شترگاوپلنگ
Persian
FWOTD – 30 August 2025
Alternative forms
- اشترگاوپلنگ (ušturgāwpalang / oštorgâvpalang), شترگاو (šuturgāw / šotorgâv), اشترگاو (ušturgāw / oštorgâv), گاوپلنگ (gāwpalang / gâvpalang)
Etymology
From Middle Persian ʾwštlgʾwplng (uštar-gāw-palang, “giraffe”), from ʾwštl (uštar, “camel”) + gʾw (gāw, “ox, cow, bull”) + plng (palang, “leopard”). By surface analysis, شتر (šutur / šotor, “camel”) + گاو (gāw / gâv, “cow”) + پلنگ (palang, “leopard”).
Compare Old Armenian շտրպաղանգ (štrpałang), an Iranian borrowing. For the formation compare Ancient Greek καμηλοπάρδαλις (kamēlopárdalis), Old Armenian ընձուղտ (ənjułt), Classical Syriac ܓܡܠ ܢܡܪܐ (ɡmal-nemrā).
Pronunciation
- (Classical Persian) IPA(key): /ʃu.tur.ɡaːw.pa.ˈlanɡ/
- (Dari, formal) IPA(key): [ʃʊ.t̪ʰʊɾ.ɡɑːw.pʰä.láŋɡ]
- (Iran, formal) IPA(key): [ʃo.t̪ʰoɹ.ɡɒːv.pʰæ.lǽɲɡʲ̥]
- (Tajik, formal) IPA(key): [ʃu.t̪ʰuɾ.ɡɔw.pʰä.láŋɡ]
| Readings | |
|---|---|
| Classical reading? | šuturgāwpalang |
| Dari reading? | šuturgāwpalang |
| Iranian reading? | šotorgâvpalang |
| Tajik reading? | šuturgovpalang |
Noun
شترگاوپلنگ • (šuturgāwpalang / šotorgâvpalang) (plural شترگاوپلنگها (šuturgāwpalang-hā / šotorgâvpalang-hâ), or شترگاوپلنگان (šuturgāwpalangān / šotorgâvpalangân), Tajik spelling шутурговпаланг)
- (archaic) camelopard, giraffe
- Anything made up of very different parts
- 20th c., Mohammad Farrokhi Yazdi, Divan-e Robaiyat[1]:
- از یک طرفی مجلس ما شیک و قشنگ
از یک طرفی عرصه به ملیون تنگ
قانون و حکومت نظامی و فشار
این است حکومت شتر گاو پلنگ- On one hand, our Parliament is so classy and beautiful
on the other hand, a million people are living in dire conditions
Law, martial law, and pressure
A government consisted of very disparate parts becomes like this
- On one hand, our Parliament is so classy and beautiful
See also
References
- Dehkhoda, Ali-Akbar (1931–), “شترگاوپلنگ”, in Dehkhoda Dictionary Institute, editors, Dehkhoda Dictionary (in Persian), Tehran: University of Tehran Press
- MacKenzie, D. N. (1971), “uštar”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 85