An Indo-European  Insect in Iranian Languages and Dialects

This paper deals with the etymology of the word tarda ‘termite’ used in at least two classical Persian texts. According to the author, tarda is etymologically connected with Greek τερηδών and Latin tarmes/termes, and all are ultimately derived from the proto-Indo-European root *terh1- ‘to rub; to pierce by rubbing, to bore’. The author then reconstructs *tardaka- ‘a boring insect’ as the Old Iranian form underlying tarda. Northwest Iranian languages retain Old Iranian *-rd- (sometimes in the form of -rδ-), but Southwest Iranian languages change it into -l- and, as a result, lengthen the preceding vowel. Therefore, Old Iranian *tardaka-, and its alternative form *tarda-, can yield a variety of forms in New Iranian languages and dialects which are discussed in details in the present paper. Some of the most important descendants of Old Iranian *tarda(ka)- in New Iranian languages and dialects are: tardak ‘a wheat-eating worm’ (in Persian), tarda/tarde ‘termite’ (in Persian and also in the dialects of Ardakān, Bardsir, Kermān, Sirjān, Šāh-Bābak and Yazd), tarze (from *tarδe) ‘termite’ (in the dialects of Rāvar and Zarand), tāl (‘termite’ in the dialect of Xur, but ‘a black insect eating palm leaves’ in the dialects of Bandar-e Abbās, Bandar-e Lenge, Bušehr, Fin, Jiroft, Kahnuj and Manujān),and tālg ‘termite’ (in Farvi dialect).