Sham Asbi (Persian: شام اسبي, also Romanized as Shām Asbī; also known as Shamaspi)[1] is a village in Balghelu Rural District, in the Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil Province, Iran. At the 2006 census, its population was 2,148, in 511 families.[2]

Sham Asbi شام اسبي
village
Sham Asbi
Coordinates: 38°11′37″N 48°14′37″E
Country	Iran
Province	Ardabil
County	Ardabil
Bakhsh	Central
Rural District	Balghelu
Population  (2006)
• Total	2,148
Time zone	UTC+3:30 (IRST)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+4:30 (IRDT)

Etymology

The locals of Sham Asbi identify the first part of the village's name with Sham, i.e. "Syria", interpreting it as "a place with Syrian horses".[3] According to Alice Assadoorian in Iran and the Caucasus, the toponym appears to be an old compound, and thus the folk etymology "can hardly be satisfying".[3] Assadoorian notes that the final –ī in the place name alludes to a patronymic formation, which allows for the resconstruction of the Middle Iranian form of the toponym as *Šāmaspīk or *Šāmāspīk, which translates as "a village belonging to (or founded by) *Šāmāsp".[3] The name *Šāmāsp is a familiar personal name, and derives from Old Iranian *S(i)yāmāspa-, i.e. "(a man) having black or dark studs" (compare Avestan Syāvaspi- and Armenian Šawasp).[3] Assadoorian argues that there was "secondary dissimilation of the initial s- to š-".[3]

References

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