شکنجه

Persian

Alternative forms

اشکنجه (eškanje) (dialectal)

Etymology

Not attested in Middle Persian, but compare (šekan-, “to break”). Akin to Manichaean Parthian 𐫀𐫢𐫞𐫏𐫗𐫋 (ʾšqynj /⁠iškenǰ⁠/, “twisted rope”, attested only once), perhaps related to 𐫀𐫢𐫐𐫗 (ʾškn /⁠iškenn-⁠/, “to break”).

Pronunciation

(Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ʃi.kan.ˈd͡ʒa]

(Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃɪ.kʰän.d͡ʒǽ]
- (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ʃɪ.kʰän.d͡ʒǽ]
- (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ʃi.kʰän.d͡ʒǽ]

(Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃe.kʰʲæn.d͡ʒé]

(Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ʃi.kʰän.d͡ʒǽ]

Readings
Classical reading^?	šikanja
Dari reading^?	šikanja
Iranian reading^?	šekanje
Tajik reading^?	šikanja

Noun

شکنجه • (šekanje)

torment; torture
- c. 1030, Fakhr al-Dīn Asʿad Gurgānī, ويس و رامين [Vīs u Rāmīn]‎^[1]:
  هر آن روزی که گفتم شادمانم
  شکنجه گشت شادی بر روانم
  har ān rōzē ki guftam šādmān-am
  šikanja gašt šadī bar rawān-am
  During all those days when I said I was happy,
  Happiness turned into torture on my soul.
  (Classical Persian romanization)
rack, stocks (torture device)

Derived terms

شکنجه کردن (šekanje kardan)
شکنجه‌گر (šekanje-gar)

References

Durkin-Meisterernst, Desmond (2004) “ʿšqync”, in A Dictionary of Manichaean Middle Persian and Parthian (Corpus Fontium Manichaeorum; 3.1), Turnhout: Brepols, page 92