Masarykova univerzita Filozofická fakulta

Ústav jazykovědy a baltistiky

Magisterská diplomová práce

2019 Ekaterina Smirnova

Masaryk University

Faculty of Arts

Department of Linguistics and Baltic Studies

General Linguistics

Bc. Ekaterina Smirnova

The Etymological Characteristics of Basic Food Names in English, Russian, Czech and Norwegian

Master’s Diploma Thesis

2019

I hereby declare that I am the sole author of this work and that I have used only the sources listed in the bibliography.

Brno 30.11.2019

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I would like to thank my supervisor, PhDr. Pavla Valčáková, CSc., for her assistance and guidance with my work. I would also like to thank my family for endless love and incredible support all the way from Murmansk.

4 Table of Contents

INTRODUCTION 8

RUSSENORSK 14

FOOD 20 Language and etymology 22 I Russian 22 II Czech 26 III English 28 IV Norwegian 30 CEREALS 32

CEREAL FOODS (PORRIDGE) 33 Language and Etymology 34 I, II Russian, Czech 34 III English 35 IV Norwegian 36

SPELT 40 Language and etymology 41 I Russian 41 II Czech 42 III English 42 IV Norwegian 42

PANICUM / MILLET 44 Language and etymology 45 I Russian 45 II Czech 45 III English 46 IV Norwegian 47

BREAD 50 Language and etymology 51 I, II Russian and Czech 51 III, IV English and Norwegian 52

VEGETABLES 55 Language and etymology 55

5 I Russian 55 II Czech 56 III English 56 IV Norwegian 57

RADISH 59 Language and etymology 60 I Russian 60 II Czech 61 III English 61 IV Norwegian 62

ONION 63 Language and etymology 63 I Russian 63 II Czech 65 III English 65 IV Norwegian 67

CARROT 68 Language and etymology. 70 I, II Russian and Czech 70 III English 71 IV Norwegian 72

FISH 74 Language and Etymology 75 I, II Russian and Czech 75 III, IV English and Norwegian 75

ZANDER 78 Language and etymology 79 I Russian 79 II Czech 79 III English 79 IV Norwegian 80

STURGEON 82 Language and etymology 83 I, II Russian and Czech 83 III English 83 IV Norwegian 84 SALMON 85

6 Language and etymology 86 I, II Russian and Czech 86 III English 87 IV Norwegian 88 CONCLUSION 89 LANGUAGE ABBREVIATIONS 91

SOURCES 93 IMAGE SOURCES 98 RESUME 100

7 INTRODUCTION

“Food is our common ground. It creates communities, a universal language and experience.” James Beard

The term ‘food​ ’​ is a collective designation of all dishes, prepared by a human for eating, everything that is edible. The majority of Indo-European languages use this term with the root that has the same or similar meaning: ‘feed’,​ ‘bait’, ‘meal’​. The notion of the food may be absolutely different for representatives of different nations. This can be explained by the fact that these nations live in different geographical areas and they do not share the same tastes. A rare European will perceive as food insects or earthworms, which are considered a delicacy in the countries of South-East Asia.

This thesis will describe the term food in the Indo-European environment. It will include the preferences of the people speaking English, Czech, Russian and Norwegian languages. They share a common Indo-European historical background, however, because of their physical position, different food tastes and traditions.

The main reason why I have choose to write this work and include information about exactly Russian, Czech, English and Norwegian is because I have experience with three of those languages and it is very interesting to me how all 4 of them might be interacting with each other. I am originally from Russia, so as it my native tongue, it is very intriguing for me to see how it can relate to the Czech language, as they both belong to the same language family. English language was introduced to me since a very young age and as it is lingua franca of modern days, I assume that it is very important to know its history and see how this language has embedded into the culture and everyday life of people all

8 over the world. As for the Norwegian language, I never had a practical experience with it, however for the first 17 years of my life I lived in the part of Russia that is very close to Norway. I used to interact with Norwegian students while studying in high school and I was always curious of how our languages can be so different while we are so close geographically. The Norwegian language is an experimental part of my thesis and while writing it, I have discovered a very amusing results that are described in the first chapter.

Before comparing the languages and specific terms, it is crucial to know how described languages were forming throughout the history. The Indo-European family of the languages is the most widespread in the world. It is represented in all inhabited continents of Earth. (Wheeler, 2002). This family includes 443 languages and dialects of Europe and Western Asia. Overall, the population of its speakers includes around 3 billion people. Linguist Thomas Young introduced the term “Indo-European” language in 1813. Sir William Jones was the first one to notice the similarity between the four oldest languages – Sanskrit, Persian, Greek and Latin. He assumed that all of them are coming from one proto-language. This theory was supported by his German colleague Franz Bopp.

The proto-language from which the languages of the Indo-European family developed was spoken by people who lived around 5-6 thousands years ago. Scientists consider the territory of the ancient Anatolia to be the proto – ancestral land of the initial version of Indo-European languages. Others think that everything started to develop in the steppes next to the north part of the Black and the Caspian seas. However, still there is no exact decision for the location of the homeland of Indo-European languages.

According to Britannica, all Indo-European languages are separated to groups and sub-groups, and all of them were arising at a different time and on different territories. The main focus of this thesis will surround the Germanic group (Norwegian and English languages) and Slavic group (Russian and Czech).

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It is important to notice that Germanic languages represent a branch of Indo-European family. They are common in the territory of Western-European countries (Great Britain, Germany, Austria, the Netherlands, Belgium, Switzerland, Luxembourg, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Iceland, Liechtenstein), North America (the USA, Canada), Southern Africa (RSA, Namibia), Asia (India), Australia and New Zealand. In addition, the population of speakers reaches 550 million people. The separation from the proto-language started to develop in the 3​rd century BC. Germanic languages are separated into 3 following groups: Northern, Eastern and Western.

In science, the history of the development of Germanic languages divided into 3 periods:

1) Ancient period: from the emergence of writing until the 11th century, evolution of separate languages. 2) Middle period: 12th - 15th century, the development of writing and the expansion of social functions of the languages. 3) Modern period: 16th century - present time; the formation and normalization of national languages.

Scientist also highlight one additional layer of lexis in the Proto-Germanic language - the Pre-Germanic substrate. However, this vocabulary does not have the features of Indo-European etymology.

As for the Slavic group, it represents a set of related languages from the Indo-European family. The total amount of the speakers includes 440 million people. According to the relatedness of these family representatives, we can separate them in 3 main groups:

1) East Slavic languages (Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian);

10 2) South Slavic languages (Bulgarian, Macedonian, Serbo-Croatian and Slovenian); 3) West Slavic languages (Czech, Slovak, Polish with Kashubian dialect, Upper Sorbian, Lower Sorbian).

Slavic languages share a deep closeness in the sound composition, grammatical structure, word formation and in their vocabulary. This feature may only be explained by all these languages having the same historical root. They developed from the same proto-language, which is called Proto-Slavic. Due to the fact that this group has the same ancestor, this set of languages is acknowledged to be related on the genetic level.

The term ‘food​ ’​ exists in all languages and in some way or form connects all of them. This is something that is the essential part of every culture. However, this concept is not studied enough from the etymological and lexical point of view. This circumstance explains the preference of this particular topic.

