A dear friend and journalist on his FB wall threw light on some words in English that have their roots in Kannada language. Read on:
Commemorating 70 years of Indian independence, the British Council released a list of 70 English words that originated in Indian languages, including the following that trace their roots to Kannada. Description by the Council.
Curry (n.)
The English word curry derives from the Tamil kari, a sauce commonly eaten with rice. Its modern usage refers more widely to the preparation of meat, fish, fruit or vegetables cooked with spices which is eaten as a meal. The word also seems to have a relationship with karil from Kannada, as described in Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies as follows: “Most of their fish is eaten with rice, which they seeth in broth which they put upon the rice, and is somewhat sowre..but it tasteth well, and is called Carriil”. The term Curry-house, a favourite British place to eat, has been used for well over a hundred years, with John Fiske writing in 1883 about dining at “Halford’s Anglo-Indian Curry-House”.
Palanquin (n.)
Although the term may be little used nowadays, palanquins (covered boxes used to carry a single person, balanced on two horizontal poles) played an important role in the history of India. Whilst the English word ‘palanquin’ is a borrowing from the Portuguese palanquim, it ultimately derives from the Sanskrit palyanka, meaning ‘bed’ or ‘litter’. The related terms pālaki (from Kannada), pālakī (Marathi) and pālaṅki (Oriya) should also be noted. The nasalisation of the final ‘m’ from the Portuguese can also be seen in the change from manadarim (Portuguese) to mandarin (English). Unsurprisingly, given its complex etymology, Hobson-Jobson presents a lengthy entry for the term, and notes that the specific Indian language through which it entered English is “by no means clear”. The OED argues that the most likely intermediary language was one of western or southern India, rather than one of eastern India.
Godown (n.)
The specific history of ‘godown’, meaning a warehouse or other place for storing goods, is a little uncertain. One theory is that it entered English from Portuguese (gudão), deriving from the Malay gedong, which itself has a close linguistic relationship with gadaṅgu (Kannada), gid(d)angi (Telegu), kiṭaṅṅu (Malayalam) and kiṭaṅku (Tamil). Hobson-Jobson, interestingly, notes the Hindustani and Bengali word gudām, which they state is “an adoption of the Anglo-Indian word, not its original”. The use of the word spread far and wide, especially to China, primarily through trade. An entry in the 1861 Ten Weeks Japan reads “The streets of Yokuhama are wide...containing on either side merchants' godowns and offices” while the Times in 1889 reported that “The Germans have agreed to restore to the Sultan of Zanzibar the Custom-house godowns.” As might be imagined, the word has been in significant decline over the past 50 years.
Mongoose (n.)
A meat-eating animal which is native to Africa and South Asia, a mongoose has a long body and tail and short legs. They are famous for their ability to kill snakes. The English word derives from the Marathi maṅgūs, which itself derives from muṅgisa (Telegu) and muṅgisi (Kannada). The first recorded use was in 1673 when Gerald Aungier, second Governor of Bombay (Mumbai), complained that his house was “miserably afflicted with rats so great that a mongoose or our cats will not meddle with them”. Given the mongoose’s spiky nature, it is no surprise that there has been historical confusion over its pronunciation, spelling and pluralisation. The most common British pronunciation in the 19th century had /ʌ/ (the ‘u’ in ‘cup’) in the first syllable, and the word’s ending is thought to have changed to ‘goose’ via folk-etymology (where something unfamiliar is replaced by something familiar), even though there it has no relationship whatsoever with the animal of the same name. In terms of its correct pluralisation, Caribbean Voices in 1971 wrote that “The mongoose … is a troublesome sort of creature ... For nobody seems to know with any degree of certainty which to choose of his plural forms—mongooses, mongeese, mongoose or mongooze.” For the record, ‘mongooses’ is today generally agreed upon as the correct form.
Teak (n.)
Teak appears to have entered English from multiple sources, specifically Malayalam (tēkka), Tamil (tēkku), Telugu (tēku), Tulu (tekki) and Kannada (tēgu, tēga, tēṅgu). Its strength impressed John Henry Grose in 1757 who described it as “to the full as durable as oak”, the highest compliment an Englishman could pay. This analysis was echoed by William Hodges who in 1793 wrote that it was a “timber remarkable for its hardness and size”. It was these characteristics which meant that this dark, heavy wood was commonly used in building ships and railways carriages, houses and furniture.
terms of its correct pluralisation, Caribbean Voices in 1971 wrote that “The mongoose … is a troublesome sort of creature ... For nobody seems to know with any degree of certainty which to choose of his plural forms—mongooses, mongeese, mongoose or mongooze.” For the record, ‘mongooses’ is today generally agreed upon as the correct form.
