Discover and read the best of Twitter Threads about #SamarkandSummit
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1. My #SamarkandSummit orientalistš§µon its toponym and etymology. Incorrect is #Wikipedia's #Samarkand etymon entry and false analogy to #Tashkent. Both #Samarkand, like neighbouring #Bukhara, remain extensively debated in eastern #MiddleIranian #philology.
2. #Samarkand, contra #Wikipedia, is not 'stone city'. The first element /smār/ remains unexplained. On #Sogdian smārknĪ“h [Ancient Letters], cf. Chin. Samojian é¢Æē§£å»ŗ Gr. ĪĪ±ĻĪ±ĪŗĪ¬Ī½Ī“ĪæĪ¹, scholarly consensus exists only on second compound, #Sogdian 'town, city'.
3. #Sogdian knĪ“h 'town, city' > #Christian #Sogdian qĪø; /smār/ element unmentioned in Gharib 1995 [Sogdian #Dictionary], @iranicaonline, or EI2 [Enc. of #Islam) entries. See @Brill_ME_Africa EI2, VIII/1995: 1031-032, s.v. #Samarkand Schaeder (rev. Bosworth). 