This thesis will include the description and the comparison of various vegetables, fish and cereals in the aforementioned cultures. These food groups represent the main products that are required for a healthy life of every person and they are represented in all communities in various forms. Cereals were chosen because it is one of the first foods that was ever consumed by human and since ancient times it strengthened the immunity system of our ancestors and allowed to survive in severe conditions. Later on in the history, humanity started to develop agriculture and actively work in fields. That is how vegetables were implemented into a peoples diet. Nowadays it is very hard to imagine healthy and balanced lifestyle without them. Furthermore, fish is included to the thesis because it represents the hunting part of a human life. Due to the fact that this thesis includes analysis of Norwegian language, it is important to mention fish, as this industry is highly developed and crucial for the country. All together, the described foods represent the base of the nutrition pyramid that keeps health of every person strong.

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In addition, the main aim of the thesis will be to create a parallel between the development of the cultures and languages they use via their gastronomical preferences throughout history. As an inspiration for the description of various fields, where this work can expand, the following books were taken for analysis:

1) “Indo-European​ and the Indo-Europeans: A reconstruction and historical analysis of a proto-language and a proto-culture”,​ written by Tamaz V. Gamkrelidze and V.V. Ivanov. It describes Proto-Indo-European culture, shows its development and connection with other language systems. In addition, it is a very useful tool, based on fact that the book includes a lot of linguistic and culture-historical data, which will be used in this thesis.

2) “A​ Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages” written​ by Carl Darling Buck. This dictionary represents a treasury of Indo-European vocabulary. It includes word origins, examples of expressions and various ideas. The important information that is included in this dictionary also carries the etymological and semantic history of words, tracing the changes in the meaning of the roots as well as presenting cases indicating which of the older forms have been replaced by expressions of colloquial or foreign origin.

3) “Český​ etymologický slovník​” by Jiří Rejzek. This dictionary includes a lot of helpful information and terminology that helped me get acquainted with the Czech culture of food and its traditions.

4) “Etymologický​ slovník jazyka českého” by Václav Machek. This vocabulary is older than previous one and it and allows to see a more traditional approach to the terms and history of words. It is considered to be the best source for those who are interested in Czech etymology, as it includes both the most common the most rare terms.

12 All of the books hold crucial information that is very helpful and important for consideration and analysis of the discussed topic.

13 RUSSENORSK

Figure 1

This thesis starts with a chapter about Russenorsk because it is the most colorful example of the interaction of two languages that belong to two different families. Despite the fact that Norway and Russia are two absolutely unique countries with two distinctive histories, they are neighbours and share the same seashore. The result of this neighbourhood is also reflected in the linguistic sphere - the creation of Russenorsk pidgin.

Russenorsk - is a pidgin which was spoken by Norwegian and Russian fishermen along the Arctic coast of Norway in the 19th century. (Kortland: 2000). Trade has connected the Russian North and Norway for several centuries. In this case, the Norwegians did not know Russian language, and the 1 Pomors did not know Norwegian one. For communication and for making a certain deals, they used a mixture of two languages called ‘Russenorsk’. It was a ‘seasonal’ language, not used continuously throughout the year but only during part of the summer fishing season (Lunden 1978: 213). It cannot

1 See more about Pomors here: Stange, ​.

14 therefore be compared with a natural language but illustrates the process of language mixing in a situation where creolization never had a chance. However, while the reason of the occurrence of this phenomena is clear, its construction remains ambiguous. There are three salient features of Russenorsk which are frequently quoted in the literature: 1) The use of moja and tvoja as 1st and 2nd sg. personal pronouns; 2) The use of the preposition po/på​ as a general marker of oblique relations; 3) The development of a verbal marker -om, e.g. kapitan paa kajuta slipom​ ‘the captain is asleep in his cabin’ (Lunden, 1978: 215)

Frederik Kortlandt in his article ‘On Russenorsk’ analyzes a dialogue recorded by A. W. S. Brun of two Russenorsk speakers and tries to prove his point that he made based in the materials from Lunden. According to Kortland, Russenorsk represents: “...a person speaking his own language, a person simplifying his own language in order to make himself understood, and a person trying to use his interlocutor’s language”. The author takes the records and analyzes word by word in order to understand the structure of pidgin on the following example:

Nor: KjøpN​ I​N seika, treska​N​, tiksa o​N balduska? ‘Are you buying pollack, cod, haddock, and halibut?’​ The speaker uses his own language, except for the fact that the fish names are apparently language-independent.

Rus: DaR​,​ daR​ - mojaR​ kopom​R altsamma​N​, davai​R po skip​N kom​N​. ‘Yes, yes - I’ll buy all of it, come on board.’ The speaker adapts his own language moja​ kopom​ and switches to Norwegian altsamma,​ po skip kom.2

2 The speakers are abbreviated as Nor[wegian] and Rus[sian]; unambiguous Norwegian and Russian words are indexed by subscript N and R.

15 Obviously, conversation is about the fish due to the fact that connection between Russia and Norway was based on development of the fishing industry. However, now we can describe the connection of the analyzed languages on the example of word cod,​ ​as it was already mentioned in the examples from the article “On Russenorsk”. The etymology of the Russian and Norwegian word for cod​ ​is an example of the mutual relations between those languages. It will also show how further chapters of this thesis will appear to look like.

Firstly, we will take into consideration the Slavic versions of word: треска​ ​and treska.​ Without any hesitation, it can be seen that words are similar to the Norwegian torsk​ ​. According to the Machek, Czech version of the word came from the Russian one. However, the Russian version originated from Scandinavian torsk​ ​. (Machek, 1968: 650).

Vasmer provides two possible interpretations of Russian word треска​ .​ According to the first interpretation, the word is related to its homonym треска​ ‘sliver, splinter’. Initial meaning was ‘splinter fish’. A similar semantic motivation is present in OHG Stockfisch​ ‘cod’​ from Stосk​ ‘stick’.​ Other linguists, Schuchardt, Matzenauer and Blažek suspect relativity to Old Norse þorsk ‘​dried fish’, ​NHG Dorsch ‘cod’ and also Latv. tirza​ in the meaning ‘trout’. The Old Norse word is related to Faroese toskur​ and​ German Dorsch.​ The Proto-Germanic form is reconstructed as *þurska​ -​ ‘cod’ (Kroonen, 2013: 553).

By these different opinions, it is possible to observe the different approach to the interpretation of the same term.

As far as English version of the word is concerned, Skeat mentions that word cod might be coming from Middle English codde​ or cod​ in​ the meaning ‘bag, bolster’ (Skeat, 1961: 119). The meaning of this etymology might be explained by the shape of the cod - it is bloated, so it might remind of a bag shape.

16 Taking the etymology of all four terms into consideration, it can be concluded that 3 of them are probably related as they do have same origin. English term differs from other ones. It can be explained by the geographical isolation of the language from the Norway and Russia. Norwegian and British nations were always famous for their fishing industry, however, they did not closely interact and that may explain the difference in the fish names.

This example shows that Russenorsk is a part of a long interaction between Germanic and Slavic languages in the zone between Barents and Norwegian Sea.

A little less than 400 words were registered in Russenorsk, half of which were mentioned in written sources only once. The permanent core of the language consisted of about 150 words. (K. Serk - Hansen, 2003)

Russenorsk also never had a separate name, people sometimes even called it simply: “моя-по-твоя”​ or “кэк-спрэк”​ .​ If in the first variant everything is clear (“I​ speak your way”​), then the second one can be translated approximately as “What did you say?”.

