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The Ancient Greek word for rice is "oruza" (ὄρυζα).
Is the Arabic word for "rice" originated from the Ancient Greek word for rice?
They likely both come from earlier sources. Although Greek is descended from Sanskrit and Arabic is not, it being such a basic food staple, a common word for this grain is probably ancient.
Although Greek is descended from Sanskrit and Arabic is not,
Forgive the pedantry, but I think it might be more proper to say that Greek and Sanskrit have a common ancestor rather than a lineal relationship.
That said, the word 'rice' does seem to be Indo-European in origin with Sanskrit being the earliest attested use of the word. Historical and archaeological evidence shows that the trade of the grain itself as well as cultivation, where possible, spread westward from south Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great as his eastward movements opened trade routes across southwest Asia into Europe.
Along with this movement of rice, its name, in its cognate forms, spread to the west, first arriving in central Asia and the Middle East, before shortly appearing in Greece and southern Italy whence it gradually spread northward into Europe, primarily by trade rather than cultivation.
Though the word has its origins in Indo-European language, it is possible that the Greeks adopted the word from the Arabic borrowing.
Last edited by ABQConvict; 09-21-2020 at 03:41 PM..
The Ancient Greek word for rice is "oruza" (ὄρυζα).
Is the Arabic word for "rice" originated from the Ancient Greek word for rice?
It appears that many words for 'rice' derive from arisi, the Tamil word for 'rice'. Tamil is a Dravidian language. It became the loan-word brisi in Old Persian (an Indo-European tongue) and continued west. It passed through Greek, Latin, Italian and French in the past before finally arriving in English as rice. Presumably, it left an imprint in Arabic as well - Arabia, after all, lies between Persia (Iran) and Greece.
Forgive the pedantry, but I think it might be more proper to say that Greek and Sanskrit have a common ancestor rather than a lineal relationship.
That said, the word 'rice' does seem to be Indo-European in origin with Sanskrit being the earliest attested use of the word. Historical and archaeological evidence shows that the trade of the grain itself as well as cultivation, where possible, spread westward from south Asia after the conquests of Alexander the Great as his eastward movements opened trade routes across southwest Asia into Europe.
Along with this movement of rice, its name, in its cognate forms, spread to the west, first arriving in central Asia and the Middle East, before shortly appearing in Greece and southern Italy whence it gradually spread northward into Europe, primarily by trade rather than cultivation.
Though the word has its origins in Indo-European language, it is possible that the Greeks adopted the word
from the Arabic borrowing.
This seems correct. I wondered if there might be a reconstructed proto-Indo-European root for "rice," but a brief search did not turn one up.
Timon are rice based dishes in Iraq
But rice sort of sounds like Aruza to the western ear
The problem of comparing sounds of different language is that there are loads of false cognates
Last edited by Huckleberry3911948; 09-21-2020 at 09:26 PM..
Timon are rice based dishes in Iraq
But rice sort of sounds like Aruza to the western ear
The problem of comparing sounds of different language is that there are loads of false cognates
If words meaning "rice" have similar sounds across a vast array of Euroasian languages, languages which we know to be related or to have historical contact with one another, they are not false cognates. They're either borrowings (loanwords) or genetically related.
The entire field of historical linguistics is based on phonological (sound) analysis of semantically similar words in different languages.
If words meaning "rice" have similar sounds across a vast array of Euroasian languages, languages which we know to be related or to have historical contact with one another, they are not false cognates. They're either borrowings (loanwords) or genetically related.
The entire field of historical linguistics is based on phonological (sound) analysis of semantically similar words in different languages.
Genetic language?
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