Talk:सस्ता

@माधवपंडित, Kutchkutch, DerekWinters This term's (and its cognates') etymology is unclear, I want to know what you guys think. Dasa ({{R:hi:Dasa}}) suggests Sanskrit स्वस्थ (svastha, “healthy”), but Turner doesn't list any of the New Indo-Aryan terms in his entry for it ([1]). Meanwhile McGregor ({{R:hi:McGregor}}) doesn't list an etymology at all. I think the Sanskrit is unlikely because (1) the meaning is pretty different from "cheap", and (2) the medial "s" would have been lost (e.g. ). Should a Proto-Indo-Aryan *sasstas be reconstructed? The Marathi is especially confusing since it looks like a Sanskrit borrowing but there is no Sanskrit *स्वस्त (svasta). —Aryaman^{A (मुझसे बात करें • योगदान)} 17:53, 8 January 2018 (UTC)

@AryamanA: This cannot be from स्वस्थ (svastha). It however looks like a foreign word, particularly a Persian borrowing. If you consider an Indo Aryan origin then out of interest to you, Konkani सोवाय (sovāy) means cheap and Kannada ಸಸಾರ (sasāra) is applied to people who lose their value (in the eyes of others) due to over familiarity. -- माधवपंडित (talk) 02:42, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

@AryamanA: I've also always thought it was a Persian term. Gujarati lexicon lists सस्त, सस्ता as Marathi cognates alongside स्वस्त (which may be a hypercorrection). I can't find anything in Persian or even Pashto to connect it to. DerekWinters (talk) 04:35, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

@DerekWinters: I can't find anything in Persian either. It has to be a borrowing then, but from which language? —Aryaman^{A (मुझसे बात करें • योगदान)} 13:32, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

Maybe doublet of सुस्त (sust)? Persian سست seems to have many meanings, and the Georgian term derived from it is interesting too. Maybe it's from a related term even? DerekWinters (talk) 16:59, 9 January 2018 (UTC)

@AryamanA: Turner's Nepali dictionary lists the cognates of सस्तो as

[Ku. sasto, B. sastā, O. sastā, H. P. sastā, G. sastũ, M. sastā.]

The ones not mentioned yet on this page are Nepali सस्तो (sasto), Kumaoni सस्तो, Odia ଶସ୍ତା (śôsta). The other DSAL dictionaries suggest Assamese সস্তা (xosta) and Sindhi سَستو (sasto) exist as well.

Besides 'cheap/inexpensive', Marathi स्वस्त (svasta) also has the third definition of Sanskrit स्वस्थ (svastha) 'sound, tranquil, composed'. DSAL Molesworth suggests this meaning is borrowed from the Sanskrit word with the थ changed to त while the 'cheap/inexpensive' meaning has the same origin as Hindi सस्ता (sastā) or borrowed from Hindi. It appears Marathi सस्ता/सस्त (sastā/sasta) is the older (not Old Marathi though) or alternate form of the 'cheap/inexpensive' meaning before it was 'hypercorrected' to match the form of the Sanskrit borrowing as DerekWinters suggested with the assumption that Marathi सस्ता/सस्त (sastā/sasta) is originally from Sanskrit स्वस्थ (svastha).

DSAL Platts may be considered unreliable but for out of curiosity for سستا it suggests

[S. स्रस्त+कः, root स्रंस् or स्वस्थ+कः]

Also, DSAL Fallon for سستا suggests

Tir. sast; Sant. & Mag. sahtā, adj. S. समर्घ Cheap; low-priced.

Proto-Indo-Aryan *sasstas or Prakrit *sasstas could be reconstructed if borrowing from Persian سست is not conclusive. Kutchkutch (talk) 02:45, 11 January 2018 (UTC)

@DerekWinters, Kutchkutch, माधवपंडित: Thanks for the great finds! I think a nativization of the Persian سست (sost) is possible; Sanskrit स्वस्थ (svastha), समर्घ (samargha) seem unlikely to me but I will mention them in the etymology. The hypercorrection in Marathi definitely points to something weird. —Aryaman^{A (मुझसे बात करें • योगदान)} 02:48, 11 January 2018 (UTC)