Moreover, Russenorsk is of interest primarily for its uniform lexical composition: half of the words in it are taken from Russian, and half from the Norwegian language, despite the fact that there usually is a dominant language distinguished in pidgin. To refer to each concept, two words were often used at once, for example: balduska​ — kvejta (halibut), musik​ — man (man), ras​ — dag (day), eta​ — den ​(this one), njet​ — ikke (not), tvoja​ — ju (you) and many others. Interestingly, when communicating the Norwegians usually used Russian words, and the Pomors used Norwegian. Also, in Russenorsk people were using words that are similar in sound, such as kaansul (consul), kajuta​ (cabin), vin​ ​(wine).

17 In the majority of the cases, Norwegian ‘po’​ was used as prepositions ‘in,​ on, to’​. It was used even if it did not fit the meaning. Sometimes the words in Russenorsk were a mixture of two similar words in Norwegian and Russian: mangoli​, meaning: ‘a lot’. This expression consists of the Norwegian mange​ and the Russian много​ ли.​ The expression: ljugom​ (to lie) came from a mix of the Norwegian lyve​ and the Russian лгать​ ​. In addition to this method of word formation, Russenorsk also included a lot of borrowed words. Terms were 3 mainly borrowed from English, Low German, Swedish, Finnish and even Sami languages. A vast majority of the borrowed vocabulary came from the sea jargon.

In use, Russenorsk looks quite ridiculous - it was similar to how the pioneers of some Pacific archipelago would interact with the Aborigines, according to the article in newspaper “Lenta.ru” (Karpov, 2017).

Here are some examples:

1) Moja paa dumosna grot djengi plati. - I paid a lot of money at the customs. 2) Davaj paa moja skib kjai drikkom. ​- Have some tea on my ship. 3) Kor ju ikke paa moja mokka kladi? ​- Why you did not bring me flour? 4) Paa den dag ikke Russefolk arbej. ​- On this day Russians do not work.

It is understandable that Russenorsk was a service pidgin, used exclusively by crews of merchant ships, who had nothing to discuss, except for their work. Therefore, the number of carriers of the language was limited: only a few thousand people at the peak of their use — at the turn of the 19th to 20th century. But in about ten years, they practically stopped talking in it. The final blow to Russenorsk was made in 1920, after the closure of the border between Norway and Soviet Russia. According to the Kortland: “Russenorsk is a variant of Norwegian with an admixture of Russian foreigners’ talk and elements from

3 See more about Sami people: ​.

18 the native language of the speaker.” As the author also concludes: “...there is a fundamental asymmetry between the two parties in the dialogue, both of whom essentially speak Norwegian.” Although Russenorsk was a very specific pidgin and it is not spoken today, it is very interesting to see how fascinating the interaction of two different languages and cultures can be.

The next chapter of thesis will include the history of term “food”​ itself. Before starting the description of a specific foods, we are going to focus on a general term and its history in each analysed language.

19 FOOD

The initial stage of the study focuses on the investigation of the term ‘food’​ ,​ ‘jídlo’,​ ‘еда’​ and ‘mat’​ in stated languages. The main conclusion of the analysis shows that the etymology of the lexemes goes back to the common Indo-European root *ed​ ​-. (Černych, 1999: 288).

According to the historical and etymological dictionary, written by P. Chernykh, the historically formed system of the meaning of the lexeme includes the following forms of expression “to​ eat”​: jědati​ (pl. f.), jědti​ formed into jěsti​ ;​ in Latvian esti​ ;​ Lithuanian ēst;​ Ukrainian їсти​ ​; Belarusian есці​ ;​ Bulgarian ям;​ Serbo-Croatian jëcти​; Slovenian jesti;​ Czech jíst;​ Slovak jesť​; Polish jeść​; Upper Sorbian jěsć​ ;​ Old Russian ​ѣ​сти.​ This case represents the historically formed alternation of coronal and velar consonants i-e-j​ ,​ root vowels i-e-я​ ​and terminal voiceless consonants t-ć​ ​.

‘Eat away’: in Ukrainian по'ïдати​ ,​ Belarusian раз’ядаць​ ;​ Bulgarian рязяждам;​ Serbo-Croatian разjедати​ ;​ Slovenian razjedati​ ​; Czech pojídat​ ​; Polish zjadać​ ;​ Upper Sorbian zjědować​ .​

The concept of the term 'eat' is not based only on the noun itself. It also co-exists with other derivatives with particles, such as: under-​ ;​ over​ -;​ -en​ that surround the main root *eat.​ The internal form of the term 'eat' is hypothecated in its etymology. It contains the following components: eat​ away (разъедать), eat up (съедать), pall​ (приедаться), overeat​ (переедать), undereat​ (недоедать).

Meanings such as: destroy,​ etch, make suffer, decompose, eliminate, bad feeling, turn into habit, appear in semantic structures of derived verbs. This genetic chain proves that the meaning of the word 'food' was initially connected

20 with a negative perception of the eating process itself. (Kurbanov, Kuchkildina, 2012: 273-288).

The etymology and analysis of English and Norwegian variants of ‘food’​ ​and ‘mat’ concludes that the inspected tokens saved in their cognitive memory and initial conceptual content, which was supplied by the form of given signs for all the time of their existence. Based on the common Indo-European root *ed​ ​-, both languages include the word with the meaning to​ eat/å spise.​ Consequently, both of them correspond to the reality of English and Norwegian speaking communities and reflect cultural specifics of the perception of the term 'food'​ ​.

The adherence of these words to the Indo-European proto-language can be followed with the help of the analysis of their sound form. The study of this phenomena is based on the Latin root *edō-​ and its interaction with the Gothic token ‘itan’. In this case, both the alternation of the coronal vowels and the Germanic Sound Shift (d → t) can be observed. In Old English, the sound form of the word had the following written expression: ‘etan’, in Middle English and Danish ‘eten’, in New English ‘eat’. The Scandinavian sound form consisted of the following examples: Old Scandinavian eta​ ,​ Norwegian äta​ and Frisian eta​ .​ (Torp, 1919: 414).

After the etymological analysis of the concept ‘food’​ ,​ this study continues by identifying the main features of the term in Russian, English, Czech and Norwegian languages. The analysis includes the definitions from the following dictionaries: 1) A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages by C. D. Buck (1945). 2) An Etymological Dictionary of the English Language, Skeat​ W.W (1961). 3) Этимологический словарь русского языка М. Фасмера (1938-1950).

21 4) Norwegisch-dänisches etymologisches Wörterbuch by Hjalmar Sejersted Falk and Alf Torp (1910). 5) Etymologický slovník jazyka českého Václava Machka (1968).

Materials from these dictionaries are the base for etymological research of this thesis. However, the first terminology that is going to be examined in this work is the term “food” itself, its linguistic and historical roots.

Language and etymology

I R​ ussian

Kurbanov and Kuchkildina suggest that the primary meaning of the word ‘пища’ is​ “to eat, to consume food”. For example: To​ eat with pleasure. Есть с удовольствием.

According to the vocabularies the token ‘food’ has various meanings in contemporary Russian. It also has three main lexico-semantic variants or three denotative sememes: ‘food’, ‘process of consuming food’ and ‘period (time) of consuming food’.The definitions of all three sememes manifest the following semantic features of ‘food’: ‘feeding’, ‘consumption’, ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’, ‘supper’.

