chaman

Forms

chaman m (plural chamans, feminine chamane)^[1] First schaman (1699), then chaman (1791); also shaman, after the English spelling.^[2][3][4] Feminine chamane.^[1][5]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Russian шаман (šamán, “priest, healer, magician”),^[2][3][1] which comes from a Tungusic language of Siberia: Evenki шаман (šaman, “monk”).^{[2][3][1][6][5]} The TLFi gives the Russian step as probable.^[2] The spelling with ⟨sh⟩ is due to English shaman (1698).^[3][4]

Vasmer connected the Tungusic word with the Pali and Old Indian words for a Buddhist ascetic, as Littré and the Grand Robert had derived it; the TLFi and Rey report this link as doubtful.^[2][3][7][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1699 as schaman, in Brand's French account of the journey of Evert Isbrand, which says that the Tungus of a settlement keep a Schaman between them, “which among them means a priest or a magician”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Brought in by travel accounts, the word named the priest of certain peoples of central and northern Asia, a specialist of ecstasy who acted as seer and healer.^[3][2] La Croze in 1724 applied it to the priests of the Samoyeds and Tungus,^[2] and Volney spelled it chaman in 1791.^[2][3] By extension it was used for the priest-sorcerers of other continents (North America, Indonesia, Oceania) and became an important term in the history of religions.^[3][2]

Its derivatives are learned: chamanisme (1801, in a translation from Russian), chamaniste (1866), chamanique (as schamanique in 1788) and chamaniser (1972).^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1699 – Schaman appears in Brand's account of Evert Isbrand's journey.^[2][3]
• 1724 – La Croze uses Schamans for Samoyed and Tungus priests.^[2]
• 1791 – Volney writes chaman.^[2][3][8]
• 1801 – Chamanisme appears in a translation from Russian.^[3]
• 1972 – Chamaniser is recorded.^[2][3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (ethnology) A shaman: in the peoples of central and northern Asia, a priest skilled in ecstasy who acts as seer and healer.^[2][6][5]
2. By extension, a priest-sorcerer of traditional societies elsewhere, held to communicate with the spirits through trance.^[2][5][9]

Word family

• chamanisme
• chamanique
• chamaniste
• chamaniser

Related words

• Russian шаман (šamán)
• English shaman

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ a b c d Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
6. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF
9. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)