Syr Darya

The Syr Darya/ˌsɪərˈdɑːrjə/ (Kazakh: Сырдария; Russian: Сырдарья́, tr. Syrdar'ya; IPA: [sɨrdɐˈrʲja]; Persian: سيردريا‎‎; Tajik: Сирдарё; Turkish: Seyhun, Siri Derya; Arabic: سيحون‎: Seyhun; Uzbek: Sirdaryo) is a river in Central Asia.

The Syr Darya originates in the Tian Shan Mountains in Kyrgyzstan and eastern Uzbekistan and flows for 2,212 kilometres (1,374 mi) west and north-west through Uzbekistan and southern Kazakhstan to the remains of the Aral Sea. It is the northern and eastern of the two main rivers in the endorrheic basin of the Aral Sea, the other being the Amu Darya. In the Soviet era, extensive irrigation projects were constructed around both rivers, diverting their water into farmland and causing the virtual disappearance of the Aral Sea, once the world's fourth-largest lake.

The second part of the name (Darya) means river. The current name dates only from the 18th century; since roughly the Muslim Conquests of Central Asia the river was known as the Seyhun River, i.e., one of the four rivers of Jannah, or paradise. Prior to the coming of Islam to Central Asia, the river's name is recorded by several sources, including those relating to Alexander the Great as the Jaxartes River.

Sir

Sir is an honorific address used in a number of situations in many anglophone cultures. The term can be used as a formal prefix, especially in the Commonwealth, for males who have been given certain honors or titles (such as knights and baronets), where usage is strictly governed by law and custom.

The term is commonly used as a respectful way to address a man, usually of superior social status or military rank. Equivalent terms of address to females are "ma'am" or "madam" in most cases, or in the case of a very young woman, girl, or unmarried woman who prefers to be addressed as such, "miss". The equivalent term for a knighted woman or baronetess is Dame, or "Lady" for the wife of a knight or baronet.

Etymology

"Sir" derives from the Middle French honorific title sire. Sire developed alongside the word seigneur, also used to refer to a feudal lord. Both derived from the Vulgar Latin senior, sire comes from the oblique case declension senior and seigneur, the nominative case declension seniōrem.

Sirá

Sirá is a village and municipality (obec) in Rokycany District in the Plzeň Region of the Czech Republic.

The municipality covers an area of 6.43 square kilometres (2.48 sq mi), and has a population of 105 (as at 3 July 2006).

Sirá lies approximately 14 kilometres (9 mi) north-east of Rokycany, 28 km (17 mi) east of Plzeň, and 58 km (36 mi) south-west of Prague.

References

Æsir

In Old Norse, ǫ́ss (or áss, ás, plural æsir; feminine ásynja, plural ásynjur) is the term denoting a member of the principal pantheon in the indigenous Germanic religion known as Norse religion. This pantheon includes Odin, Frigg, Thor, Baldr and Týr. The second pantheon comprises the Vanir. In Norse mythology, the two pantheons wage the Æsir-Vanir War, which results in a unified pantheon.

The cognate term in Old English is ōs (plural ēse) denoting a deity in Anglo-Saxon paganism. The Old High German is ans, plural ensî. The Gothic language had ans- (based only on Jordanes who glossed anses with uncertain meaning, possibly 'demi-god' and presumably a Latinized form of actual plural *anseis). The reconstructed Proto-Germanic form is *ansuz (plural *ansiwiz). The a-rune ᚫ was named after the æsir.

Unlike the Old English word god (and Old Norse goð), the term ōs (áss) was never adopted into Christian use.

Etymology

Æsir is the plural of áss, óss "god" (gen. āsir) which is attested in other Germanic languages, e.g., Old English ōs (gen. pl. ēsa) and Gothic (as reported by Jordanes) anses "half-gods". These all stem from Proto-Germanic *ansis ~ ansuz, which itself comes from Proto-Indo-European *h₂énsus (gen. h₂n̥sóus) "life force" (cf. Avestan aŋhū "lord; lifetime", ahura "godhood", Sanskrit ásu "life force",ásura "god" (< *h₂n̥suró)). It is widely accepted that this word is further related to *h₂ens- "to engender" (cf. Hittite hass- "to procreate, give birth", Tocharian B ās- "to produce").