I keep seeing some words in my searchings here..."kasan" and "sal" being the most recent...and I just want to get the names of the different parts identified.
I've always been told that there's three basic parts to these horn bows:
Handle...self explanatory.
Limb...the working part of the bow.
Sayah...the non-working ends of the bow into which the string-nocks are carved.
I would like it if you guys could chime in and help me understand the other names used for the same parts, or names for more parts I've not listed.
Thanks!
KenH
Mackenzie;
Some of what you're seeing is people describing the same bow-part from different cultural perspectives - Mongol vs Chinese, vs Persian words for the same bit for example.
It's true we need a multi-lingual dictionary of bow-part names. I'm sure others will chime in here with the names of various bits from the cultures they are most familiar with.
Here, in English, are the parts of a bow as I see them:
Tip
Nock
Static or non-bending portion of limb
Transition or Fade
Working portion of limb
Transition or Fade
Handle
Transition or Fade
Working portion of limb
Transition or Fade
Static or non-bending portion of limb
Nock
Tip
Each piece can be described in terms of its length, width, depth, cross-section, material(s) composition, etc.
Bede
To give a rough example of the Middle Eastern term, you have to look at the three main languages in use for archery literature. They are Arabic, Persian (Farsi) and Turkish. In some languages the same part maybe named as two different parts.
The rigid end of the bow is called siyah in Arabic and gosha in Persian. The translation of gosha has led to the English term ear being used for the end of a bow. However, the Ottoman Turks divided the rigid tip into two parts: the ridged section called the kasan and the tip called the bash. Technically the lower tip can be called the ayak (foot as opposed to head which is the literal meaning of bash).
The bending part of the bow is called beit in Arabic which means "house". It also can be called the dustar which is originally a Persian word. In Turkish it was called the sal. In German Orientalist literature, the Arabic letter used to write the "s" in "sal" was written as a double "s". This explains why von Hammer-Purgstall and Klopsteg translating Hein write kassan and ssal.
The grip or handle of the bow was called qabza in Arabic and variations of this word were used in Persian and Turkish. The "q" could be written as a "k" and the final "a" could be an "e". These variations reflect pronunciation in the different languages and the transliterations used when converting from the Arabic script.
There are also technical words for the back and belly of the bow, the arrow pass, and the point of transition between the ridged section and the bending section of the limb. These likewise differ between the three languages.
There are advantages in using the word "kasan" because there is no single word in English for that part of the bow when writing in English. "Ear", the English word, is probably preferable to either siyah or gosha because to the difficulty people have in spelling the former and the obscurity of the latter.
A simplified approach would be to describe bows as having an ear composed of a tip and a kasan, a bending section, and a handle. There is a strong tendency in all the languages that I have examined so far to name parts of the bow and the arrow after the human body. The major problem with this is that there is no anatomical continuity. The bow can be described as having an ear with a shoulder followed by its neck. An arrow has its arrow head mounted on its foot.
I am working on a table of the names of various parts of the bow and arrow in Turkish and English: in Ottoman Turkish, transliteration into Latin characters, Modern Turkish and English translation. I will publish it when it is finished for anyone trying to look up original works.
However, I have been talking to several people translating archery works from Persian to English and there are still many difficulties with technical terms. In particular, the form of Persian written in Mogul India has many archery and other technical terms that are hard to identify or translate. This isn't helped by the fact that manuscripts were copied by hand and the scribes often did not understand what they were writing about.
This problem exists in many other languages and is complicated by the fact that the authors were writing technical manuals and they expected the readers to have the same vocabulary so they did not explain technical terms in some cases.
Stephen Selby
I am working on a table of the names of various parts of the bow and arrow in Turkish and English: in Ottoman Turkish, transliteration into Latin characters, Modern Turkish and English translation. I will publish it when it is finished for anyone trying to look up original works.
That would be excellent. I was going to ask you to do that. BTW. could you provide a generic drawing of a bow (and a string, and an arrow) with numbering of the parts so that we can create a sort of 'bow Duden'? 8)
S
jack farrell
The terminology is interesting and important and let us hear about it but I intend to press forward with English versions. English is already a language full of archery terms. No reason for a discussion on the curve of the bow to depend on one's knowledge of archaic Persian. About Turkic bows there is the grip, the limb, the ridge, the bend, a recurve or ear, the string notch and the tip. Traditionally the upper limb is the head, and the lower is the foot.
Bede said arrow pass, is that so difficult that we need another term?
Let me also suggest that names of dynasties be followed by dates. This is standard practice in the academic world. How many times must one go to google to look up Warring States and etc. for example? The entire world is familiar with dates, eg. Warring States (475-221 BCE). This makes the communication clear and sooner or later one learns.
makenzie71
My biggest concern doesn't lay with the language...a rose by any other name is still a rose. I would like to see a picture of a simple bow, and then a picture with the most complex bow possible, with the sections clearly indicated with their numerous names listed.
English should cover the majority of the names, but our research extends beyond this site and other sites where English is the predominate posting text...it would be nice to have a single reference we could study so that, no matter what la rosa is said, we can look back at our pictures, with the definitions, and see that it is, in fact, still a rose.
:)
Stephen Selby
From my book...
daryush
Bede wrote:
However, I have been talking to several people translating archery works from Persian to English and there are still many difficulties with technical terms. In particular, the form of Persian written in Mogul India has many archery and other technical terms that are hard to identify or translate. This isn't helped by the fact that manuscripts were copied by hand and the scribes often did not understand what they were writing about
Thanks for your detailed reply Bede! Would it be possible to send some of these Mughal / Persian texts my way at all?
Thanks