According to the definitional analysis, the first and the most significant meanings are: ‘eating’, ‘dining’, ‘to eat’. The intermediate meaning consists of literary, dialectal and slangy variants of the studied lexical unit: яство,​ ество, снедь​.

22 The peripheral, less used meanings of the concept ‘food’ can be considered - ‘care’, ‘breakfast’, ‘lunch’, ‘supper’. Word forming nests (roots) are represented by the meanings ‘to eat’ and ‘food’ as a process. In contemporary lexicographical sources, the verb ‘to eat’ is determined by four meanings; the most common ones are considered to be ‘to take food’, ‘to consume food’. The role of agents can be performed by both animate and inanimate subjects. For example: Тоска​ ест сердце​.

The literal meaning is: ‘sadness eats heart’. However, it describes intense mental suffering and emotional anxiety. A person who can use it about himself/herself is probably experiencing sadness and is emotionally in pain. It is clearly seen that the intermediate position between the core and the peripheral meanings is occupied by meanings: ‘chemically destroy’, ‘cause a painful, unpleasant feeling’.

Taking into consideration the cognitive features of the lexicographical information and its results, gained during the definitional analysis of the verb ‘to eat’, authors of the article conclude that the semantic content of the given token ‘food’ includes several aspects. (Kurbanov, Kuchkildina, 2012: 280-281)

1) The Social Aspect Food as a form of social interaction between people. Example: С​ утра до вечера ест у домашних.​ (From morning until evening, he/she eats at family house.)

2) The Psychological Aspect Food as the psychological state of the soul. Example: Ты​ меня скоро съешь с этим.​ (Soon, you will eat me with this.) This phrase can be explained as somebody's complain about others’ annoying behaviour. The person using this expression is very tired of the subject of the conflict, so they feel like the one who annoys him or her will soon ‘eat’ the speaker because of it. It can be used in a parent/child conflict. When a child has

23 bad grades and the parent is constantly unhappy with it, he/she can say to the mother: Soon you will ‘eat’ me with this topic.

3) The Scientific Aspect Food as a chemical process. Example: Pжавчина​ ест железо. (Rust eats iron.) This sentence includes the literal explanation of iron oxidation.

The word forming potential of the token ‘food’ is defined by the use of the morphological method of word composition and nominalisation: поедать​ (поедание), разъедать​ ,​ выедать,​ съедать, въедаться ​(въедание).

The width of the meaning of the inner form of the concept ‘food’ defined a big volume of synonymy. This feature can be shown by the example of the Russian word снедь​ ​. Synonyms of the given word include various layers of meaning:

1) A dish or a plate of food.​ It includes concrete instructions for the preparation of a meal according to a special recipe or a certain repast. 2) A snack, a main course, a soup, a salad, meatballs, ice cream, a burger. This group’s synonymity is defined by a certain type of food or a dish.

In most of the cases groups of synonyms are divided by the following features:

1) If the word means exactly the same dish that is consumed at this particular moment, or if it is consumed in general. 2) Which parameter evaluates what is eaten? Food from the point of view of the taste, or food from the point of its influence on the organism? 3) What the food looks like and what about its quality? Food can look completely different. Usually, all dishes are considered to look attractive or appetizing.

24 4) Is the description of the food connected to particular circumstances? The word “снедь” can sometimes mean a festive table but its synonym “food” is not attached to any occasion or situation, in most cases it describes simple meals.

Synonyms ‘food’ and ‘снедь’ both describe the meal that is consumed at a given moment, or something that is prepared for a certain repast. Both words describe the type of food that is served on the table. (Kurbanov, Kuchkildina, 2012: 281-282). For example: 1) На столе появилась еда.​ Food appeared on the table. 2) Стол уставлен яствами. ​The table is full of various meals.

The word ‘снедь’ is almost extinct and is used only in two types of situations: 1) When a meal is considered to be festive. 2) It is a picnic, a meal outside that includes the lack of a kitchen or an extra serving.

‘Cнедь’ can describe meals that are served on the table, being kept in a bag or in a fridge. For example: 1) Стол заставлен снедью. ​The table is full of food. 2) Захватил с собой в дорогу большую сумку, полную снеди. I​ took a bag, full of food, with me on the road.

As for synonyms, the Russian language has one more word that is frequently used by native speakers - ‘пища’. This version of the term ‘food’ is not connected to a specific occasion. It simply describes food and meals in general. For example: 1) Он уже месяц не притрагивается к пище​. It's been a month since he touched food. 2) Пища аборигенов - рыба, овощи. Aboriginal food - fish, vegetables.

25 In addition, the word ‘пища’ can also be used in the sense of ‘catering’. However, the speaker’s main interest is not focused on whether all people consume catering food simultaneously or not. For example: 1) Обещали полноценное трехразовое питание, но горячую пищу давали только вечером. We were promised to have a three course meal, however, hot dishes were served only in the evening.

Although all mentioned synonyms vary in certain specific features, all of them have the description of how food looks or tastes in common. It can be delicious or not, appetizing or not, festive or ordinary. These words can also describe one meal or many, healthy food or junk food. Food is considered to be an abstract notion that is used while describing a nutritional process of any living creature. Russian language also considers food as a spiritual phenomenon. It covers everything that can feed the heart and soul. Eventually, this process turns into various feelings and thoughts that feed a person spiritually.

II Czech

In the Czech language, food is described by the word jídlo​ .​ As its Russian equivalent, it comes from the Proto-Indo European root *ed​ -.​ Initially, the word was represented by the Proto-Slavic *(j)ěsti​ .​ This word is usually used in the following meanings:

2) Food for people in general Example: Máte​ něco k jídlu? 3) A kind of food Example: Každý​ týden si můžeme vybrat ze čtyř jídel. 4) The time when food is consumed Example: V​ poledne jíme hlavní jídlo.

26 The word jídlo​ has several synonyms that are commonly used in speech: pokrm,​ potrava, strava, svačina​. Word jídlo​ comes from Proto-Slavic *ěsti​ .​ (Machek, 1968: 228).

In addition, the word konzumace​ is commonly used in Czech speech. It is a more formal version that comes from Latin consumere​ ,​ from the prefix con-​ and the verb sumere​ ‘receive, take’, from sub-​ and​ emere ‘take, buy’ (Rejzek, 2001: 298). It can be used in the following contexts:

1) Food consumption Example: Stres​ a nadměrná konzumace jídla. 2) Prohibition, formal warnings Example: Zákaz​ konzumace vlastních jídel a nápojů. 3) Scientific Example: Konzumace​ jídla je proces zajišťující živočichům výživné látky jakožto zdroj energie pro život a materiálu pro růst.

Moreover, Czech language also includes one word that describes food and is important to mention: ‘žrádlo’​ .​ According to Příruční slovník jazyka českého, this term is a neutral expression for the food for animals: Telatům​ naroste hustá srst, mají dobrou chuť k žrádlu a rychle rostou. In​ addition, this term is also used as a vulgar form of expression of food for people: Vy​ holt tady u divizijního soudu nemyslíte než na žrádlo. There exist several different forms of this word: ‘nažrat’,​ ‘požrat’, ‘přežrat’, ‘rozežrat’, ‘sežrat’, ‘užrat’, ‘vyžrat’. According to Rejzek, word žrát​ has​ cognates in various Slavic languages: Polish żreć, Russian жрать​ ,​ Serbo-Croatian ždrijêti​ ,​ Old Church Slavonic жрѣти.​ Proto-Slavic form is reconstructed as *žerti​ and is cognate to Lithuanian gérti​ ‘drink’ and Latvian dzērt​ of the same meaning., Latin vorāre​ ‘devour’, Greek bibrōskō​ ‘I eat’, Old Indian giráti​ ‘swallows’. The Indo-European root is reconstructed as *g​ u​​er‑ ‘to devour, to swallow’ (Rejzek,​ 2001: 751).

