Kand (Linguistic Term)

Kand is a Sogdian loanword in Iradi meaning "town", especially a walled oasis town. It comes from Sogdian kanθ, which also forms the endings of Samarkand and Panjikent and the Turkic kent. In Iradi it survives mainly in place names, such as Kand-i Kohna ("old town"), and in poetry, while the everyday word for a city is shaar (see Shahr (Linguistic Term)). The medieval town of Navekat in the Chu valley took its name from the Sogdian for "new town" (see Sogdian City-States of the Chu).