A linguistic study on the words māde[h] (=female), and "مادّه" mādde[h] (=matter, substance, essence) from colloquial Persian to the Avestan

This essay focuses on two words used in New Persian with almost the same morphology, but quite different meanings:"ماده" māde(h)(=female), and "مادّه" mādde(h) (=matter, substance, essence). The former is considered to be of the Persian origin while the latter of the Arabic. By studying these words from the historical linguistic aspect and quoting evidence from the accessible texts in Old and the Middle Iranian (including texts from the holy book of Avesta, Manichaean Middle Persian, and Sogdian texts) , as well as instances in the New Persian, from early stages of the forming of the Persian language, and earliest translation of the holy Qoran) the author first proves that the words are both originally Persian, and then suggests that Mādde(h) (=matter, substance, essence; producer), as an equivalent of the philosophical Greek term: “Hyle”, has been borrowed and Arabicized, presumably by the translators of the Middle Persian philosophical texts, during the translation movement started from mid-eight Century CE. This movement, as a result of the need for exploiting the priceless cultural spoils of the subjugated countries, motivated the Arab caliphs to support it, and many books were translated mainly from the Hellenistic scholars into Arabic. Subsequently these Arabic translations were studied by Persian scholars and writers, and rendered into Persian. Thus, the Arabicized: "مادّۃ" and its plural form "مواد", had a return to the Persian with different semantic nuances and enriched the corpus of Persian language and literature.