27 Vocabulary from the range of food names has evolved over the centuries in a variety of ways. Some names from the language system have completely disappeared or have been preserved only in dialect forms, others have changed their meaning, often under the influence of foreign languages. In some case, the name has changed so much that the origin itself is difficult to explain today, or 4 even prove. For instance, the word svačina​ comes from svak​ ‘brother-in-law’​ and its original meaning was ‘a family reunion’, later it came to mean ‘late morning or afternoon meal’ (Machek 1968: 593).

III English

The equivalent of the Russian ‘еда’ is the English ‘food’. The study of the given concept in the English language included a detailed examination of its definitions in the following dictionaries: “The Cambridge Advanced Learner’s Dictionary”, “Oxford English Dictionary”, “Collins Cobuild Learner’s Dictionary”. These sources allow to define the circle of actively used tokens of the concept ‘food’.

The central meaning of the concept in the English language can be considered “Any nutritious substance that people or animals eat or drink or that plants absorb in order to maintain life and growth.” (Oxford English Dictionary). The intermediate position between the core and the peripheral meanings is occupied by the following: “a type of a product (its quality and features)”, “anything that provides mental nourishment or stimulus” (Collins Cobuild Learner’s Dictionary).

In general, according to the information taken from the examined dictionaries the word ‘food’ in contemporary English carries a lot of meanings. The intermediate position between the core and the peripheral meanings is taken by the following definitions - “food, solid in texture”, “a type of product”, “ideas.”

4 See more: Machek, ​.

28 All three definitions of these tokens are manifesting the following semantic features: bread, cheese, salty, spicy, heavy, thoughts, a resource for reflection.

The detection of basic components of the definitional core of the concept ‘food’ cannot be limited only by an analysis of the semantic structure of the noun ‘food’. It can also be explained by a definitional study of the given token. Its semantics include both semantic signs of food condition and signs of its action. The verb ‘to eat’ is an actualizer of its features’ characteristics. Its main aim is revealed only after a detailed study of the definitional presentation of given meanings of this verb in English lexicography.

In contemporary lexicographic resources, the verb ‘to eat’ is defined by seven meanings. The most common and frequently used are: ‘to take into the mouth’, ‘chew and swallow’; ‘to destroy’; ‘gradually by corrosion’; ‘erosion’; ‘disease’. The agents in this case are presented as both animate and inanimate subjects (Oxford English Dictionary). For example: the​ corrosion destroys the iron.

The meaning ‘to consume or diminish (resources)’ includes a collision of socially-ecological character. This conflict concludes in the irrational use of natural resources by people that ends with their complete termination and finally leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem.

The verbal manifestation of ‘food’ as a contradiction, a psychological conflict and pressure is analysed in the meaning of the verb ‘to eat’ in the sense ‘to trouble, to vex’. For example: What’s​ eating you?

It is an obvious impersonation that describes somebody’s concern about the psychological state of the other.

As for the synonymic content of the term ‘food’, the English language has two branches:

29 1) Synonyms describing something that is edible for both humans and animals (food, feed, viands, provisions, comestibles, provender, fodder, forage). 2) Synonyms denoting the material that feeds and supports mental and soulful balance (food, aliment, pabulum, nutriment, nourishment, sustenance, pap).

IV Norwegian

Norwegian food can be described as ‘ascetic’. According to Fedon Lindberg, “food traditions in Norway were largely determined by historical and geographical access to products in combination with economic and political interests of the country. In other words, Norwegian food is a lot of fish and meat and little greens. In addition, it is always necessary to procure food in the fall in store for last winter and spring, because among traditional dishes so many are prepared on the basis of dried, smoked, fermented and salted ingredients.” (Linberg, “Mat for hjertet”, 2018)

Word mat​ ​comes from the Old Norse matr​ ​. Cognate words also include: ● Danish - mad;​ ● Swedish - mat;​ ● Gothic - mats;​ ● Old English - mete;​ ● English ​- meat. ​(Torp, 1919: 414).

This chain shows that meat​ always was a crucial part of nutrition of humans in both English and Norwegian cultures. It also shows the importance of the meat in the Viking culture, as it was obviously considered to be the staple food

30 product. In parallel with English word meat​ ,​ it is seen that meat meant the only food at a certain point of the history that later turned into mat​ ​.

The analysed meanings of the concept ‘food​ ​’ allow to specify its informative minimum that includes a set of essential features of phenomena of the word ‘food​ ​’ that are frequently mentioned in the following linguo-cultural unifications:

1) Nutritional value 2) Way of support of physical and intellectual state of an organism 3) Means of connection

In Russian speaking and English speaking communities this concept obtains two additional meanings:

1) Destructiveness 2) Inner psychological (soulful and emotional) exhaustion

In this way, the prototypical conception about food in viewed linguistic cultures concludes with the reduction of the definition of given phenomena to the meaning of support of not only vital functions of the organism but also to the feeling of convergence (unity) between people (Kurbanov, Kuchkildina, 2012: 273).

31 CEREALS

Figure 2

From times immemorial, cereals were considered to be the base of the diet of 5 all humans. The cereals are considered to be a​ grain used as food, for example wheat, maize, or rye. This term originated​ from the Latin word “Ceres”, the name of an Italic goddess of agriculture. The root *ker-​ carries the meaning ‘to grow’. (Barnhart, 1988).

Three most popular cereals in the world are wheat, corn and rice. The list can be continued with: barley, rye and oat. All mentioned grains contain proteins and carbohydrates that are crucially important for humanity. The fact that people chose cereals as the initial and the basic component of their diet can be easily explained. Only this type of nutrition could guarantee that the whole family would be healthy and full. Throughout thousands of years, humanity was consuming whole grains. Later on, they started to pound the grains and then grind. The reason why they decided to pound them is because they did not want to waste any parts of this important food. (Britannica, M. Petruzzello, 1998).

5 See Oxford Dictionary: ​ .

32

CEREAL FOODS (PORRIDGE)

● Russian - Каша;​ ● Czech - Kaše;​ ● English - Porridge;​ ● Norwegian - Grøt.​

“Bread and circuses!” - this well-known expression of the 10th satire of the ancient Roman satirist Juvenal shows how significant the products made of cereal crops were. Simple Romans ate predominantly cereal products - porridge and bread. Hunger, in the understanding of the Romans, meant that the main staple food was ending - grain, which is evidenced by discontent and uprising of the population due to the lack of bread or the lack of grain. There is no evidence of a single uprising due to the lack of meat, fish or vegetables. (Prokhorov, 2002)

The most popular meal that was cooked from various kinds of cereals was 6 porridge. Traditionally, porridge is a​ dish consisting of oatmeal or another meal, or cereal boiled in water or milk. In​ general, all cereals cooked from crushed products were considered to be porridges. Ancient sources that mention porridges are dated back to the times when agriculture did not exist. First acknowledgements include recipes that contain bread cereals, rusks, as well as fish, pea, juice (hemp oil), carrot, and turnip. Most of the recipes described preliminary processed meals, mainly boiled. (Miller, 2015) Probably the only porridge that still exists and is not themally processed is the Ukrainian кутья​ that is made of wheat, berries, poppy seeds and honey and consumed during Christmas Eve Supper.

