Abstract
In spite of some efforts made by Vollers, C. A. Nallino and Taha Husayn, the etymology of Arabic 'adab (literature) has not been explained clearly yet. This paper is to trace the origin of the word to Pahlavi aδven (ak) from two points of view, phonetical and semantic.
It will be easily accepted that Pahlavi aδven or aδvenak passed to Arabic 'adab because of their phonetic coincidence. While Pahlavi aδven (ak) suffered the phonetic change to become aiven (ak), from which Modern Persian word 'ayin appeared and this is why Arabic 'adab and Modern Persian 'ayin share the same meaning (way, manner).
As for the semantic development of Pahlavi aδven (ak), we can divide it into three stages. The first is “way, manner”, the second is “etiquette” and the third is “species, form, aspect” etc. Among these three categories of the meaning, only the last one did not pass into Arabic because it developed within the isolated scope of Zoroastrian theology in Islamic days.
The first meaning “way, manner” is common in Pahlavi literature and used in Arabic like 'adabu lharb (way of battle). The second meaning “etiquette” which is used especially in Pahlavi Andarz-books is very popular in Arabic as is widely known. At the same time the Sassanians gave much importance on the etiquette concerning holding the banquet (Cf. 'Ayin li'Ardashir). This is why Arabic verb 'adaba ('adb) means “to invite to the banquet”.
