What came first...
- Thread starter Nixy
- Start date
unclehobart
New Member
The name of the fruit was NARANJ in Sanskrit. This language was spoken in ancient India. Indians traded with Arabs, so the word passed into Arabic as NARANJAH. The Spaniards were ruled by north African Arabs who passed the fruit and word into Spanish as NARANJA (pronounced as NARANHA).
This came into English where the fruit was a NARANJ. Words ending in J are not common in English so the spelling quickly changed to a NARANGE.
The initial N moved to the a because of mis-hearing to give an ARANGE (this is called metanalysis).
Over time, the initial A became an O to give an ORANGE.
This came into English where the fruit was a NARANJ. Words ending in J are not common in English so the spelling quickly changed to a NARANGE.
The initial N moved to the a because of mis-hearing to give an ARANGE (this is called metanalysis).
Over time, the initial A became an O to give an ORANGE.
unclehobart
New Member
I'll be visiting this site often -- it's terrific! My question involves the word orange. I would like to know what concept came first, the color or the fruit. In other words, was the color named for the fruit, or was the fruit named because of its color?
I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the site! You're an orange to say so. Oh, I mean you're a peach! As for orange, in 1380 it was orenge and referred to the fruit. It was borrowed from Old French pome dorenge (apple of orange) orenge being an alteration of Arabic naranj, from Persian narang, and ultimately from Sanskrit naranga-s `orange tree.'
French dropped the initial n- likely due to it being absorbed by the indefinite article une; interestingly, Spanish, for example, still retains the n-: naranja. It is also thought that the change of the a- to an o-, once the leading n- had been absorbed, was influence by French or `gold,' alluding to the color of the fruit, and also by the name of the chief orange importing city in France, Orange.
The adjective form of the word, used to describe the color, first occurred in about 1542. So the fruit came first!
I'm glad to hear that you are enjoying the site! You're an orange to say so. Oh, I mean you're a peach! As for orange, in 1380 it was orenge and referred to the fruit. It was borrowed from Old French pome dorenge (apple of orange) orenge being an alteration of Arabic naranj, from Persian narang, and ultimately from Sanskrit naranga-s `orange tree.'
French dropped the initial n- likely due to it being absorbed by the indefinite article une; interestingly, Spanish, for example, still retains the n-: naranja. It is also thought that the change of the a- to an o-, once the leading n- had been absorbed, was influence by French or `gold,' alluding to the color of the fruit, and also by the name of the chief orange importing city in France, Orange.
The adjective form of the word, used to describe the color, first occurred in about 1542. So the fruit came first!
unclehobart
New Member
*is the king of sifting out minutia*
I have a jedi talent so search engine work.
I have a jedi talent so search engine work.