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=== Herodotus' Scythian etymologies === The Greek historian [[Herodotus]] provides another source of Scythian; he reports that the Scythians called the [[Amazons]] ''Oiorpata'', and explains the name as a compound of ''oior'', meaning "man", and ''pata'', meaning "to kill" (''Hist''. 4,110). * Most scholars associate ''oior'' "man" with Avestan ''vīra-'' "man, hero", Sanskrit ''vīra-'', Latin ''vir'' (gen. ''virī'') "man, hero, husband",<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://latindictionary.wikidot.com/noun:vir|title = Vir – the Latin Dictionary}}</ref> PIE {{PIE|*''wiHrós''}}. Various explanations account for ''pata'' "kill": *# Persian ''pat-'' "(to) kill", ''patxuste'' "killed";<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gharib|first1=B.|title=Sogdian Dictionary, Sogdian-Persian-English|date=1995|publisher=Farhangan Publications|location=Tehran, Iran|isbn=964-5558-06-9|page=376}}</ref> *# Sogdian ''pt-'' "(to) kill", ''ptgawsty'' "killed";<ref>{{cite book|last1=Gharib|first1=B.|title=Sogdian Dictionary, Sogdian-Persian-English|date=1995|publisher=Farhangan Publications|location=Tehran, Iran|isbn=964-5558-06-9|page=376}}</ref> *# Ossetian ''fædyn'' "cleave", Sanskrit ''pātayati'' "fell", PIE {{PIE|*''peth₂''-}} "fall".<ref> [[Ladislav Zgusta|L. Zgusta]], "Skythisch {{lang|grc|οἰόρπατα «ἀνδροκτόνοι»}}", ''Annali dell’Istituto Universario Orientale di Napoli'' 1 (1959) pp. 151–156. </ref> *# Avestan ''paiti-'' "lord", Sanskrit ''páti'', PIE {{PIE|*''pótis''}}, cf. Lat. ''potestate'' (i.e. "man-ruler");<ref> Vasmer, ''Die Iranier in Südrußland'', 1923, 15. </ref> *# Ossetian ''maryn'' "kill", Pashto ''mrəl'', Sanskrit ''mārayati'', PIE {{PIE|*''mer''-}} "die" (confusion of Greek [[Mu (letter)|Μ]] and [[Pi (letter)|Π]]);<ref> [[Vasily Abaev|V.I. Abaev]], ''Osetinskij jazyk i fol’klor'', Moscow / Leningrad 1949, vol. 1, 172, 176, 188. </ref> * Alternatively, one scholar suggests Iranic ''aiwa-'' "one" + ''warah-'' "breast",<ref>{{harvnb|Hinge|2005|pp=94–98}}</ref> the Amazons believed to have removed a breast to aid drawing a bow, according to some ancient folklorists, and as reflected in Greek [[folk-etymology]]: ''[[privative a|a-]]'' (privative) + ''mazos'', "without [[breast]]". Elsewhere Herodotus explains the name of the mythical one-eyed tribe [[Arimaspi|Arimaspoi]] as a compound of the Scythian words ''arima'', meaning "one", and ''spu'', meaning "eye" (''Hist''. 4,27). * Some scholars connect ''arima'' "one" with Ossetian ''ærmæst'' "only", Avestic ''airime'' "quiet", Greek ''erēmos'' "empty", PIE {{PIE|*''h₁(e)rh₁mo''-}}?, and ''spu'' "eye" with Avestic ''spas-'' "foretell", Sanskrit ''spaś-'', PIE {{PIE|*''speḱ''-}} "see".<ref> [[Josef Markwart|J. Marquart]]<!--name spelling changed in 1922-->, ''Untersuchungen zur Geschichte von Eran'', Göttingen 1905, 90–92; Vasmer, ''Die Iranier in Südrußland'', 1923, 12; [[H.H. Schaeder]], ''Iranica. I: Das Auge des Königs'', Berlin 1934, 16–19. </ref> * However, Iranic usually expresses "one" and "eye" with words like ''aiwa-'' and ''čašman-'' (Ossetian ''īw'' and ''cæst''). * Other scholars reject Herodotus' etymology and derive the ethnonym [[Arimaspi|Arimaspoi]] from Iranic ''aspa-'' "horse" instead.<ref> W. Tomaschek, "Kritik der ältesten Nachrichten über den skythischen Norden", ''Sitzungsberichte der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften'' 116 (1888), 715–780, here: 761; [[Karl Müllenhoff|K. Müllenhoff]], ''Deutsche Altertumskunde'', Berlin 1893, vol. 3, 305–306; [[René Grousset|R. Grousset]], ''L’empire des steppes'', Paris 1941, 37 n. 3; I. Lebedensky, ''Les Scythes. La civilisation des steppes (VII<sup>e</sup>-III<sup>e</sup> siècles av. J.-C.)'', Paris 2001, 93. </ref> * Or the first part of the name may reflect something like Iranic ''raiwant-'' "rich", cf. Ossetian ''riwæ'' "rich".<ref>{{harvnb|Hinge|2005|pp=89–94}}</ref>
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