Irano-Sinica — Chinese Loan-Words in Persian 565 



(togh) or tuy, 1 which designates the tassels of horse-hair attached to the 



points of a standard or to the helmet of a Pasha (in the latter case a 



sign of rank). Among the Turks of Central Asia, the standard of a 



high military officer is formed by a yak's tail fastened at the top of a 



pole. This is said also to mark the graves of saintly personages. 2 In 



the language of the Uigur, the word is tuk. z As correctly recognized by 



Abel-Remusat, 4 who had recourse only to Osmanli, the Turkish word 



is derived from Chinese jfl tu, anciently *duk, that occurs at an early 



l date in the Cou li and TsHen Han £#. Originally it denoted a banner 



. carried in funeral processions; under the Han, it was the standard of the 



commander-in-chief of the army, which, according to Ts'ai Yun $% § 



(a.d. 133-192), was made of yak-tails. 6 Yak-tails (Sanskrit cdmara, 



Anglo-Indian chowry) were anciently used in India and Central Asia as 



i insignia of royalty or rank. 6 



29. The Cou iw 7 states that in respect to the five cereals and the 

 : fauna Persia agrees with China, save that rice and millet are lacking 



in Persia. The term "millet" is expressed by the compound iu lu 

 W? fflt; that is, the glutinous variety of Panicum miliaceum and the 

 glutinous variety of the spiked millet (Setaria italica glutinosa) . Now, 

 we find in Persian a word &*£« in the sense of "millet." It remains 

 to study the history of this word, in order to ascertain whether it might 

 be a Chinese loan-word. 



Schlimmer 8 notes erzen as Persian word for Panicum miliaceum. 



30. Persian (also Osmanli) tank ("a harp or guitar, particularly 

 played by women") is probably derived from Chinese Zen ^ ("a 

 harpsichord with twelve brass strings"). 



31. One of the most interesting Chinese loan-words in Persian is 

 xutu (khutu), from Chinese ku-tu (written in various ways), principally 

 denoting the ivory tooth of the walrus. This subject has been dis- 



x In Sugnan, a Pamir language, it occurs as tux (Salemann, in Vostocnye Za- 

 m'atki, p. 286). 



2 Shaw, Turkl Language, Vol. II, p. 76. 



s Radloff, Wort, der Turk-Dial., Vol. Ill, col. 1425. 



* Recherches sur les langues tatares, p. 303. 



* See K'an-hi sub jfe. 



8 Yule, Hobson-Jobson, p. 214. Under the Emirs of the Khanat Bukhara 

 there was the title toksaba: he who received this title had the privilege of having a 

 tug carried before him; hence the origin of the word toksaba (Veliaminof-Zernof, 

 Melanges asiatiques, Vol. VIII, p. 576). Cf. also a brief note by Parker (China 

 Review, Vol. XVII, p. 300). 



7 Ch. 50, p. 6. 



8 Terminologie, p. 420. 



