ζινο

Bactrian

Etymology

From Proto-Iranian *ǰánHh (“woman, wife”), from Proto-Indo-Iranian *ǰánHs (“woman, wife”), from Proto-Indo-European *gʷḗn. Compare Persian زَن (/⁠zan⁠/), Central Kurdish ژن (jin, “woman, wife”). Cognate of Sanskrit जनि (jani, “woman, wife”) and more distantly ग्ना (gnā, “wife, divine woman”), Ancient Greek γῠνή (gunḗ), Old English cwen (“queen, woman, wife”).

Pronunciation

• (reconstructed) IPA^(key): [zin]

Noun

ζινο (zino /zin/)

1. woman
   • 342 CE, Dated Document A (Corpus of Bactrian Texts), line 11:

     ...ειο ζινο κιδο ραλικο ναμο...

     ...eio zino kido raliko namo...

     ...this woman who (is) named Ralik...

Further reading

• Sims-Williams, Nicholas (2000) Bactrian Documents from Northern Afghanistan (Studies in the Khalili Collection III, Corpus Inscriptionum Iranicarum II), Oxford: Nour Foundation in association with Azimuth Editions and Oxford University Press, page 192