Armenian

Noun

մագիլ • ‎(magil)

1. claw; talon

Declension

Old Armenian

Alternative forms

• մակիլ ‎(makil)
• մագալ ‎(magal)

Etymology

Uncertain.

According to Ačaṙyan, perhaps a “Caucasian” borrowing; he compares Georgian მახვილი ‎(maxvili, “pointed, sharp”), Udi мух ‎(muχ, “nail; claw”) and several Avar forms. J̌ahukyan adds also Avar (Southern dialect) малгь ‎(malh), Bagvalal милгьв ‎(milhʷ, “nail; claw”) and considers the Armenian specifically a Northeast Caucasian borrowing. Compare also literary Avar малъ ‎(mał, “nail; claw”). Nikolayev and Starostin reconstruct Proto-North Caucasian *mɦǟƛă, *mɦǟƛǝ̆ ‎(“finger-nail, toe-nail”) for these.

Alternatively, inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₃nogʰ- ‎(“nail”) via pre-Armenian *h₃nogʷʰ-ōl-eh₂, with the n → m change possibly being the result of assimilatory influence of a labiovelar in the following syllable from Proto-Armenian or the influence of մատն ‎(matn, “finger”); compare also Tocharian A maku, Tocharian B mekwa ‎(“nails”).

Noun

մագիլ • ‎(magil)

1. claw, talon

   երկաթի մագիլք‎ ― erkatʿi magilkʿ ― torturing hooks

   ըմբռնել մագլօք‎ ― əmbṙnel maglōkʿ ― to seize with the claws or talons, to clutch, to grapple, to grasp, to hook

Declension

Derived terms

Descendants

• Armenian: մագիլ ‎(magil)
• Middle Armenian: մաքիլ ‎(makʿil)

References

• Petrosean, H. Matatʿeay V. (1879), “մագիլ”, in Nor Baṙagirkʿ Hay-Angliarēn [New Dictionary Armenian–English], Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Awetikʿean, G.; Siwrmēlean, X.; Awgerean, M. (1836–1837), “մագիլ”, in Nor baṙgirkʿ haykazean lezui [New Dictionary of the Armenian Language] (in Old Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy
• Ačaṙean, Hračʿeay (1971–1979), “մագիլ”, in Hayerēn armatakan baṙaran [Dictionary of Armenian Root Words] (in Armenian), 2nd edition, Yerevan: University Press, published 1926–1935
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (2010), “մագիլ”, in Sargsyan, Vahan, editor, Hayeren stugabanakan baṙaran [Armenian Etymological Dictionary] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Asoghik, ISBN 978-9939-50-121-5
• J̌ahukyan, Geworg (1987) Hayocʿ lezvi patmutʿyun; naxagrayin žamanakašrǰan [History of the Armenian language: The Pre-Literary Period] (in Armenian), Yerevan: Academy Press, page 609
• Martirosyan, Hrach (2010) Etymological Dictionary of the Armenian Inherited Lexicon (Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series; 8), Leiden, Boston: Brill, page 255
• Nikolayev, S. L.; Starostin, S. A. (1994), “*mɦǟƛă (~-ǝ̆)”, in A North Caucasian Etymological Dictionary, Moscow: Asterisk Publishers