աղաւնի

Old Armenian

Etymology

From Proto-Armenian *aławun +‎ -ի (-i). Further origin is uncertain. Perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *albʰós (“white”). Alternatively, according to Martirosyan probably a borrowing from a Mediterranean substrate word of the form *pl̥h₂-bʰ-ōn, reflected also in Latin palumbēs, palumbus. See also սալամբ (salamb).

Noun

աղաւնի • (aławni)

1. dove, pigeon

   վայրի աղաւնի ― vayri aławni ― stock-dove, wood-pigeon, wild pigeon

Usage notes

• This is the only Old Armenian word in which the diphthong աւ (aw) did not turn into օ (ō) before a consonant. This is probably because the word was pronounced *aɫawəni.
• The word has two combining forms: աղաւնե- (aławne-) and աղաւնա- (aławna-).

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Armenian: աղավնի (aġavni), աղունիկ (aġunik)

References

• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “աղաւնի”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “աղաւնի”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971–1979) “աղաւնի”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) “aɫawni”, in Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden and Boston: Brill, page 29