A combining form with the meaning “pertaining to stars or celestial bodies”
used in the formation of compound words. Variants aster-, and
astr- before a vowel.
→ star.
Etymology (EN): Gk. astron “star,” akin to L. stella (Fr. étoile,
from O.Fr. esteile, from V.L. *stela),
Skt. str-, tara-,
Av. star-, Mid.Pers. star, stârag, Mod.Pers.
setâré, axtar, see below; cf. O.E. steorra, E. star,
Du. ster, O.H.G. sterro, Ger. Stern,
PIE *ster- “star.”
Etymology (PE): Mod.Pers. axtar, → star, from Mid.Pers. axtar.
The variants star-, estâr, estâré,
setâré are obvious. Note also the following
dialectal forms: (Lori, Laki) âsâra,
(Tabari) essâra, (Laki) hasâra, (Shughni)
xiterj, xtarag. The form axtar is less straightforward, leading
some philologists to suggest different origins for
setâré and axtar. According to
W. Eilers (Iranica), axtar is a back-fomation from
Mid.Pers. apâxtar “planet; north” produced by artificial dropping of the
first component. Apart from phonological difficulties inherent in this suggestion,
one must also explain how axtar meaning “planet”
became a general designation for star, as for example in
Mid.Pers. axtarmâr “astronomer,” despite the relatively infinitesimal number
of planets known in ancient times.
W. Eilers’ suggestion is pure theoretical construction; no factual evidence support it.
On the other hand, in Pahlavi texts, e.g. Bundahishn, axtar is extensively
used for “star, planet, and the signs of zodiac.”
We suggest that both
words star and axtar are etymologically related. This idea is based on
the fact that “s” and “x” phonemes interchange in Persian and other
IE languages. For example, the PIE *swesor “sister” has evolved
into Av. xvanhar-, Mid.Pers./Mod.Pers. xâhar
(Skt. svasar-, L. soror, Fr. soeur,
Gk. eor “daughter, cousin, relative,” Arm. k’oyr,
O.H.G. swester, Ger. Schwester, Du. zuster,
E. sister). Similarly,
*saewel- “sun” has become Av. hvar- “sun,”
Mid.Pers. xavr, Mod.Pers. xor, while
keeping its Av. h in Mod.Pers. hur “sun”
(cf. Skt. svar-, surya-,
Gk. helios, L. sol, Goth. sauil, Lith. saule).
Finally, *su- “hog, pig, swine”
also has changed its “s” into both “h” and
“x” in Av. and Mod.Pers. hu- and xuk respectively
(Skt. sukara- “boar, hog, pig,” Gk. hys, L. sus,
Welsh hucc, Ger. Schwein, E. swine).
