ܗܪܰܡܰܕܰܪܳܐ hrmdrʾ hramaḏarā royal minister
Parth. *hramādār; Arm. LW hramatar ruler, superintendent, bailiff (Hübschmann AG 182, no. 353); cf. MP framādār [plmʾtʾr] commander, ruler, chief (CPD 32); Parth. prmtr (first cent. BC); OP framātār-; Bactr. φρομαλαρο (Davary 1982, s.v.); see also Arm. LW hraman order, command (Hübschmann AG 182, no. 353) ← Parth. *hramān command. — Talm. Aram. hrmnʾ order, command (Telegdi 241, 62) ← Parth. *hramān command; Md. prʾʾmʾn ← Pers. framān (MP framān, NP farmān: see Shaked 1987, 260 and s.v. prmʾn). Initial hr- from Ir. fr-, witnessed by Arm. hramatar and Syr. hrmdrʾ, is not a standard development, neither in Parthian nor in Middle Persian, which some scholars attribute to Middle Median or Atropatenian Median dialect: see Schmitt 2005, 54 and cf. Syr. prmʾn (s.v.). Skjærvø 2001, 288 reconstructs the MP form as framadār, with a second short /a/, on the basis of the inscription of Mihrnarseh (where we read <plmtʾl>, see Henning 1954b, 434), and of Proto-MP (OP) framatāram appearing in the inscription of Artaxerxes III, further evidence that the shortening took place in ancient times. In the Acts of the Nestorian Synods, the word is referred to the envoy of the Sasanian king to the Seleucian synod (410 AD), which is qualified as hrmdrʾ rbʾ hramaḏarā rabbā, formally an imperfect calque on MP wuzurg framādār Prime Minister (cf. Khurshudian 1998, 87–89). According to Maricq (apud Szemérenyi 1975, 359 n. 181), this MP title was introduced under āhbuhr (4th cent. AD); see also Henning 1965a, 81; Chaumont 1973, 150 n. 63; Gignoux 1990b, 10 n. 32 ● Syn 21, 21 ◆ LS 184a; PS Suppl. 103