Sham Asbi

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".[3] 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".[3] 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".[3] 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).[3] Assadoorian argues that there was "secondary dissimilation of the initial s- to š-".[3]