نهره

Persian

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Semitic *nahar-

Arabic نَهْر (nahr)bor.?

Proto-Semitic *nahar-

Aramaic נהראbor.?

Persian نهره

• Ultimately of Semitic origin; if not from Arabic نَهْر (nahr, “river”) by a multistep semantic change as in river → liquid → milk → churn, from Aramaic נַהְרָא / ܢܰܗܪܴܐ (nahrā, “river”) in the sense of canal pertinent to urbanized Mesopotamia used figuratively for the passageway of milk.
• Possibly from the Iranian root Proto-Indo-Iranian *nayH- (“to churn butter”), from Proto-Indo-European *neyH- (“to make butter, churn”). Cognate with Sanskrit (नव-)नीत ((nava-)nīta, “fresh butter”); outside of Indo-Iranian, cognate with Latvian nīt (“used in sviestu nīt (to make butter)”) and paniņas (“buttermilk”).

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [nah.ˈɾa]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [näɦ.ɾǽ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [näɦ.ɾǽ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [nɑː.ɾǽ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [nɔː.ɾǽ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [næɦ.ɹé]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [näɦ.ɾǽ]

Readings
Classical reading?	nahra
Dari reading?	nahra
Iranian reading?	nahre
Tajik reading?	nahra

Noun

نهره • (nehre)

1. churn

Descendants

• → Azerbaijani: nehrə
• → Turkish: nehre, nihre, nekre — dialectal

References

• Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–) “نهره”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “نهره”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• Vullers, Johann August (1856–1864) “نهره”, in Lexicon Persico-Latinum etymologicum cum linguis maxime cognatis Sanscrita et Zendica et Pehlevica comparatum, e lexicis persice scriptis Borhâni Qâtiu, Haft Qulzum et Bahâri agam et persico-turcico Farhangi-Shuûrî confectum, adhibitis etiam Castelli, Meninski, Richardson et aliorum operibus et auctoritate scriptorum Persicorum adauctum‎^[1] (in Latin), volume II, Gießen: J. Ricker, page 1380a