6 See Fine Dictionary: ​.

33 Language and Etymology

I, II Russian, Czech

Czech and Russian versions of the word are quite similar in pronunciation and different in written form: kaše​ and ​ка́ ша. Both Slavic interpretations come from the Proto-Slavic ​kāsi̯ā and mean ‘to crush’ or ‘to rub’. In addition, there are also other versions of this word in other Slavic languages: ● Ukrainian к​а́ ша; ● Old Church Slavonic кашица​ (Еuсh. Sin.); ● Bulgarian ​ка́ ша; ● Serbo-Croatian к​а̏ша; ● Slovenian ​káša; ● Slovak kаšа;​ ● Polish kasza;​ ● Upper Sorbian kаšа​ ​ (Vasmer, 1986: 265-266).

Porridge appeared at the times when people had not yet invented or used any mills. To create meals, people were initially using whole grains. Slavic culture considered porridge as their ritual food. Ancient manuscripts mention that people who were praying and asking for a good harvest brought porridge as a sacrifice to Mother Earth. At ancient times, there were no celebrations where porridge would have been missing from the table. Different kinds of porridge were prepared for different occasions, such as the birth of a child, a name day, a wedding celebration and even funerals. A special family porridge tasting was considered to be an old Christmas tradition. The family was waiting for the first star to appear in the sky, in memory of the appearance of the star which meant the end of Christmas fasting in the east. After the star appeared in the sky, the mother of the family had to put porridge on the table, covered with straw and tablecloth, and this action meant that the celebration can finally start. (Grushko, 2000).

34

I​II English

The English word porridge comes from the Middle English porray​ which means ‘leek soup’ or ‘broth.’ (Skeat, 1961: 456). This etymology allows to draw parallel between English words porray​ that later was formed into porridge​ and Czech word pór​ (pórek) ​and Russian лук​ порей because both words have the same meaning: a type of onion. Both words share the same origin and come from lat. allium​ porrum. After​ comparing these terminologies, we can see that word was brought through German Porrei​ from French роrréе​ that​ was formed from Latin porrum​ .​ (Vasmer, 1986: 329). Word leek​ has​ also similar alternatives in other Slavic languages: Ukrainian пiр​ ​and Polish por​ .​

Even the great William Shakespeare mentions porridge in one of his last plays “The Tempest”. In Act II, Scene 1, Sebastian comments that his brother Alonso ‘receives comfort like cold porridge’. It can be explained as ‘the comfort being provided by Gonzalo is without value or that Alonso is not in the mood to be comforted’. In addition, Shakespeare might use the expression ‘cold porridge’ to describe 7 relationships, however, many centuries ago in Scotland people were making the traditional dish cold on purpose. Oatmeal was cooked up in a big pot and was not eaten for breakfast. It was poured into 'drawers' or another container and allowed to cool. Once it was cooled, the porridge was cut up into slices or blocks, wrapped, and taken along onto the days’ work.

7 See: Scottish guide, ​.

35 IV Norwegian

The word grøt​ stands for the Norwegian version of porridge. Initially, it was used to describe a soft mass that included certain cereal and flour. Etymology of word grøt​ ​comes from PGm. root *grauta-​ adj. 'coarse' - OE great​ adj. 'course, large, great', eng. great​ ,​ OFri. grat​ adj. 'tall, big, great', OS grot​ adj. 'id.', OHG groz​ ​. (Kroonen, 2013: 187)

In this context, it is also important to mention the following parallel: Proto-Slavic root *gruda-​ ​is related to Latvian grauds​ 'grain', graužu,​ graudu, graus​t 'to rumble, to crush', Lithuanian grū​ ́ das 'grain'​ and to further, OIc. grautr, ​OHG gru​ ʒʒi, NHG​ Grütze​ ​in the meaning 'grain, porridge' (Vasmer, 1986). With that being said, it is possible to notice that through comparison of Proto-Germanic root *grauta-​ and​ Proto-Slavic *gruda we​ can notice the similarity of the the meaning and forming of the English word great​ and Slavic version of the word 'coarse' through the prism of etymology of Norwegian grøt​ .​

The contemporary version of porridge that we can still see in Norwegian 8 cuisine is the rømmegrøt​ ​. This dish includes homemade sour cream and wheat flour or semolina. It is prepared to be served at wedding celebrations.

As a result of the analysis of alternative versions of word porridge​ in different cultures, it is possible to make a conclusion that the history of porridge itself is quite similar. In all cultures this dish was initially consumed as a simple peasant food or was used in certain rituals/celebrations. Due to historical development, Russian and Czech versions of the word are almost the same, as they share the same Proto-Slavic origin. In addition, it was also very amusing to find the common origin of the Proto-Slavic word and its Proto-Germanic alternative based on the relative roots.

8 See more: Livanova, ​.

36 Moreover, all analysed languages include various expressions and idioms about porridge. Here are several examples:

I Russian 9 1) Март сухой да мокрый май — будет каша и каравай. It explains that if March is dry and May is wet (rainy), the harvest will be bountiful. In that way, people would be able to cook the porridge and make bread. 10 2) Беззубому каша — папаша, а кисель — брат родной. This expression mentions that if a toothless person will eat porridge and drink kissel (Russian viscous fruit drink), their diet will be balanced even if their teeth are missing. This old adage proves once again that porridge has a lot of elements that are capable of supporting good health. 11 3) От красивых слов не прибавляется масла в каше​. This means that none of the beautiful words could replace a real action that can prove any thought or expression.

II Czech 12 1) Koho kaše spálila, ten i na podmáslí fouká. This saying describes the situation when person after making first mistake in something very simple, later on will be very careful (even more than necessary) with all things. 13 2) Kaše máma naše. Chlebíček náš tatíček. This adage is very old and it depicts relation of people to porridge and bread. They treated these two products with respect as they allowed them to gain energy and be strong. 3) V cizí kaši doufej, máš-li svou v peci.

9 See more: Folk proverbs, ​. 10 Mikhailova 2017. 11 See: Folk proverbs, ​. 12 See: ​. 13 See: ​.

37 This expression is very similar to the one mentioned in the English language section. It advises that it is important to take care of and focus on one’s own life instead of following other people’s issues.

14 III English

1) Everything tastes of porridge. This idiom means that no matter how a person can be lost in dreaming about the perfect life and carefree reality, everyday routine is always present and cannot be forgotten. Example: Just​ remember, future Broadway star, that everything tastes of porridge.

2) Keep your breath to cool your porridge. This expression can be used in conversation when a person wants to advise to keep another one focused on their life, problems and issues, instead of following other people’s lives. Example: Lady​ Martha, I strongly suggest that you keep your breath to cool your porridge, rather than intruding upon these affairs.

3) Do porridge. It can be explained as “to serve a prison sentence.” Example: After​ doing porridge for the past five years, Mark is getting released from jail today.

14 See more: ​.

38 IV Norwegian 15 1) Å være midt i smørøyet. This can be translated as: “To be in the middle of a porridge eye”. It means to be in a great place (the smørøye​ is the lovely buttery hollow left by the melting scoop of butter atop a warm bowl of porridge such as risgrøt).

