շաղախ

From Old Armenian շաղախ (šałax).

• (Eastern Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [ʃɑˈʁɑχ]
• (Western Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [ʃɑˈʁɑχ]

շաղախ • (šałax)

1. mortar (mixture used for bonding building blocks)

   Synonyms: կրաշաղախ (krašałax), տաղախ (tałax), (mixed with chaff) մոլ (mol)

2. (figuratively) anything that binds or fixes

The origin is uncertain. Has been compared to Middle Armenian շողախ (šołax), շոխ (šox, “sticky substance used to close up a hole”), Old Armenian շաղեմ (šałem, “to moisten, to mix the mortar”), շաղ (šał, “dew”), տաղախ (tałax, “mortar”), Lithuanian švelnùs (“soft”), Proto-Indo-European *(s)kelH- (“to cut; to split, to separate”), Ancient Greek πηλός (pēlós), παλός (palós, “clay, earth, mud, mire”).

շաղախ • (šałax)

1. clay, mud, mortar
   • 5th century, Bible, Genesis 11.3:

     Եւ ասեն այր ցընկեր իւր․ Եկայք արկցուք աղիւս եւ թրծեսցուք զայն հրով։ Եւ եղեւ նոցա աղիւսն ի տեղի քարի, եւ կուպր ի տեղի շաղախոյ։

     Ew asen ayr cʿənker iwr; Ekaykʿ arkcʿukʿ ałiws ew tʿrcescʿukʿ zayn hrov. Ew ełew nocʿa ałiwsn i tełi kʿari, ew kupr i tełi šałaxoy.

     And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick, and burn them throughly. And they had brick for stone, and slime had they for morter.

   Synonyms: ցիխ (cʿix), տաղախ (tałax)

շաղախ • (šałax)

1. foul, dirty

• Armenian: շաղախ (šałax)

• Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1977), “շաղախ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), volume III, 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press, page 488ab
• Awetikʿean, G.; Siwrmēlean, X.; Awgerean, M. (1836–1837), “շաղախ”, in Nor baṙgirkʿ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Höfler, Stefan (2016), “The Root √k̑u̯el ‘Dark, Black’”, in Iran and the Caucasus‎, volume 3, issue 1, pages 24–26
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010), “շաղախ”, in Vahan Sargsyan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, page 579a
• Lidén, Evald (1913), “Bidrag till armenisk ljud- och ordhistorian”, in Förhandlingar vid Svenska Filolog- och Historikermötet i Göteborg den 19–21 Augusti 1912‎ (in Swedish), Göteborg: Wald. Zachrissons, page 110 of 110–112, connecting with Old English hwelian, Lithuanian švelnùs as a native word
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 944
• Petrosean, H. Matatʿeay V. (1879), “շաղախ”, in Nor Baṙagirkʿ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Pokorny, Julius (1959) Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch [Indo-European Etymological Dictionary] (in German), volume 2, Bern, München: Francke Verlag, page 629, accepting Lidén's etymology
• Schultheiss, Tassilo (1961), “Hethitisch und Armenisch”, in Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der Indogermanischen Sprachen‎, issue 77, page 221
• Simon, Zsolt (2013), “Die These der hethitisch-luwischen Lehnwörter im Armenischen: eine kritische Neubetrachtung”, in International Journal of Diachronic Linguistics and Linguistic Reconstruction‎ (in German), volume 10, issue 2, page 111