About the ‘Ossetian’ Window

Abstract

In Ossetic (Iron) there are two words for ‘window’: rūʒyng and færssag. The second term actually derives from færssag rūʒyng, or ‘side window’. In fact, in ancient times, Ossetian houses did not have windows on the walls, but only an opening in the ceiling which served both to illuminate the house and to let the smoke out of the fireplace. The word is attested with the same meaning in many contemporary and ancient Iranian languages and is related to the term for light. In Digoron the term for the window is of Turkic origin, and roʒingæ instead indicates the bread used in worship, equivalent to Iron ærtxūron word closely connected to the name of the sun.