կատուականջ

կատուականջ

Old Armenian

Etymology

From կատու (katu, “cat”) +‎ ականջ (akanǰ, “ear”).

The meaning is uncertain. Found only in a medieval dictionary glossing Arabic آذَان الْفَأْر‎ (ʾāḏān al-faʾr, “Myosotis stricta”, literally “mouse ear”), which is called մկնականջ (mknakanǰ, literally “mouse ear”) in Armenian. Perhaps the Arabic should be corrected to آذَان الْقَطّ‎ (ʾāḏān al-qaṭṭ, literally “cat's ear”), which is found in Amirdovlatʿ as ազան ըլ ղըթ (azan əl łətʿ) and explained as زَرَاوَنْد مُدَحْرَج‎ (zarāwand mudaḥraj, “Aristolochia rotunda”).

Noun

կատուականջ • (katuakanǰ)

1. The meaning of this term is uncertain. Possibilities include:
   1. forget-me-not, scorpion-grass, Myosotis gen. et spp.
   2. cat's ear, Hypochaeris gen. et spp.
   3. smearwort, Aristolochia rotunda
   • 9th or 10th century, with changes and additions in later centuries, Tʿargmanutʿiwn dełocʿ zor əntrel en imastasērkʿn ew kargeal yayl lezuacʿ [A Medieval Arabic–Armenian Botanical Dictionary] :

     ադանալփար (vars. արդանալփար, արտանալփար) = կատուականջ

     adanalpʿar (vars. ardanalpʿar, artanalpʿar) = katuakanǰ

     آذَان الْفَأْر‎ (ʾāḏān al-faʾr) = katuakanǰ

Further reading

• Ališan, Łewond (1895), “կատուականջ”, in Haybusak kam haykakan busabaṙutʿiwn [Armenian Botany] (in Armenian), Venice: S. Lazarus Armenian Academy, § 1346, page 304
• Greppin, John A. C. (1997) A Medieval Arabic–Armenian Botanical Dictionary (Studien zur armenischen Geschichte; 16), separate reprint of the Handes Amsorya 109 (1995), 380–457 edition, Vienna: Mechitarist Press, § 24, pages 29–30
• Norayr N. Biwzandacʿi (1925) Kʿnnadatutʿiwn Haybusaki [A Critique of Haybusak] (Azgayin matenadaran; 109) (in Armenian), Vienna: Mekhitarist Press, page 164