A debate on the words and expressions of the Tarsusi's Qahramān-nāmah

In one of the Persian manuscripts of Tarsusi's Qahramān-nāmah, the rare words and terms can be seen, which are hard to find in other texts of the Persian language and literature. This manuscript is preserved in the National Library of Iran and was written in the beginning of the thirteenth lunar century. The rare words and terms in this manuscript is noteworthy from several perspectives.
First, due to the different writings of Tarsusi's Qahramān-nāmah, many of these words and terms are not observed in other surviving Persian manuscripts of the narration of Qahramān-nāmah. Second, it is mentioned in dictionaries, but there is no evidence for it from other texts of Persian language and literature. Third, there is no independent entry for them in the dictionaries, but in other Persian language and literature edited texts there are one or two examples that, due to the unfamiliarity and rarity of the word or term, the proofreaders have misunderstood its meaning or their explanation is not accurate and comprehensive. In this article, the author has given each of these words and terms in an independent entry, and then by mentioning its evidence in other texts and examining the opinions of others, he has obtained his proposed meaning.
 
Keywords: Qahramān-nāmah, Abu taher Tarsusi, Lexicography, Dictionary, Folk Literature.

Introduction

Qahramān-nāmah (the story of the killer hero) is the work of the prominent and famous narrator of the 6th century, Abu taher Tarsusi, which describes the bravery of the Qahramān, the warrior of Hoshang Shah's capital. So far, several copies of the valuable work of Qahramān-nāmah in Persian, Turkish, Uzbek and Kurdish languages ​​have been identified and reached us. Among the remaining Persian Manuscripts of Qahramān-nāmah, only in the preserved manuscript in the National Library of Iran with the number 22799-5 and titled “The Tale of Heroes”, a detailed and almost complete narrative of this work can be found. This manuscript was written on the twelfth of Rabi al-Awl in the year 1205 by a person named Mohammad Baqir. It is true that no manuscript related to the author's lifetime or close to his era has reached us from Qahramān-nāmah, and the only almost complete Persian manuscript of it is six to seven centuries away from the date of the creation of the narrative by Abu taher Tarsusi. However, in this latest manuscript, there are new words and terms that cannot be found in other texts of Persian language and literature, and there is no entry for it in dictionaries. Although some of these rare words have been reflected in other edited texts, they did not have a complete meaning for the editors, and they expressed doubts about its meaning. Therefore, in the continuation of the article, while bringing these evidences and examining them, the author also presents his received and suggested meaning so that it can be used by lexicographers and researchers.
 

Research Methodology

In the current research, writing and analysis were mostly done in a library method. Most of the books used in this research are dictionaries and Persian texts in verse and prose. In cases where a word has not been entered in Persian dictionaries or has no evidence in other Persian literary texts, it has been tried to point to the correct and exact meaning of that word by using other evidences in the text of Qahramān-nāmah and a delay in the meaning of the word in the sentence under discussion.
 

Theoretical Framework

The main structure of this article is related to Philology and lexicography. After a brief explanation about the history of lexicography and the necessity of creating a comprehensive dictionary in the Persian language, the author has brought the rare words and terms of Qahramān-nāmah and explained each of them in a separate entry with an extensive and detailed explanation.
 
 

