, settlement_type = Village , pushpin_map = Iran , mapsize = , subdivision_type =

Country A country is a distinct part of the world, such as a state, nation, or other political entity. It may be a sovereign state or make up one part of a larger state. For example, the country of Japan is an independent, sovereign state, while the ...

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Province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or sovereign state, state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''Roman province, provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire ...

, subdivision_name1 = Ardabil , subdivision_type2 =

County A county is a geographic region of a country used for administrative or other purposesChambers Dictionary, L. Brookes (ed.), 2005, Chambers Harrap Publishers Ltd, Edinburgh in certain modern nations. The term is derived from the Old French ...

, subdivision_name2 = Ardabil , subdivision_type3 =

District A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivisions o ...

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Central Central is an adjective usually referring to being in the center of some place or (mathematical) object. Central may also refer to: Directions and generalised locations * Central Africa, a region in the centre of Africa continent, also known as ...

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Rural District Rural districts were a type of local government area – now superseded – established at the end of the 19th century in England, Wales, and Ireland for the administration of predominantly rural areas at a level lower than that of the Ad ...

, subdivision_name4 = Balghelu , leader_title = , leader_name = , established_title = , established_date = , area_total_km2 = , area_footnotes = , population_as_of = 2016 , population_footnotes = , population_total = 2817 , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone =

IRST An infrared search and track (IRST) system (sometimes known as infrared sighting and tracking) is a method for detecting and tracking objects which give off infrared radiation, such as the infrared signatures of jet aircraft and helicopters. IR ...

, utc_offset = +3:30 , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , elevation_m = , area_code = , website = , footnotes = Sham Asbi ( fa, شام اسبي, also

Romanize Romanization or romanisation, in linguistics, is the conversion of text from a different writing system to the Roman (Latin) script, or a system for doing so. Methods of romanization include transliteration, for representing written text, and ...

d as Shām Asbī; also known as Shamaspi) is a village in, and the capital of,

Balghelu Rural District , settlement_type = Rural District , image_skyline = , image_alt = , image_caption = , image_flag = , flag_alt = , image_seal = , seal_alt ...

of the Central District of

Ardabil County Ardabil County ( fa, شهرستان اردبیل) is located in Ardabil province, Iran. The capital of the county is Ardabil Ardabil (, fa, اردبیل, Ardabīl or ''Ardebīl'') is a city in northwestern Iran, and the capital of Ardabil P ...

, Ardabil province,

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...

. At the 2006 census, its population was 2,148 in 511 households. The following census in 2011 counted 2,609 people in 734 households. The latest census in 2016 showed a population of 2,817 people in 820 households; it is the largest village in its rural district.

Etymology

The locals of Sham Asbi identify the first part of the village's name with Sham, i.e. "Syria", interpreting it as "a place with Syrian horses". According to Alice Assadoorian in '' Iran and the Caucasus'', the toponym appears to be an old compound, and thus the folk etymology "can hardly be satisfying". Assadoorian notes that the final ''–ī'' in the place name alludes to a patronymic formation, which allows for the resconstruction of the Middle Iranian form of the toponym as ''*Šāmaspīk'' or ''*Šāmāspīk'', which translates as "a village belonging to (or founded by) ''*Šāmāsp''". The name ''*Šāmāsp'' is a familiar personal name, and derives from Old Iranian ''*S(i)yāmāspa-'', i.e. "(a man) having black or dark studs" (compare

Avestan Avestan (), or historically Zend, is an umbrella term for two Old Iranian languages: Old Avestan (spoken in the 2nd millennium BCE) and Younger Avestan (spoken in the 1st millennium BCE). They are known only from their conjoined use as the scrip ...

''Syāvaspi-'' and

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian Diaspora, Armenian communities across the ...

''Šawasp''). Assadoorian argues that there was "secondary dissimilation of the initial ''s-'' to ''š-''".

References

Ardabil County Towns and villages in Ardabil County Populated places in Ardabil Province Populated places in Ardabil County {{ArdabilCounty-geo-stub