կաշի

From Old Armenian կաշի (kaši).

• (Eastern Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [kɑʃí]
• (Western Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [ɡɑʃí]

• Audio (Eastern Armenian)

  (file)

կաշի • (kaši)

1. skin (of a human); hide (of an animal)
2. leather
3. (colloquial) peel, rind (of a fruit)

• (skin): մաշկ (mašk)

According to Ačaṙyan and J̌ahukyan, perhaps a Semitic borrowing. Compare Akkadian 𒋢 (/⁠kūšu⁠/, “skin”), which goes back to Sumerian 𒋢 (kuš, “skin”). This is also a widely-used determinative used throughout cuneiform script languages, and therefore widely-disseminated throughout the ancient world. Ačaṙyan adduces also Arabic قشعه (qašʕa, “dry skin”), قشاعه (qašāʕa, “a piece of dried up leather”) and some other derivatives of the root قش (qašš, “to become dry, to dry up”), but according to J̌ahukyan these are not related to the Akkadian word.

Martirosyan connects with Hittite 𒋢𒆳𒊭 (^KUŠkur-ša /⁠kurša-, kurši-⁠/, “skin, hide, fleece; skinbag, sheepskin as a divinized fetish or talisman”). This is not scarcely attested as it plays a prominent part in the state cult, having connections to more well-known Western motifs like the Golden Fleece and the Cornucopia. This term is an ancient wanderword with uncertain etymology, having Semitic forms and connections as well, potentially stemming from *kariś- (“stomach, stomach-pouch, paunch, omentum or intestine bag”), which also extends from the natural use of an animal's stomach as a sack container. Note also the initial "^KUŠ" is the Sumerian determinative mentioned above, denoting something made of skin, hide, or leather.

Note also Svan კე̄შ (ḳēš, “sheepskin”); Chechen къерс-иг (qʼers-ig, “coarse, hardened leather”), кӏерс-иг (kʼers-ig), Ingush къерс-иг (qʼers-ig); Central Kurdish کاش (kaş), کاژ (kaj, “slough (of snake); skin on liquid; peel”), کاژی (kajî, “slough (of snake); membrane”).

կաշի • (kaši)

1. hide, skin, leather

• Armenian: կաշի (kaši)

• Ačaṙean, Hračʻeay (1971–1979) “կաշի”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, a reprint of the original 1926–1935 seven-volume edition, Yerevan: University Press
• Awetikʻean, G., Siwrmēlean, X., Awgerean, M. (1836–1837) “կաշի”, in Nor baṙgirkʻ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Black, Jeremy, George, Andrew, Postgate, Nicholas (2000) “kūšu”, in A Concise Dictionary of Akkadian, 2nd corrected edition, Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz Verlag, page 171a
• Fīrūzābādī (1834) Al-uqiyānūs al-basīt‎, 2nd edition, volume II, translated from Arabic into Ottoman Turkish by Aḥmad ʻĀṣim, Constantinople, page 647
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010) “կաշի”, in Vahan Sargsyan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, page 483b
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2015) “Notes on Anatolian loanwords in Armenian”, in International Conference “Armenian language contacts through the ages” (12–15 May 2015, St. Petersburg, Institute for linguistic studies, Russian Academy of sciences)‎, Paper presented at a conference, pages 9–10
• Olsen, Birgit Anette (1999) The noun in Biblical Armenian: origin and word-formation: with special emphasis on the Indo-European heritage (Trends in linguistics. Studies and monographs; 119), Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyter, page 941, unknown origin
• Petrosean, Matatʻeay (1879) “կաշի”, in Nor Baṙagirkʻ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy