Èrsh language
| Èrsh | |
|---|---|
| Region | Caucasus modern Azerbaijan |
| Ethnicity | Èrs people |
| Era | antiquity |
Northeast Caucasian?
| |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | None (mis) |
| Glottolog | None |
The Èrsh language was the language of the Èr or Èrs people.
According to placenames, it was a Nakh language, akin to the language of the historical Malkh nation, as well as modern Chechen, Ingush and Batsbi, and possibly others.[1]
Examples of placenames
The capital of the Èrs (which was later turned into a fortress by Urartu) was called Èribuni (later turned into and used as a fortress by the Urartian state). Buni is from a Nakh root, meaning shelter or home, which was probably around /bun/ (giving rise to the modern Chechen word bun, a cabin, or small house). Hence, Èribuni meant "the home of the Èrs". It corresponds to modern Yerevan[2] (which was spelled Erivan until relatively recently; van is a common Armenian rendering for the root /bun/).
In the Georgian Chronicles, Leonti Mroveli refers to Lake Sevan as "Lake Ereta". The name of the Arax is also attributed to the Èrs.[1] It is also called the Yeraskhi. The Armenian name is "Yeraskhadzor" (which Jaimoukha identifies as Èr + khi a Nakh water body suffix + Armenian dzor gorge).[1]
References
- ^ a b c Jaimoukha, Amjad. The Chechens: A Handbook. Routledge Curzon: Oxon, 2005.
- ^ See Israelyan, Margarit A (1971). Էրեբունի: Բերդ-Քաղաքի Պատմություն (Ēryebowni: Byerd-Kaghaki Patmowt'hown, Erebuni: The History of a Fortress-City) (in Armenian). Yerevan, Armenian SSR: Hayastan Publishing Press. pp. 8–15.