Afghani colloquial dialects.

ایرانیوں اور تاجکوں سے استفسار پر معلوم ہوا ہے کہ ایران میں یہ لفظ بوزینہ کے معنی میں کم از کم آبادان اور شاید مازندران کے گفتاری لہجوں میں استعمال ہوتا ہے، جبکہ تاجکستان کے لوگوں نے اِس لفظ کا یہ استعمال کبھی نہیں دیکھا۔ ایک تاجک کا جواب تھا:
افغانستان کی گفتاری فارسی زبان میں بعض لوگ بوزینہ کو 'شادی' بھی کہتے ہیں، لیکن تاجکستان اور ایران میں شادی کا مفہوم، شادی و خرسندی ہی ہے۔

Approximate English Translation: After inquiring from Iranis and Tajiks, it was found that in Iran this word with the meaning of بوزینہ is at least used in the colloquial dialects of آبادان and perhaps مازندران, whereas the people of Tajikistan had never seen such usage of this word. A Tajik's answer was:
In the colloquial Farsi of Afghanistan, some people call بوزینہ "shaadii" as well, but in Tajikistan and Iran the meaning of shaadii is (only/pretty much) شادی و خرسندی.

معاصر فارسی اور ترکی زبانوں میں بوزینہ کے لیے رائج ترین لفظ 'میمون' ہے، اور اِس عربی الاصل لفظ کا بنیادی معنی بھی مبارک و مسعود ہے

​

Approximate English Translation: In معاصر فارسی و ترکی languages, the most used word for monkey is میمون, and the بنیادی معنی of this عربی الاصل لفظ is also مبارک و مسعود!

In a book (Epitome of the Grammars of the Brahuiky, Balochky & Panjabi Languages) from 1838, shaadii for monkey is listed under the section Vocabulary of the Baraky Language here.

 

[Xence]

Thank you Alfaaz for these supplementary references.

 

[Derakhshan]

shaadi for monkey is actually fairly common in rural Iran.

It's used in Gilaki, for instance:
Instagram post by فرهنگستان زبان گیلکی • Dec 19, 2016 at 3:30pm UTC

It's listed in this Abadani wordlist:
اصطلاحات بومی آبادان

It's used in Fars dialects as well.

Of course with the encroachment of standard Tehrani such words are becoming less common.

 

[metacritical]

I feel i have to contribute something to this discussion albeit 5 yrs late. In Hindi one of the popular languages in India Shaadi means Marriage perhaps because Mughals Ruled India for 900+ yrs and the official language was persian. My guess is the word marriage in Hindi might be an adaptation from Persian for Joy/Happiness.

 

[desi4life]

I feel i have to contribute something to this discussion albeit 5 yrs late. In Hindi one of the popular languages in India Shaadi means Marriage perhaps because Mughals Ruled India for 900+ yrs and the official language was persian. My guess is the word marriage in Hindi might be an adaptation from Persian for Joy/Happiness.

The Hindi word is from Persian, but Mughals didn’t rule India for 900+ years. The Mughal dynasty was established in 1526 AD but lost most of its empire by the late 1700s to the East India Company, with the Mughal dynasty officially coming to an end in 1857. Muslim dynasties certainly ruled over much of India for 900+ years and their official language was Persian, but Mughals were only one of the various Muslim dynasties over that time period.

 

[raamez]

Another fairly common word for monkey in Arabic is سعدان also from سعد joy and happiness.