The History and Etymology of CappadocianFšáx‘Child’, PharasiotFšáxi‘Boy’

Cappadocian fsax ‘child’, Pharasiot fsaxi ‘boy’ are traditionally derived from Turkish usak, assuming a hitherto unexplained fricativization of [u] to [f] and of word-final [k] to [x] after the borrowing process. The latter cannot be attributed to Cappadocian or Pharasiot, however, as it is a common feature of Anatolian Turkish. In order to understand the former sound change, we have to assume an isolated case of high vowel fricativization in the articulated plural ta usaxja > ta fsaxja → sg. to fsax(i) by metanalysis, comparable to the generally acknowledged case of ta otja > ta utja > ta ftja → sg. to fti ‘the ear’. We argue that fsax(i) is an archaism in light of the parallel use of usak > usak reported in 19th-century sources and the preservation of word-final [x] even in dialects which seem to have borrowed words ending in [k] from Standard instead of Anatolian Turkish. The irregular inflection of fsax(i) suggests that it was borrowed as an adjective from Old Anatolian Turkish before it was substantivized in Ottoman Turkish, perhaps even from Old Turkish uvsak ‘little’: ta ufsaxa ta peðja ‘the little children’ > ta fsaxa ‘the little ones’ by apheresis.