dywʾn'

Middle Persian

Alternative forms

dpywʾn'
𐫅𐫏𐫇𐫀𐫗‎ (dywʾn) – Manichaean

Etymology

From earlier *diβi-vān, from the adjective *dipi-vān- (“relating to documents”), from Old Persian *dipi-vahanam (“document house”), composed from 𐎮𐎡𐎱𐎡 (di-i-p-i /dipi-/, “inscription; document”) (from Elamite, from Akkadian 𒁾 (ṭuppu, “tablet, document, letter”), from Sumerian 𒁾 (dub, “clay tablet”)), and *vahana- (“house”) (whence also Persian ‎ (jā, “place”)), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂wes- (“to dwell”). For the first component, compare Middle Persian 𐭣𐭯𐭩𐭥𐭥‎ (dpywr /dibīr/) / dpyr' / dpywr' (dibīr, “scribe”), from Old Persian *dipī-var- (-).

For the reading, compare Old Armenian դիւան (diwan). The forms with ē (as opposed to ī) in Persian may have been a secondary pronunciation developed due to folk etymologies; see de Blois for more.

Noun

dywʾn' • (/dīwān, dēwān?/)

Descendants

Persian: دیوان‎ (divân, dêvân) (see there for further descendants)
→ Old Armenian: դիւան (diwan)
- Armenian: դիվան (divan)

References

MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “dēwān”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 26
de Blois, François (December 15, 1995), “DĪVĀN i. THE TERM”, in Encyclopædia Iranica, online edition‎, New York

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