Why Is an Apple a Pomme?

By Denis Dunstone

Now, for the first time you can find out about that foreign word which has puzzled you. No one has written a book like this before. It is not a dictionary. Nor is it an etymological treatise. It is light-hearted company for the traveller, regular or occasional, whose curiosity has been aroused by the variety and diversity of the Western European languages. In a short quick style it offers some explanations. The words chosen are those, which the traveller is most likely to come across, in the train, at the airport, on the road and in hotels and restaurants. It is the perfect conversation opener on your travels. Why DO the French call an apple a pomme?



"Amusing, erudite, intriguing and useful...
The ideal travel companion for exploring Europe."

—Loyd Grossman

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu Publishing Services
• Release date: Oct 3, 2014
• ISBN: 9781483418605

Book preview

Dunstone

Copyright © 2014 Denis Dunstone.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted by any means—whether auditory, graphic, mechanical, or electronic—without written permission of both publisher and author, except in the case of brief excerpts used in critical articles and reviews. Unauthorized reproduction of any part of this work is illegal and is punishable by law.

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1859-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4834-1860-5 (e)

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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Lulu Publishing Services rev. date: 09/26/2014

CONTENTS

Introduction

Chapter 1    Eating And Drinking

Chapter 2    Inside At Destination

Chapter 3    Languages

Chapter 4    Outside At Destination

Chapter 5    Time And Weather

Chapter 6    Transport

Chapter 7    Travel

Bibliography

About The Author

INTRODUCTION

This book is not a dictionary. Nor is it an etymological treatise. It is a book for the traveller, regular or occasional, whose curiosity has been aroused by the variety and diversity of the Western European languages, for which it attempts to offer some explanations. The words chosen are those which the traveller is most likely to come across, in the train, at the airport, on the road and in hotels and restaurants. It gives the possible source of these variations, and of the similarities. The explanations given are mainly derived from the etymological dictionaries of the languages. However, many explanations remain conjectural and there is disagreement among the experts. This book attempts to find a balance of probability but is by no means definitive.

Given our common heritage from Indo-European it is interesting that we do not all speak the same language. Indo-European is a theoretical language that has been constructed by linguistic experts tracing the origins of the source languages of Western Europe, Greek, Latin, Sanskrit, Germanic, and Avestan. It is the unknown grand parent of most of the modern languages spoken in Europe and the Middle East.

The fact that we do not speak the same language from Karachi to Killarney causes us varying amounts of difficulty in the modern world. The reasons for the differences lie in history and geography, climate, politics, war, religion and conquest, but in any one case are hard to determine; for language is not often laid down by authority; it emerges and evolves. In many cases the variations cannot be explained.

Some of the most interesting variations exist in the area of food. Here influences have been felt from lands far beyond Europe. For example, the French word for a Jerusalem artichoke is the same as the name of a Brazilian tribe.

It was a dinner table conversation in Portugal, which sowed the seed of this book. The question was asked: why is the Portuguese for cheese more similar to the German word than to the French. What follows seeks to be informative without being tedious, and as light-hearted as the subject will allow. The book deals with the basic ten western European languages of English, French, German, Dutch, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, Danish, Norwegian and Swedish. To do more would have been cumbersome. Instead reference is made as appropriate to other languages such as Russian, Lithuanian, Welsh and Catalan.

CHAPTER 1

EATING AND DRINKING

APRICOT

FR abricot. GE Aprikose. DU abrikoos. DA abrikos. NO aprikos. SW aprikos. SP albaricoque. PO damasco. IT albricocca.

A native of northern China, the apricot is now grown all over the world. The earlier English spelling ‘apricock’ came from Spain and from an Arabic word ‘al-barquq’. The French spelling was adopted, it is said, out of prudery in Victorian times. It was from France that the word spread northward to Holland, Germany and Scandinavia. The Arabic word is derived from Latin ‘praecocia’ and Greek ‘praikokion’ meaning ‘early-ripener’. Early to mature, like a precocious child, the apricot is ready for the table before the peach. The apricot was imported by the Romans from Armenia and Persia. The Portuguese word reflects the importance of Damascus as a market-place.

APPLE

FR pomme. GE Apfel. DU appel. DA aeble. NO eple. SW apple. SP manzana. PO maca. IT mela.

Apple and its northern European variants stem from a probable Indo-European root, ‘abel’. It is not however clear whether this word has always applied to the single fruit or whether it is a more general word for firm fruit growing on trees. It is one of the widest spread words being manifest for example as ‘obulas’ in Lithuanian, ‘ahbols’ in Lettish, ‘jablo-ko’ in Russian, ‘abhal’ in Irish and ‘afal’ in Welsh.

‘Pomum’ in Latin meant any fruit that grows on a tree. Perhaps the French were still using the word in this way when they were introduced to the potato, which they called ‘pomme de terre’.

