Sham Asbi
Persian: شام اسبي | |
---|---|
Village | |
Coordinates: 38°11′36″N 48°14′38″E / 38.19333°N 48.24389°E[1] | |
Country | Iran |
Province | Ardabil |
County | Ardabil |
District | Central |
Rural District | Balghelu |
Population (2016)[2] | |
• Total | 2,817 |
Time zone | UTC+3:30 (IRST) |
Sham Asbi (Persian: شام اسبي), also Romanized as Shām Asbī; also known as Shamaspi,[3] is a village in, and the capital of, Balghelu Rural District of the Central District of Ardabil County, Ardabil province, Iran.[4]
At the 2006 census, its population was 2,148 in 511 households.[5] The following census in 2011 counted 2,609 people in 734 households.[6] The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 2,817 people in 820 households. It was the most populous village in its rural district.[2]
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".[7] 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".[7] 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".[7] 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).[7] Assadoorian argues that there was "secondary dissimilation of the initial s- to š-".[7]