ترسا

See also: برشا

Ottoman Turkish

Etymology

From Persian ترسا.

Noun

ترسا • (tersâ)

1. Christian

   Synonyms: نصرانی, خریستیان

2. infidel

   Synonym: كافر

References

• Hindoglu, Artin (1838) “ترسا”, in Hazine-i lûgat ou dictionnaire abrégé turc-français‎^[1], Vienna: F. Beck, page 152

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (tlsʾk' /⁠tarsāg⁠/, “Christian”, literally “(God) fearer”), from [Book Pahlavi needed] (tls- /⁠tars-⁠/, “to fear, be afraid”) +‎ [Book Pahlavi needed] (-k' /⁠-ag⁠/). By surface analysis, ترس (tars, present stem of ترسیدن (tarsidan, “to fear, be afraid”)) +‎ ـا (-â, suffix forming adjectives and nouns). Sogdian ܬܪܣܐܩ (trsʾq /⁠tarsāk⁠/) is a Western Iranian borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [taɾ.ˈsɑː]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäɾ.sɑ́ː]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäɾ.sɑ́ː]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäɾ.sɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäɾ.sɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰæɹ.sɒ́ː]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [t̪ʰäɾ.sɔ́]

Readings
Classical reading?	tarsā
Dari reading?	tarsā
Iranian reading?	tarsâ
Tajik reading?	tarso

Adjective

ترسا • (tarsâ)

1. (archaic) Christian

Noun

ترسا • (tarsâ) (plural ترسایان (tarsâyân) or ترساها (tarsâ-hâ))

1. (archaic) Christian
   • 10th AD, Ferdowsi

     چو بر جامهٔ ما چلیپا بوَد
     نشست اندر آیین ترسا بوَد

   • 13th AD, Rumi

     گهی از زلف خود داده به مؤمن نقش حبل‌الله
     ز پیچ جعد خود داده به ترسایان چلیپایی

Synonyms

• مسیحی (masihi)
• نصرانی (nasrâni)

Derived terms

• ترسایی (tarsâyi)

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: tərsa
• → Ottoman Turkish: ترسا (tersâ)
• → Uzbek: tarso

Further reading

• Bolognesi, Giancarlo (1961) “Nuovi aspetti dell'influsso iranico in armeno”, in Handes Amsorya‎^[2] (in Italian), volume 75, numbers 10–12, Vienna, columns 676–677
• de Blois, François (2002) “Naṣrānī (Ναζωραȋος) and ḥanīf (ἐθνικός): Studies on the Religious Vocabulary of Christianity and of Islam”, in Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies‎^[3], volume 65, number 1, pages 9–10
• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 82