Based on the history of the above-mentioned meals, it can be seen that the main ingredient of porridge in all observed cultures is the local cereal. This chapter will describe several of them: spelt and millet. These cereals are considered to be used in all analysed cultures and that is why they all are the most suitable component for this thesis.

15 See: Steffensen, ​.

39 SPELT

Figure 3

● Russian - Спельта,​ полба; ● Czech - Špalda;​ ● English - Spelt;​ ● Norwegian - Hvete.​

Spelt is a special kind of wheat with a brittle spike. (Oxford Dictionary). This is an ancient ancestor of wheat, one of the first cultivated cereals, which mankind has been eating for many thousands of years. It grows on its own, unpretentious, and does not require any specific care. Spelt is not afraid of any pests or weeds, the plant destroys any weed by itself. Moreover, it has many unique beneficial and even healing properties, thanks to which it received the name of ‘black caviar’ of cereals.

40 Language and etymology

I Russian

In the 10th to 11th centuries Russia, spelt had several names: двузернянка,​ эммер, полба обыкновенная (farro) (Krivitskaja, 2018). This variety of names can be explained by the wide expansion of the cereal throughout all the country, and its high popularity among people. Word двузернянка​ ​appeared because it was convenient for people to describe the spikelet that included two (дву-зернянка​ )​ developing grains. According to Barnhart, term эммер​ describes species of wheat and comes from German Emmer​ ​, variant of Amelkorn​, from amel 'starch' from lat. amylum.​ The​ etymology of the word полба starts with the Greek πολφ​ ός (polfós)​ in the meaning 'noodles', that is of unknown origin and continues with the Latin pollenta​ - barley porridge or pollen - fine flour or dust. (Vasmer, 1986). These root meanings can be easily explained, as Ruthenian cuisine included meals from spelt groats and flour. Later on they started to prepare various farro porridges with beef or berries and fruits.

According to de Vaan, the noun pol(l)enta​ has a collective suffix -ta​ ​. Probably from an original paradigm *polen,​ *pollis<*polnos.​ Within Latin, puls<*polt-​ 'porridge' might be cognate, the original meaning being 'flour'. Outside Latin, there are possible Greek cognates but no close morphological matches. One might consider a derivation from the root *pelh​ 1​​- 'to swing' (cf. s.v. palea​ ​), but this remains very speculative. A direct connection with pulvis​ 'dust' and palea​ 'chaff' seems unlikely, since 'flour' is much more valuable than 'chaff'. Only via a primary meaning 'to pulverize, grind' or similar can both meanings be united.

41 II Czech

Beside the word špalda,​ ​another word for spelt exists in Czech: samopše​ .​ Etymology of the word comes from the Old Slavic verb ​pьxajo, pьxati ‘hit,​ push, thurst’ ​(ESJS​ 12, 742).​

Initially, the Old Czech version of modern word špalda​ was​ written as sspalta​ .​ Initial origin of the word starts with PIE roots: *(s)pelbh-,​ *(s)pelbh-t-. ​in the meaning 'spelt; spelt meal'. According to Machek (s. v.): “​špalda, mor. spalda:​ druh pšenice. Je sthn. spёlta,​ ​střhn. spёlte,​ nyní​ Spelt,​ Spelz mask.; ​v pozdní latině (4. stol., prý z Pannonie) spelta;​ ​it. spelta,​ spelda, fr.​ ​épeautre. ​— Původ a osudy těchto slov nejsou příliš jasné. U Němců se má za to, že slovo je germánské; nelze je prý oddělit od Spelze​ plucha.​ Špalda pluchy při mlácení — na rozdíl od jiných druhů pšenice — nepouští; původně tedy bylo snad jméno, které by v nové němčině znělo *Spelzweizen,​ zkracováno​ (tím pochopíme mask.!) ve Spelt,​ Spelz.” ​Based on that information, it can be clearly observed that etymology of the word and way of developing of the term is connected with the English term spelt​ as well. This parallel will be described in more details at the end of the chapter.

III English

The word spelt is “an early borrowing from the Late Latin spelta​ ‘spelt’ (noted as a foreign word), which is perhaps from Germanic *spilt-​ ​, from PIE *speld-​ ​, an extended form of the root *spel-​ (1) ‘to split, to break off’(probably in reference to the splitting of its husks in threshing)’’. (Skeat, 1961: 580).

IV Norwegian

The cold-temperate climate of Norway does not allow to grow and produce cereals in big volumes. However, spelt​ or​ dinkel was​ first mentioned in the

42 history of Nordic countries as early as 4500 years ago. Dinkel​ comes from MidHG. dinkel​ ,​ OHG. dinchil​ ,​ meaning, “bearded wheat, spelt”. Nowadays, spelt is used as a supplement in the production of wheat. As the wheat harvest is not that rich, sometimes spelt is added to the mix, so that Norwegian people can gain as many nutrients out of the end product as possible.

This chapter included the etymological history of word spelt​ in analyzed languages. As a result, it can be mentioned that Russian полба​ ​, Czech špalda​ and English spelt ​have their own separate history but at some point they share similar Latin roots. In addition, it is also possible to compare the meanings of initial versions of English spelt​ and Norwegian dinkel​ .​ As it was mentioned, English version comes from PIE root *spel-​ and Norwegian comes from OHG dinchil.​ Both mean “to​ split” and “bearded​ spelt”,​ accordingly. This parallel shows that in both cultures there was used the same way of thinking while describing the cereal. Both of them can relate to the way of processing of spelt that requires splitting of the husks in threshing.

Next chapter will continue description of certain cereals in the discussed languages. It will include the analysis of word millet​ .​

43 PANICUM / MILLET

Figure 4

● Russian - Просо/пшено​ ;​ ● Czech - Proso​ ;​ ● English - Panicum/millet​ ;​ ● Norwegian - Hirseslekta​ .​

Millet is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the family of cereals, not whimsical to the region of growth. Useful properties of the cereal are supported by its high nutritional value and its chemical ingredients. The homeland of the cereal is considered be India. In modern times, there are more than 400 species of millet, growing from thirty centimetres to two meters in height. (Augustin, 1999).

44 Language and etymology

I Russian

The etymology of the word просо​ has Common Slavic roots. Presumably, the word is related to the Latin pressi​ ‘to crush, to trample’. In this case просо is an almost ‘crashed’ cereal. (Vasmer, 1986: 548). Planicum​ miliaceum is a plant whose grain separate from the main cereal and turn into smaller groats (пшено)​ .​ This пшено​ ​is used to prepare meals, mostly porridge or garnish.

The proof of the fact that this word has Common Slavic roots is quite easy. It can be explained by the versions of просо in other Slavic languages:

● Ukrainian просо;​ ● Bulgarian просо;​ ● Serbo-Croatian proso;​ ● Polish proso;​ ● Slovak proso;​ ● Czech proso.​

Based on the origin of просо​ ,​ Russian language also has a separate term to describe crushed millet ground into small pieces - пшено​ ​. The initial version of the word was the Old Slavic пьшено​ .​ It is derived from the verb пьхати​ ‘to pound’. Пшено​ meant​ ‘crushed’ (the husks were separated from the grains by crushing them in large wooden mortars at that time).

