ܐܰܪܙܳܢ rzn arzān worthy, cheap
MP arzān [ʾlcʾn] valuable, worthy; ManMP ʾarzʾn /arzān/ id. (Durkin-Meisterernst 2004, 52 f.); NP arzān cheap, low-priced (Steingass 36); Av. arəja- valuable (AirWb 191); ManParth. ʾrjʾn /aržān/ worthy (Durkin-Meisterernst 2004, 52 f.); Arm. LW aran "valore, prezzo, convenienza", adj. "conveniente"; anaržan "sconveniente, abietto" (Bolognesi 1960, 45 and 49; Hübschmann AG 92, no. 5) ● ON 84,1; BA n 1467; BB 286,16 ◆ LS 47b
As regards the etymon and the semantic change of MP arz value, merit and arzān worthy, > worth its price > cheap, cf. Nyberg 30 f.; Mayrhofer 1987, 106 and n. 9. The Ir. word derives from Indo-Ir. *arĝha- (Mayrhofer EWA 1, 114) from the IE root *algwh- followed by a front vowel (see Walde – Pokorny I 91; probably better *l̥gwh-), and not from the unexplainable IE *orgwha- proposed by Rédei 1986, 44. This last base does not explain the palatalization in the Indo-Ir. languages; furthermore, the lateral in the root *algwh- (or *l̥gwh-) is confirmed by the etymological connection with Gr. ἀλφή gain, profit, ἀλφάνω, αλφεῖν to gain, earn, get, Lith. algà and Old Prussian ālgas (gen. sg.) reward, payment, retribution: see Walde – Pokorny I 91 and Frisk I 81. As pointed out by Fraenkel, Gnomon 22, 236, the Gr. words probably come from *l̥gwh-, whereas the Indo-Ir. and the Baltic forms derive from a full apophonic grade *elgwh-, *olgwh-.