Volume 130, Issue 4, 2013, Pages 317-325
Jagiellonian University, Krakow, Poland
Abstract
The Gr. 'cane, a
thing made of cane: pen, rural pipe, fiishing rod etc.' is the primary
source of certain terms for the sweet flag (Acorus calamus L.) and numerous names for a pencil in many different languages. Namely, the Greek word was borrowed by Latin in the form calamus,
with the same meaning, whence originated many Germanic terms for the
sweet flag. What is more, the dialectal Pol. kalmus is a loanword from
the Germ. Kalmus 'sweet flag'. Additionally, the Gr. was borrowed by
Arabic in the form qalam, whence the Osm. kalém. The forms in other
Turkic languages are borrowings from Turkish. Some Albanian, Bulgarian
and Macedonian terms for a pencil are also loanwords from the Turk.
kalem 'pen, thin brush, oblong bone'. The terms in many Caucasian
languages are Arabisms. Moreover, the Russ. 'pencil', as well as many
other contemporary forms from Altaic, Uralic and other languages, which
constitute new borrowings from Russian today, are in fact compounds
consisting of kalam 'cane' and daš 'stone'.
Author keywords
Borrowings; Etymology; Meaning
ISSN: 18971059Source Type: Journal
Original language: English
DOI: 10.4467/20834624SL.13.021.1152Document Type: Article
Publisher: Jagiellonian University Press
