The Meaning and Etymology of <i>ārya</i>. Benedetti, G.
The Meaning and Etymology of <i>ārya</i> [link]Paper  doi  abstract   bibtex   
The present paper considers the issue of the Sanskrit term ārya , starting from the use of ārya and arya as ‘freeman’ and ‘owner’ in opposition to dāsa ‘servant’ (or śūdra ), from the Vedas to the Arthaśāstra and Pāli texts (in the form ayya ). The original meaning is here interpreted as based on social classes rather than ethnic differences, although foreign populations could be considered as belonging to the dāsa or śūdra class. This social meaning can be found also in the Irish cognate aire ‘freeman, noble’, and in Iranic cognates like Middle Persian ērīh ‘nobility’. Derived terms from arya / ārya often have an honorific use, and from the social meaning, also a moral and spiritual meaning could be developed, which is more easily explained from the concept of ‘noble’ and ‘freeman’ than from that of an ethnic identity or kinship. If the original meaning of Indo-European * aryos was ‘freeman, noble’, it can be compared with the Afro-Asiatic root * ħar - ‘(vb.) to be superior, to be higher in status or rank, to be above or over; (n.) nobleman, master, chief, superior; (adj.) free-born, noble’. We can have thus to do with concepts of nobility and freedom developed in the common cultural frame of a society where slavery and social stratification were evolving.
@article{benedetti_meaning_2023,
	title = {The Meaning and Etymology of \textit{ārya}},
	issn = {2785-5953},
	url = {https://edizionicafoscari.unive.it/it/edizioni/riviste/bhasha/2023/1/the-meaning-and-etymology-of-arya/},
	doi = {10.30687/bhasha/2785-5953/2023/01/006},
	abstract = {The present paper considers the issue of the Sanskrit term
              ārya
              , starting from the use of
              ārya
              and
              arya
              as ‘freeman’ and ‘owner’ in opposition to
              dāsa
              ‘servant’ (or
              śūdra
              ), from the Vedas to the
              Arthaśāstra
              and Pāli texts (in the form
              ayya
              ). The original meaning is here interpreted as based on social classes rather than ethnic differences, although foreign populations could be considered as belonging to the dāsa or śūdra class. This social meaning can be found also in the Irish cognate aire ‘freeman, noble’, and in Iranic cognates like Middle Persian
              ērīh
              ‘nobility’. Derived terms from
              arya
              /
              ārya
              often have an honorific use, and from the social meaning, also a moral and spiritual meaning could be developed, which is more easily explained from the concept of ‘noble’ and ‘freeman’ than from that of an ethnic identity or kinship. If the original meaning of Indo-European *
              aryos
              was ‘freeman, noble’, it can be compared with the Afro-Asiatic root *
              ħar
              - ‘(vb.) to be superior, to be higher in status or rank, to be above or over; (n.) nobleman, master, chief, superior; (adj.) free-born, noble’. We can have thus to do with concepts of nobility and freedom developed in the common cultural frame of a society where slavery and social stratification were evolving.},
	number = {1},
	journaltitle = {Bhasha},
	shortjournal = {bhasha},
	author = {Benedetti, Giacomo},
	urldate = {2024-02-27},
	date = {2023-06-26},
	langid = {english},
}

Downloads: 0