Etymology

From Middle Armenian *լաւաշ ‎(*lawaš), a by-form of լաւշ ‎(lawš), whence լոշ ‎(loš).

The ultimate origin is uncertain.

According to Ačaṙyan, we are dealing with a Semitic borrowing. Compare Samaritan Aramaic ࠋࠅࠔ ‎(lwš [lūš], “dough”), Aramaic ליש ‎(layš), לישא ‎(layšā, “dough”), Classical Syriac ܠܝܫܐ ‎(layšā, “lump of dough”), absolute state ܠܝܫ ‎(layš), all from the Aramaic base לוש ‎(lwš, “to knead”). Further compare Akkadian [script needed] ‎(līšu, “dough, paste”), [script needed] ‎(lâšu, “to knead”), Hebrew לַיִשׁ ‎(láyiš, “dough”), לָשׁ ‎(lāš, “to knead”), Arabic لاث ‎(laṯ, “to dip a slice in oil”), لواثة ‎(luwāṯa, “flour powder sprinkled for preventing stickiness of dough”).

On the other hand, Martirosyan tentatively connects լավաշ ‎(lavaš) with dialectal լափ ‎(lapʿ), լուփ ‎(lupʿ), լովազ ‎(lovaz, “palm, flat of the hand”), լափուկ ‎(lapʿuk), լեփուկ ‎(lepʿuk, “flat, polished stone for playing”), լավազ ‎(lavaz, “very thin”) and assumes derivation from Proto-Armenian *law-, *lapʿ- ‎(“flat”) +‎ -աշ ‎(-aš). For further origin compare Proto-Germanic *lōfô ‎(“the palm or hollow of the hand”), Russian ла́па ‎(lápa, “paw”), Latin lapis ‎(“stone, milestone”), Ancient Greek λέπας ‎(lépas, “bare rock, mountain”), Ibero-Romance *lappa ‎(“stone plate”), all of which may go back to Proto-Indo-European *lóHp-eh₂- or *léh₃p-eh₂- or be borrowed from a substrate language.

Pronunciation

• (Eastern Armenian, standard) IPA^(key): [lɑˈvɑʃ]