Etymology of the Turkish word "rüzgâr"

Question

In Turkish rüzgâr means "wind". From the looks of it (especially the long â vowel which is not native to Turkish) it seems to be of Persian origin: "روزگار". Some sources verify this too.

But in Persian (at least modern Persian) "روزگار" has a completely different meaning: "Time"!

So I was wondering what is the reason for that word to have that different meaning in the borrowing language. If it's a major shift in meaning, then what can the logic behind it? If it originally meant "wind" in Persian too, then do we have any samples of old Persian texts or poems verifying this?

According to wiktionary, Persian روزگار has a wide range of meanings, including "wind". Even in English we have the metaphor wind of time — Sir Cornflakes, Oct 19 '21 at 12:57
@JK-rEinStAtEmoNiCa if that isn't related to wind up clocks :) I only know turn of tides and wind of change — vectory, Nov 06 '21 at 21:26

fdb · Accepted Answer · 2021-10-19T14:16:18.013

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The semantic shift seems to be: time > weather > wind

For the first step compare Latin tempus “time” > French temps (“time, weather”).

For the second compare German Wetter (“weather”) with Russian veter (“wind”).

The Persian rūzgār is a common word meaning “time”. To my knowledge it is not used for “wind” in Persian in any period. This meaning is indicated in some dictionaries, but it seems to be at best a Turkism.

edited Oct 19 '21 at 14:16

answered Oct 19 '21 at 14:02

fdb

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Nice examples in other languages – Mousa Oct 19 '21 at 16:47
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To Latin tempus and French temps one can add English (borrowed from French) tempest "storm" – Sir Cornflakes Oct 20 '21 at 10:14
Russian word "veter" comes from PIE word for wind (cognate to English wind) – Anixx Oct 20 '21 at 12:02
@Anixx. I do not claim otherwise. – fdb Oct 20 '21 at 12:08
@jk-ReinstateMonica. Good point. Actually, Latin tempestas has all three meanings: time, weather, storm. – fdb Oct 20 '21 at 12:26
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In Hungarian, idő means both time and weather as well. – Szabolcs Oct 20 '21 at 13:33
@vectory. rōz < raučah- < *leuk is absolutely regular, with Indo-Iranian r < IE l. – fdb Nov 06 '21 at 20:50
@fdb hmm, there's also līv “sun” linked to Lat. dies "day", Norse Tyr (not Thor "thunder(er)"), etc. Anyway, besides many coincidental words for wind look comparable. Koinecidence? I think knot! – vectory Jan 16 '22 at 00:14

score 3 · Answer 2 · answered Oct 20 '21 at 05:30

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While certainly not the common term in contemporary speech, “روزگار” can mean “wind”, account to the Steingass dictionary (which covers older usages). Here is the pertinent entry:

روزگار rozgār, روزگاران rozgārān, The world; fortune; time, season, an age; day; vanity; wind, air; slaughter; service, employ, situation; labour, toil; occasion; earning;

(thereafter follow the word as it is used in various constructions)

Citation:

Steingass, Francis Joseph. A Comprehensive Persian-English dictionary, including the Arabic words and phrases to be met with in Persian literature. London: Routledge & K. Paul, 1892.

answered Oct 20 '21 at 05:30

adam.baker

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The basic problem with Steingass (or rather with the Indo-Persian dictionary that he copied from) is that he does not distinguish literal and metaphorical meanings, Or do you really believe that the word for "time" can also mean "slaughter"? – fdb Oct 20 '21 at 08:36
I wouldn't have guessed “wind” either. :-) In some dictionaries or glossaries, it's true that what you get is a list of possible translations values, which can be a somewhat random selection. – adam.baker Oct 20 '21 at 13:18
@fdb we have words that are autoantonyms in English. Literally anything is possible. – vectory Nov 06 '21 at 21:12

score 3 · Answer 3 · answered Nov 03 '21 at 01:54

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I found that in Middle Persian, rōc-kār can mean "season":

answered Nov 03 '21 at 01:54

Ciccione

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Etymology of the Turkish word "rüzgâr"

3 Answers3