The Indo-Iranian roots *dʰvans- and *dʰvanH-

This article deals with the Indic and Iranian reflexes of the IIr. roots *dʰvans- and *dʰvanH-, i.e. Vedic dhvaṃs- and dhvani-, Avestan duuan- and several Middle and New East Iranian verbs pointing to a pre-form *δwān- and *δway-. Based on a thorough semantic analysis of the earliest attestations in both branches, it is argued that these roots could be etymologically related, the first being an s-extension of the latter, and that both originally meant ‘to fall like dust, to be scattered’.