Word journey
The word shaman
a ritual specialist who journeys to the spirit world
The journey
| Form | Language | Date | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| *samān | Proto-Tungusic (reconstructed) · Animism & Shamanism | undated | shaman; reconstructed |
| šamān / samān | Evenki · Animism & Shamanism | 1672 CE | shaman, spirit healer |
| šamán | Russian · Eastern Orthodoxy | 1672 CE | Siberian shaman (memoirs of the archpriest Avvakum) |
| schaman | Dutch | 1692 CE | Siberian shaman (Witsen, Noord en Oost Tataryen) |
| Schamane | German | 1698 CE | Siberian shaman (Adam Brand's embassy account) |
| shaman | English | 1698 CE | Siberian shaman; later any such practitioner |
What is certain and what is not
The chain is firm only from Evenki onward. A Tungusic root sa- "to know" is phonologically irregular, and the old theory of a Buddhist loan (Sanskrit sramana, via Tocharian or Chinese) is unproven, so the trail stops at Evenki. The Evenki date is that of the first Russian record.