Sanskrit/Persian: çâva

F

Funper

Member
Stockholm, Sweden
Swedish, Persian
çâva (or çâvaka) means "the new born of any animal" in Sanskrit according to an article published in Vol.7 Journal of American Oriental Society (1860-1863)

A more recent article published in Vol.88 Hispania (Dec. 2005) transliterates the word as [sáva], meaning "young of an animal".

What is the cognate of this word in Persian?
 
    • I don't think there is any general word with this meaning at Persian. We use different words for each new bore animal. Fore example برّه (new bore sheep), كرّه اسب (new bore horse), گوساله (new bore caw), جوجه (new bore hen), etc.
     
    You are right, but I am not looking for a similar word in Persian, I am looking for a word in Persian that has a common root with the Sanscrit çâva. This word doesn't necessarily have to mean the same in Persian, but it must share the same root.

    Perhaps the word I am looking for is "جوان" meaning "young" in Persian. It certainly sounds like being a cognate of çâva, and it is known that another cognate of çâva has this very same meaning in Romani.
     
    नवजात पशुओं के लिए संस्कृत / हिन्दी में शब्द है - सावक / शावक
     
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    Oh yes. At that rate, I am agree with you; جوان is a suitable equivalent (albeit in new definition of Sanskrit. If you want a word for old definitions on Sanskrit, بچه or نوپا is very better. E.g. آهوي نوپا or بچه آهو)
     
    I have been doing some research...

    According to SAOB (Svenska akademiens ordbok) there exists a word in modern Swedish, tjej, that means girl. This word is borrowed directly from Romani languages spoken in Sweden, collectively called svensk romani (Swedish Romani). In Swedish Romani, tjej means "girl, woman, wife." In Norwegian Romani, it's spelled differently, kjei, also meaning "girl, fiancée." Both come from the Romani word chai, which is the feminine form of chavo, meaning boy, which comes from a root in Prakrit chava- and/or Pali chapa-, both meaning "young of an animal".

    In fact, similar words exist in many languages which have been subject to Romani influences. E.g. Spanish where chavo means boy and chava means girl.

    The Sanskrit word çâva seems to be related to the Prakrit word chava and they both mean "young of an animal". It is probable that the Persian word جوان (javan) meaning "young" shares a common root with Sanskrit çâva and Prakrit chava, even if it has a more generic meaning in contemporary Persian and is primarily used in reference to people.
     
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