Cognate -based Study of Names and Places in Ferdowsi's Shahnameh

In historical linguistics, cognate or lexical cognate is a set of words that have been directly inherited from an etymological ancestor in a common parent language. Because language changes can have dramatic effects on both the sound and meaning of a word, the words involved can be ambiguous and often require careful study of historical sources and the application of comparison method to determine if the words are related. In this article, the whole text of Shahnameh is analyzed. The researcher tried to find the origin and root of the names of kings, princes, heroes and places. The researcher tried to mention the history of Iranians, Turanians and most of the countries mentioned in the Shahnameh. According to the studies, the book of Shahnameh besides Iran, discusses thoroughly about the history of Turan and expresses the greatness of Turan, which is formed of China, India, Central Asia to the Caucasus and of course the northern half of modern Iran. All the names mentioned in the Shahnameh have been matched with the Turkish grammar in terms of the use of suffixes, prefixes and root words. Also, the mentioned names, whether the names of warriors, generals, priests or the names of kings and princes, have been adapted to the history and language of the Turks of Central Asia, the Turks of China and the Caucasus, Iran and Turkey. Most of the names of places and people mentioned in Shahnameh have Turkish origin/roots and even all Iranian kings and princes are attributed to Turanians on the one hand. They either have a Turanian mother or wife and are in fact Turkic

Keywords:

Cognate-based study , Ferdowsi's Shahnameh , Iranians , Iran , Turanians , Turan