Another Latin word ‘malum’ meant more specifically apple. Some have read significance into the fact that Adam ate a ‘malum’, which in Latin also means evil. ‘Malum’ was the source for the modern Italian word. The Iberian words are derived from a late Latin word ‘mattiana’, an abbreviation for ‘mala mattiana’, a type of apple named after a Roman called Caius Matius.

ARTICHOKE (A) GLOBE

FR artichaut. Ge Artischocke. DU artisjok. DA artiskok. NO artisjokk. SW kronaertskocka. SP alcachofa. PO alcachofra. IT carciofo.

The Arabic ‘al kharshufa’ is the common source by way of Italy. The Italian passed through ‘arcicioffo’ and then ‘arciciocco’ before reaching its present form. In English it passed through many forms as people tried to put it into word forms with which they were familiar, thus: ‘archecokk’, ‘archichoke’, ‘hortichock’, etc. Particularly charming is the Swedish, which can be translated as crown-shaped kock. The Swedes are not alone in treating the last syllable choke as though it were a generic word for this type of vegetable. We shall see other examples in the next item.

(B) JERUSALEM

FR topinambour. GE Erdschocke. DU aardpeer. DA jordskok. NO jordsjokk. SW jordaertskocka. SP topinambur. PO topinambo. IT topinambur.

The tououpinambaoults were a Brazilian tribe from the region of Pernambuco. The French gave their name to the plant, a type of sunflower, which they imported by way of North America at the beginning of the 17th century. The English called it artichoke because its flavour is similar to that of the globe, though it is botanically a type of sunflower. This is called ‘girasole’ in Italian, because the face rotates to follow the sun; the English mis-heard this as Jerusalem, and gave this name to this type of artichoke; and so it has remained. The Germans and Scandinavians agreed about the flavour and called it in effect an earth-choke. The Dutch called it an earth-pear to distinguish it from the earth-apple, their word for the potato.

AUBERGINE

FR aubergine. GE Aubergine. DU eierplant. DA aubergine, aegplante. NO aubergine. SW aubergine, aeggplanta. SP berenjena. PO berinjela. IT melanzana.

The fruit of the egg-plant was introduced to Europe by the Arabs. Originally grown in India, in Sanskrit ‘vatimgana’, its Persian name was ‘badindjan’. In Arabic this became ‘albadinjan’, in Catalan ‘alberginia’. From here it came to France and thence to Northern Europe. The Spanish and Portuguese adhered more closely to the Arabic. The Italians attached the Arabic to ‘mela’ meaning apple. This looks suspiciously like a case of following the English habit of trying to make odd-looking foreign words seem indigenous, with the additional sophistication in this case of looking at first sight etymologically orthodox.

In America the fruit is normally called egg-plant as in Holland and Scandinavia. This name seems to have been first given to the plant in the 18th century.

AVOCADO

FR avocat. GE Avocado. DU avocado. DA advocatpaer, avocado. NO avocado. SW avocado. SP aguacate. PO abacate. IT avocado.

Derived from the Aztec word ‘ahuacatl’ meaning testicle, the Spanish adopted it when they brought the fruit to Europe from America. The French changed the final consonant. It looks as though the original Danish importer was an amateur etymologist who thought the French word had something to do with lawyers. Later, the mistake was discovered and current usage follows the rest of us.

BACON

FR lard. GE Schinken, Speck. DU spek. DA bacon. NO bacon. SW bacon. SP tocinao de pancetta. PO toucinho. IT pancetta.

Bacon is from the old Germanic word ‘bahho’ meaning back. This word entered France from Germany and was used there until the 16th century to mean pork. A ‘baconique’ meal consisted of pork served in a variety of ways. From France the word entered England. To speak of back bacon is thus a tautology.

‘Lardum’ in Latin meant lard, fat, or bacon. Hence the French and modern English word lard for pork fat. In French this is described more specifically as ‘lard gras’, while ‘lard maigre’ is from the pig’s belly and is fat streaked with muscular tissue; in England this is streaky bacon.

The modern German and Dutch words come from another old German word root ‘spek’ which gave ‘spic’ in old English meaning the fat under the skin on the back of a pig. ‘Sphik’ in old Indian was similar. ‘Schinken’ is ham or gammon from an old German word ‘skinko’ for thigh-bone. (see HAM)

The Iberian words are probably Celtic in origin, meaning dried sliced pork. The Spanish ‘panteca’ is from Latin ‘pantex’ meaning belly, which is also the source of the Italian word.

BANANA

FR banana. GE Banane. DU Banaan, pisang. DA banan. NO banan. SW banan. SP plantano, banana. PO banana. IT banana.

