Turco-Afghanica
Résumé
A certain resemblance can be noted between several Iranian designations found in (Greater) Afghanistan, such as Wakhi mыr, Shughni mūn, Pashto maṇá < *amarnā and their Turkic correspondences, alma, alïmla, almïla, for ‘apple’. This includes similar looking forms in Indic (Sanskrit āmrá- ‘mango(tree)’, etc.), Finno-Ugric (e.g. Finnish omena), in Latin (mālum), Greek (μῆλον, μᾶλον) and Hittite maḫla-. These forms will be discussed and analyzed in order to explain the resemblance, whether they are cognate, borrowed or coincidental. The discussion will also involve the Northern European forms for ‘apple’, Germanic (e.g. English apple, German Apfel), Balto-Slavic (e.g. Lithuanian obuolỹs, Russian яблоко), and Celtic (e.g. Welsh afal).