کفتار

See also: گفتار

Persian

کفتار

Etymology

Related to Middle Persian [Book Pahlavi needed] (hptʾl /⁠haftār⁠/, “hyena”), Bandar Abbasi Persian dialect افتارگ (aftârg), Sogdian [script needed] (ʾβtʾr /⁠aftār⁠/), Old Georgian აფთარი (aptari). See additional comparanda in Bläsing. Unattested in Old Iranian. The ultimate origin is unknown.

Pronunciation

• (Classical Persian) IPA^(key): [kaf.ˈtɑːɾ]

 

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰäf.t̪ʰɑ́ːɾ]

• (Dari, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰäf.t̪ʰɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Kabuli) IPA^(key): [kʰäf.t̪ʰɑ́ːɾ]
  • (Hazaragi) IPA^(key): [kʰäf.t̪ʰɔ́ːɾ]

• (Iran, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰʲæf.t̪ʰɒ́ːɹ]

• (Tajik, formal) IPA^(key): [kʰäf.t̪ʰɔ́ɾ]

Readings
Classical reading?	kaftār
Dari reading?	kaftār
Iranian reading?	kaftâr
Tajik reading?	kaftor

Noun

کفتار • (kaftâr) (plural کفتارها (kaftâr-hâ) or کفتاران (kaftârân))

1. hyena
   • c. 1030, Farrukhī Sīstānī, “Qaṣīda 69”, in دیوان فرخی سیستانی [Dīvān of Farrukhī]‎^[1]:

     ز بیم تیغ او شیران جنگی
     بسوراخ اندرون رفته چو کفتار
     کسی کز پیش او گیرد هزیمت
     نترسد گر شود در سله با مار

     zi bīm⁠-i tēğ-i tu šēr⁠ān-i jangī
     ba sūrāx andarūn rafta čū kaftār
     kasē k-az pēš-i ō gīrad ⁠hazīmat
     na-tarsad gar šawad dar silla bā mār

     Fearing your blade, the warlike lions
     Have hidden in holes like the hyena.
     Whoever flees before you
     Is not afraid to go [hide from you] in a basket with a snake.

     (Classical Persian transliteration)

Descendants

• → Armenian: քավթառ (kʻavtʻaṙ)
• → Azerbaijani: kaftar
• → Hindi: कफ़्तार (kaftār​, rekhta)
• → Northern Kurdish: keftar
• → Ottoman Turkish: كفتار (keftar)
• → Udi: кафтӏар (kafṭar)

References

• Bläsing, Uwe (2000) “Irano-Turcica: Weitere iranische Elemente im Türkeitürkischen”, in Folia Orientalia‎^[2] (in German), volume 36, Kraków, § 5, page 39
• MacKenzie, D. N. (1971) “haftār”, in A concise Pahlavi dictionary, London, New York, Toronto: Oxford University Press, page 39