Banana was the native name in the Congo, where the fruit was first discovered by the Portuguese. It has subsequently become the most popular fruit in the world.

In English plantain has three meanings: a coarse weed, the plane tree, and a tree similar to the banana. In India all are called plantains. The confusion is increased by the Latin name for a plane tree being the same as a plantain - ‘platanus’. ‘Platos’ meant ‘flat’ in Greek. The flatness of the leaves may give us a clue as to the source of the confusion.

The Dutch brought the word ‘pisang’ straight from Malaya and Indonesia, where a particularly small and sweet version of the fruit is grown.

The origin of the English expression going bananas is uncertain. There is a similar expression in Spanish - ‘aplatanarse’- which was used to describe the process of becoming lethargic and slow-witted as a result of living in the tropics. In the Hindu religion the banana is the forbidden fruit and the leaves of the banana perform the same function as fig leaves in covering nakedness. The fact that the Arabic for fingers is ‘banan’ seems too good a description to be merely a coincidence.

BASS

FR bar, loup. GE Seebarsch. DU zeebaars. DA bars. NO hav-abor. SW havsabborre. SP lubina. PO robalo. IT spigola.

The origin of the English sea bass and allied words lies in the same area as bristle due to the sharp bristly fins on the back. In Italian ‘spiga’ is an ear of corn. Old Teutonic had ‘bors’ and Sanskrit ‘bhrshti’. This applied particularly to the bristles on a boar’s snout.

The Latin for wolf was ‘lupus’. This connection appears in French and Spanish words.

The Scandinavian ‘hav’ is an interesting word meaning open sea. Its origins are Germanic where it had the sense of ‘high’; it is thus related to ‘altus’ in Latin. In English the expression ‘the high seas’ is still current, if somewhat poetic.

BEANS

FR haricot. GE Bohne. DU boon. DA boenne. NO boenne. SW bona. SP judia. PO feijao. IT fagiolo.

The ultimate origin of the northern European words is uncertain. Until the 16th century only the broad bean was known in Europe. The runner bean arrived from Mexico in about 1633.

In the 17th century the ‘haricot’ was introduced into France from America, ‘ayacotl’ being the Aztec word. There was however an old French word ‘harigoter’ meaning to chop up into pieces, derived from an old Germanic word ‘harion’. It is possible that this was the origin, beans and meat often being put together in a ‘ragout’.

In Latin ‘phaseolus’ was a ‘French bean’, a diminutive of ‘phaselus’ which meant a type of boat shaped like a bean-pod. Both came from Greek ‘phaselos’. French beans are said to have been so called by the English, when they were introduced by French Huguenots in the 16th century. ‘Fasels’ was still in use in English for ‘beans’ in the 17th century. It also yields the Portuguese word.

The Spanish word is a mystery. ‘Judio’ is a ‘Jew’ and it may be that certain beans were introduced from the Middle East.

BEEF

FR boeuf, bifteck. GE Rindfleisch. DU rundvlees, biefstuk. DA oksekoed. NO okskjoett. SW noetkoett, oxkoett. SP carne, rosbif. PO carne, rosbife. IT manzo.

Latin ‘bovis’ lies behind the English and French words. The German ‘Rind’ is from an old German word for horned animals. ‘Fleisch’ is also derived, through an early Germanic source, from an Indo European root in ‘pel’ which means split, the idea being that flesh is the result of splitting an animal in half. Steak is from an old Norwegian word ‘steik’, associated with the verb ‘steikja’ to roast on a spit.

Ox is another old word known in old High German as ‘ohso’ from a probable Indo European ‘uksin’. It appears in Welsh as ‘ych’, old Irish as ‘oss’ and Sanskrit as ‘ukshan’.

The Danish ‘koed’ and the Scandinavian variants are of uncertain origin. There may be a connection with an obsolete English word ‘kite’ or kyte’ meaning belly, all originating in a possible Indo– European word ‘gud’. The Swedish ‘noed’ is interesting, being derived from an old High German word ‘not’ meaning ‘cattle’. There was a now obsolete word in English, ‘neat’ which had a similar meaning.

‘Carnis’ was Latin for flesh, surviving in English as the adjective carnal. The unique Italian word stems from a vulgar Latin word ‘mandjus’ used in the Alps in pre-Roman times.

BEER

FR biere. GE Bier. DU Bier. DA oel. No oel. SW oel. SP cerveza. PO cerveja. IT birra.

The Latin word for a drink made from cereals was ‘cerevisia’. ‘Cervoise’ was an old French word for a beer made without hops. This was displaced by beer proper, which contains hops, under influence from Germany, and was also adopted in Italy. The old word survived in Iberia.

The word beer is thought to be derived from Latin ‘bibere’ to drink as the monasteries were the early brewers and beer was the only safe drink in places where there was no