گواه

Persian

Etymology

From Middle Persian gwk’dy (gugāy). From Proto-Indo-European *wi (“apart”) + *kʷeḱ- (“to see”); literally meaning “to see apart, differentiate”. Compare Old Armenian վկայ (vkay), an Iranian borrowing.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [ɡu.ˈwɑːh]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.wɑ́ːʱ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.wɑ́ːʱ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [ɡʊ.wɑ́ː]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [ɡu.wɔ́ː]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡ̥o.vɒ́ːʰ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [ɡu.vɔ́ʱ]

Readings
Classical reading?	guwāh
Dari reading?	guwāh
Iranian reading?	govâh
Tajik reading?	guvoh

Noun

گواه • (govâh) (plural گواهان (govâhân) or گواه‌ها (govâh-hâ))

1. witness

   Synonym: شاهد (šâhed)

   • 1705, Guru Gobind Singh, “verse 13”, in ظفرنامه [Zafarnama]:

     مرا اعتباری برین قسم نیست
     که ایزد گواه است و یزدان یکیست

     ma-râ e'tebâri bar in qasam nist
     ke izad govâh ast o yazdan yaki-st

     For me, there is no credit in this oath [of yours], that God is [your] witness and the Lord is One.

2. evidence

   Synonyms: شاهد (šâhed), مدرک (madrak)

   • c. 1260s, Jalāl ad-Dīn Mohammad Rūmī, translated by Reynold A. Nicholson, مثنوی معنوی [Masnavi-ye-Ma'navi], volume III, verse 2710:

     قوم گفتند ای گروه مدعی
     کو گواه علم طب و نافعی

     qowm goftand ey goruh-e modda'i
     ku govâh-e 'elm-e tebb o nâfe'i

     The people said, "O ye company of impostors, where is the evidence of [your] knowledge of medicine and [your] usefulness?"

Related terms

• گواه آوردن (govâh âvardan)
• گواه گرفتن (govâh gereftan)
• گواهی (govâhi, gavâhi)
• گواهی‌نامه (govâhi-nâme)

 

Descendants

• → Hindustani:

  Hindi: गवाह (gavāh)

  Urdu: گواه (gavāh)

• → Kazakh: куә (kuä)
• → Punjabi:

  Gurmukhi script: ਗਵਾਹ (gavāh)

  Shahmukhi script: گواه (gavāh)

References

• Steingass, Francis Joseph (1892) “گواه”, in A Comprehensive Persian–English dictionary, London: Routledge & K. Paul
• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “gwk’dy”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 38
• Nourai, Ali (2011) An Etymological Dictionary of Persian, English and other Indo-European Languages, page 523