Discussion and Analysis
"بگده" (Begdah) in the meaning of “wide and big knife and cleaver” is mentioned several times in this text. It is found from the scroll of Murshid Abbas Zariri that it had a sheath.
The writer's guess is that "فیل مست محمودی" (Mahmoudi's drunken elephant) attributed to Mahmoud, is the elephant of Abraha ibn Sabah and not Sultan Mahmoud of Ghaznavi. being angry and furious, being huge, conquering, and finally the fame and popularity of the Abrahe elephant has caused the narrators and authors in later periods to introduce angry drunken elephants with the adjective Mahmoudi.
The author supposes that "تبک" (Tabak) in the text of Qahramān-nāmah means: The tray that is placed in front of the thrones to place the food and reception items and is decorated with all kinds of jewels.
The word "جیقش" (Jigesh), which is also found in Qahramān-nāmah as "چیقش" (Chigesh) and "جفش" (Jefesh), is used in the meaning of “neighing and scream”.
From the evidence of Qahramān-nāmah and Shahnameh scroll, it can be seen that "ضربگه ضربی" (Zarbgah Zarbi) has an adverbial role here and is used in the meaning of “instantaneously, in one twinkling of the eye”.
The word "صاعقه" (saeqhe) is another form of "ساقه" (saqhe) meaning the rear of an army, which has been lost from dictionaries.
"قیلقه / قیلغه" (Qailogeh) is the same as impaling or skewering, which is a form of execution through torture. In the usual impaling, a long pole or spear is inserted into the condemned person's body, and the person is left to die by to flounce or to struggle with twitching limbs.
The meaning of "هی بر کسی زدن و از دایرۀ چرخ بدر رفتنِ او" (hey bar kasi zadan v az dayere-e charkh be dar raftan-e o) is that the individual was so ready and agile that if you hit him at that time, he would pass through the sky.
"گرد مدبری" (Gerd Modbari) is a revolving and spherical device that acts like a roller and it is possible to install several bases on it, in such a way that when it descends, a sound similar to the sound of a person running has been heard from it and apparently the Ayars used it.
"تعلیق کردن" (taligh kardan) is mentioned in the dictionaries in the meaning of “sticking, following”, but it is not recorded in the exact meaning of “to pursue” in the dictionaries.
"ولا" (vla) is used in the meaning of “region, place” in other Persian literary texts, including Naqqali’s scrolls.
"صحیحه" (Sahiha) is another form of "صیحه" (sayha) which is used in the meaning of “loud voice, scream”.
"این است که" (ein ast k) is an expression meaning "now, this time and soon".
"نیازبازی" (niyaz bazi) here means "courtship and lovemaking, express love and interest".
Within the scope of the author's search, "لالای" (lalye) in the meaning of “layer by layer” was not found in dictionaries. If the word is recorded correctly, it is possible that its construction has been changed as follows: "لایلای,لابه‌لای , "لایه‌لایه (ly ly, labe ly, laye laye).
"دست راست بر گردۀ به و دست به بر گردۀ راست گرفتن" (dast-e rast bar gorde-e beh v dast-e beh bar gorde-e rast gereftan) is used in cases where the hero prepares to yell and intimidate the enemies by placing his hands crossed on the sides.
Here, "سرسیاهِ دندان‌سفید" (the white-toothed black head) apparently only refers to the appearance of humans, which are different from demons in this appearance. It seems that these external characteristics of humans were despised by the demons.
"به سر دُم نشستن" (be sar-e dom neshastan) is apparently to sit upright and formally, which is a sign of arrogance, in such a way that the head and the seat are in the same line. In the case of birds, it means to fly vertically, in such a way that the head and tail of the bird are aligned.
"سرنگ" (Sorang) can be understood as “shouting, wailing, noise indicating happiness”.
"دست و بغل شدن" (dast-o baghl shodan) in the text of Qahramān-nāmah apparently means to face and confront, to encounter.
From the evidence that is mentioned about the "دامن طرح دستوری افشاندن" (daman tarh-e dastori afshandan), it is found that a person whose demands have not been met and who is offended, in order to complain and turn away from the opposite person, puts his hands on his skirt and tries to move or pretending to go.
The word "نیاسه" (Niyaseh) is another form of "نواسه" (Nawaseh) which means senior grandson.
"جان بر سر جستن" (Jan bar sar jastan) means the same as “world-weary, to be on the verge of death” and “from fear to give up the ghost”.
"تبرک و عقربک" (Tabarak and Aqrabak) were the names of two tools of torture or two tools to tie up the prisoners. Tabarak are placed on the chest, back and behind of the head.

 

Conclusion

A closer look at the dictionaries shows that some words and combinations of Persian texts have been lost from these dictionaries. Some rare words have also been entered in the dictionaries without witnesses or mention of all their meanings, and due to this shortcoming, it is not possible to get a precise and comprehensive understanding of the mentioned idiom or word.
In one of the Persian manuscripts of Abu taher Tarsusi's Qahramān-nāmah, written in the early thirteenth century, a number of these rare words and expressions with the listed characteristics can be seen. Therefore, the writer of the present article has tried to write several entries, in addition to recording the mentioned rare words and mentioning their evidence from other texts, to present his proposed meaning about the words and terms discussed to be used in compiling a comprehensive Persian-to-Persian dictionary.