𐎿𐎣𐎠

Old Persian

Reliefs depicting the soldiers of the Achaemenid army, Xerxes I tomb, circa 480 BCE. The Achaemenids referred to all nomads to their north as Saka, and divided them into three categories: The Sakā tyai paradraya ("beyond the sea"), the Sakā tigraxaudā ("with pointed caps"), and the Sakā haumavargā ("who lay Haoma around").

Etymology

Masculine gender term formed from 𐎿𐎣 (s-k /⁠Saka⁠/, “Scythia”) +‎ -𐎠 (-a, adjectival suffix), used as a substantive.

Compare 𐎿𐎣𐎡𐎲𐎡𐏁 (s-k-i-b-i-š /⁠Sakaibiš⁠/)

Proper noun

𐎿𐎣𐎠 (s-k-a /Sakā/)

1. Scythia

Noun

𐎿𐎣𐎠 (s-k-a /Sakā/)

1. Scythian
2. Saka
   • DNa 24-29

     𐏐 𐏀𐎼𐎣 𐏐 𐏃𐎼𐎢𐎺𐎫𐎡𐏁 𐏐 𐎰𐎫𐎦𐎢𐏁 𐏐 𐎥𐎭𐎠𐎼𐏐
     𐏐 𐏃𐎡𐎯𐎢𐏁 𐏐 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠 𐏐 𐎿𐎣𐎠
     𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠 𐏐 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢𐏁 𐏐 𐎠𐎰𐎢𐎼𐎠
     𐏐 𐎠𐎼𐎲𐎠𐎹 𐏐 𐎸𐎢𐎭𐎼𐎠𐎹 𐏐 𐎠𐎼𐎷𐎡𐎴
     𐏐 𐎣𐎫𐎱𐎬𐎢𐎣 𐏐 𐎿𐎱𐎼𐎭 𐏐 𐎹𐎢𐎴 𐏐 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹
     𐏐 𐎿𐎤𐎢𐎭𐎼 𐏐 𐎹𐎢𐎴𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎣𐎲𐎼𐎠 𐏐 𐎱𐎢𐎫𐎠𐎹𐎠

     : z-r-k : h-r-u-v-t-i-š : θ-t-gu-u-š : g-d-a-r :
     : h-i-du-u-š : s-k-a : h-u-m-v-r-g-a : s-k-a
     : t-i-g-r-x-u-d-a : b-a-b-i-ru-u-š : a-θ-u-r-a
     : a-r-b-a-y : mu-u-d-r-a-y : a-r-mi-i-n
     : k-t-p-tu-u-k : s-p-r-d : y-u-n : s-k-a : t-y-i-y : p-r-d-r-y
     : s-ku-u-d-r : y-u-n-a : t-k-b-r-a : p-u-t-a-y-a

     /: Zraⁿka : Harauvatiš : Θataguš : Gaⁿdāra
      : Hiⁿduš : Sakā : haumavargā : Sakā
     : tigraxaudā : Bābirauš : Aθurā
     : Arabāya : Mudrāya : Armina
     : Katpatuka : Sparda : Yauna : Sakā : tayaiy : paradraya
      : Skudra : Yaunā : takabarā : Putāyā/

     
     [...] Drangiana, Arachosia, Sattagydia, Gandhara,
     India, the Scythians who lay around hauma-plants, the Scythians
     with pointed caps, Babylon, Assyria,
     Arabia, Egypt, Armenia,
     Cappadocia, Lydia, Greece, the Scythians who are across the Sea,
     Thrace, the Greeks who wear shield-like hats, Libya [...]

Derived terms

• 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎡𐎥𐎼𐎧𐎢𐎭𐎠 (s-k-a : t-i-g-r-x-u-d-a /⁠Sakā tigraxaudā⁠/)
• 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐏃𐎢𐎶𐎺𐎼𐎥𐎠 (s-k-a : h-u-m-v-r-g-a /⁠Sakā haumavargā⁠/)
• 𐎿𐎣𐎠 𐏐 𐎫𐎹𐎡𐎹 𐏐 𐎱𐎼𐎭𐎼𐎹 (s-k-a : t-y-i-y : p-r-d-r-y /⁠Sakā tayaiy paradraya⁠/)

Descendants

• → Sanskrit: शक (śaka)
  • → English: Saka
  • → Hindi: शक (śak)