Commemorating 70 years of Indian independence, the British Council released a list of 70 English words that originated in Indian languages, including the following that trace their roots to Kannada. Description by the Council.
Curry (n.)
The English word curry derives from the Tamil kari, a sauce commonly eaten with rice. Its modern usage refers more widely to the preparation of meat, fish, fruit or vegetables cooked with spices which is eaten as a meal. The word also seems to have a relationship with karil from Kannada, as described in Discours of voyages into ye Easte & West Indies as follows: “Most of their fish is eaten with rice, which they seeth in broth which they put upon the rice, and is somewhat sowre..but it tasteth well, and is called Carriil”. The term Curry-house, a favourite British place to eat, has been used for well over a hundred years, with John Fiske writing in 1883 about dining at “Halford’s Anglo-Indian Curry-House”.
Palanquin (n.)
Although the term may be little used nowadays, palanquins (covered boxes used to carry a single person, balanced on two horizontal poles) played an important role in the history of India. Whilst the English word ‘palanquin’ is a borrowing from the Portuguese palanquim, it ultimately derives from the Sanskrit palyanka, meaning ‘bed’ or ‘litter’. The related terms pālaki (from Kannada), pālakī (Marathi) and pālaṅki (Oriya) should also be noted. The nasalisation of the final ‘m’ from the Portuguese can also be seen in the change from manadarim (Portuguese) to mandarin (English). Unsurprisingly, given its complex etymology, Hobson-Jobson presents a lengthy entry for the term, and notes that the specific Indian language through which it entered English is “by no means clear”. The OED argues that the most likely intermediary language was one of western or southern India, rather than one of eastern India.
Godown (n.)
The specific history of ‘godown’, meaning a warehouse or other place for storing goods, is a little uncertain. One theory is that it entered English from Portuguese (gudão), deriving from the Malay gedong, which itself has a close linguistic relationship with gadaṅgu (Kannada), gid(d)angi (Telegu), kiṭaṅṅu (Malayalam) and kiṭaṅku (Tamil). Hobson-Jobson, interestingly, notes the Hindustani and Bengali word gudām, which they state is “an adoption of the Anglo-Indian word, not its original”. The use of the word spread far and wide, especially to China, primarily through trade. An entry in the 1861 Ten Weeks Japan reads “The streets of Yokuhama are wide...containing on either side merchants' godowns and offices” while the Times in 1889 reported that “The Germans have agreed to restore to the Sultan of Zanzibar the Custom-house godowns.” As might be imagined, the word has been in significant decline over the past 50 years.
Mongoose (n.)
A meat-eating animal which is native to Africa and South Asia, a mongoose has a long body and tail and short legs. They are famous for their ability to kill snakes. The English word derives from the Marathi maṅgūs, which itself derives from muṅgisa (Telegu) and muṅgisi (Kannada). The first recorded use was in 1673 when Gerald Aungier, second Governor of Bombay (Mumbai), complained that his house was “miserably afflicted with rats so great that a mongoose or our cats will not meddle with them”. Given the mongoose’s spiky nature, it is no surprise that there has been historical confusion over its pronunciation, spelling and pluralisation. The most common British pronunciation in the 19th century had /ʌ/ (the ‘u’ in ‘cup’) in the first syllable, and the word’s ending is thought to have changed to ‘goose’ via folk-etymology (where something unfamiliar is replaced by something familiar), even though there it has no relationship whatsoever with the animal of the same name. In terms of its correct pluralisation, Caribbean Voices in 1971 wrote that “The mongoose … is a troublesome sort of creature ... For nobody seems to know with any degree of certainty which to choose of his plural forms—mongooses, mongeese, mongoose or mongooze.” For the record, ‘mongooses’ is today generally agreed upon as the correct form.
Teak (n.)
Teak appears to have entered English from multiple sources, specifically Malayalam (tēkka), Tamil (tēkku), Telugu (tēku), Tulu (tekki) and Kannada (tēgu, tēga, tēṅgu). Its strength impressed John Henry Grose in 1757 who described it as “to the full as durable as oak”, the highest compliment an Englishman could pay. This analysis was echoed by William Hodges who in 1793 wrote that it was a “timber remarkable for its hardness and size”. It was these characteristics which meant that this dark, heavy wood was commonly used in building ships and railways carriages, houses and furniture.
terms of its correct pluralisation, Caribbean Voices in 1971 wrote that “The mongoose … is a troublesome sort of creature ... For nobody seems to know with any degree of certainty which to choose of his plural forms—mongooses, mongeese, mongoose or mongooze.” For the record, ‘mongooses’ is today generally agreed upon as the correct form.
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