II Czech

As it was mentioned in the Russian language section, both words просо​ and proso share the same Slavic history. In addition, one more common feature of

45 millet in Czech and Russian languages is that they both have a specific term for describing the crashed part of proso: jáhly​ .​ Derived forms include jáhlový,​ jahelník. There​ are also cognates in various Slavic languages: Polish jagła,​ Old​ Russian jaglъ, Serbo-Croatian​ jágla.​ ​The Proto-Slavic form can be reconstructed as.​ *jagla, *jaglъ, but​ further interpretations remains obscure. Rejzek mentions Russian dialect form яглая​ земля ‘fertile soil, chernozem’ and proposes the relation to Lithuanian ​jėgà ‘strength’ and Greek hēbē​ ‘youthful vigour’, from Indo-European *​i͡ēgu ​-​. (Rejzek, 2001: 243).

III ​E​ nglish

Etymology of English word millet​ starts with PIt. *meljo-?​ and​ ​PIE *melh​ 2​-i​ [n.]? IE cognates: Gr. μελΐνη​ ​[f.] 'millet', Lith. málnos​ ​ fi pl. 'kind of millet'. If from *meliom​ with i-mutation (of the type nihil, similis​), milium​ can be cognate with Gr. μελΐνη​ ​. The Latin, Gr. and Lith, words could be independent derivatives of *melh2​​- 'to grind' (e-grade in Gr. and Lat., o-grade in Lith.), thus 'the grain which can/is to be ground'; or they could be three derivatives of a common ancestor nom. acc. *melhri​ ​, maybe gen.sg, *mlh2-n-os​ / *melh2-n-s.​ (de Vaan, 2008: 379). Despite the fact that English word millet​ and​ Russian просо belong​ to different language families and are not related, we can see that both were formed by the same logic and were based on the same meaning 'to grind, to crush'. Later on, word millet​ was developing through the Middle French millet​ ​, the diminutive of mil - millet​ ​, from the Latin milium​ (millet), from PIE root *mele-​ (to crush, grind). Cognate with the Greek meline​ ​, and the Lithuanian malnos​ (plural) ‘millet​ ’.​ (Skeat, 1961: 368).

46 IV​ Norwegian

The word hirs​ seems to have Germanic origin as it comes from the Old Norse hirsi and is related to the Swiss hirs​ ​, Old High German hirsi/hirso​ .​ (Falk​ and Torp 1910: 406).​ The modern version of the word hirseslekta​ shares the same root as in the neighbouring countries Sweden and Finland: Swedish hirs​ and​ Finnish hirssit.​

If we will take into consideration the origin of the word, we will see that its Germanic cognates include MDu. herse,​ heerse, OHG​ -hirsi; ​G. Hirse. The​ Proto-Germanic form is reconstructed as *hersja(n)​ ​and it is cognate to other Indo-European forms: Hitt. karas-​ ​(in the meaning 'wheat, emmer-wheat'), Lat. Ceres 'goddess​ of grain',​ ​Lith. šérti. (šériu) (in​ the meaning 'to feed'). (Kroonen, 2013: 222) The​ PIE roots are ​*k'ore-,​ *k'rē- 'to​ feed'.

It is very interesting to see how similar Czech and Russian languages share the same word for millet, however, as they were developing throughout the history they have created totally different words for the smaller groats of the millet (jáhly​ ​and ​пшено).​

The historical interaction among the describe languages can be also observed in the parallel of the development of the term ‘bread​ ​’ in both analyzed language groups:

1) Slavic: Czech and Russian

Old German *hlaiba

Gothic *hlaifs

Proto-Slavic *xlěbъ

47 Old Russian *хлѣбъ

Old Slavic *хлѣбъ

Russian *хлеб

Old German *hlaiba

Gothic *hlaifs

Proto-Slavic *xlěbъ

Old Slavic *хлѣбъ

2) Germanic: English and Norwegian

Proto-Indo-European *bʰerw-, *bʰrewh₁- 'to boil, seethe'

Old English *brēad​

Middle English *bred, *breed

English *bread

Old Norse *brauð

Norwegian Bokmål *brød

Norwegian Nynorsk *braud

These examples depict the development of the word bread​ historically and show the interaction and the distant relativity of the two language families. It can be explained by the example of relation of PIE roots *b​ ʰerw-, *bʰrewh₁- and its connection with Slavic *brūjītī,​ *brūjā́ . As​ it was already mentioned,

48 *bʰerw-, *bʰrewh₁- ​in the meaning ​'to boil, seethe' are ancestors of modern bread. ​Slavic *brūjītī,​ *brūjā́ share the same meaning.

49 BREAD

Figure 5

● Russian - Хлеб; ● Czech - Chléb; ● English - Bread; ● Norwegian - Brød.

For the first time, bread appeared around more than fifteen thousand years ago. The first bread looked like liquid porridge. It is considered to be the ancestor of bread. It is still used in our time in the form of bread broth in some countries of Africa and Asia. In wild wheat, grains were hardly separating from the spike. In order to facilitate their retrieval, ancient people made another discovery. By that time, the man had already learned how to make fire and applied it to cooking. It was noticed that the heated grains are easier to separate from spikes.

The collected grains began to heat up on the heated stones, which were placed in the holes dug for this purpose. By chance, a person discovered that if

50 overheated grains, that is, roasted, are crushed and mixed with water, the porridge is much tastier than the one he/she ate from raw grains. This was the second discovery of bread. About six and a half thousands of years ago, people learned to cultivate wheat and barley. At that time hand mills and mortars were invented and the first baked bread came to existence. Ancient Egyptians learned how to cook bread from fermented dough. It is believed that by the mistake of a slave who prepared the dough, it became sour. In order to avoid punishment, he still ventured to bake flat cakes. They turned out to be even better and tastier than unleavened dough. (Setia, 2008).

Language and etymology

I, II Russian and Czech

Russian and Czech хлеб/​ chléb​ come from a Germanic word related to Gothic hlaifs or​ Old Norse hleifr​ ​. It can be observed that Slavic and German origin of the term are connected via Proto-Germanic root *hlaiba-​ in the meaning 'bread'. Its cognates include:

● Go. hlaifs;​ ● ON ​hleifr; ● OE ​hlāf; ● E ​loaf; ● OHG ​leip; ● G Laib.​ ​(Kroonen, 2013: 228).

According to Vasmer: “род. п. -а, мн. хлебаґ​ ,​ укр. хлiб​ ​, блр. хлеб​ ,​ др.-русск. хлkбъ,​ ст.-слав. хлkбъ Ґrtoj (Остром., Еuсh. Sin., Супр.), болг. хляб​ (Младенов 669), сербохорв. хлеб​ ​, словен. hleb​ ,​ род. п. hleba​ ,​ чеш. chléb​ ,​ слвц. chlieb​ ,​ польск. chleb​ ”.​ That etymological information clearly shows that all Slavic versions of the word are very similar.

51

Both languages also include the following expressions, proverbs and quotes that belong to the culture of the country or are a part of peoples communication:

1) Хлеб всему голова. This proverb means that bread is not only the main thing on the table. It also means that all people should treat it with respect because a lot has been involved in creating of the bread and putting it on the table. From mother nature to agronomists, breeders and millers who allow families all over the world to have bread on the table. To be “всему​ головой” means​ to be needed. No matter what kind of lands are conquered by humans, when grain falls to the ground, connection between people and nature will be unbreakable. (Prokhorov, 2002).

2) Chléb​ za břichem nechodí. - Folk saying. This proverb is another proof that bread is considered to be the most important part of diet that is highly respected. It means that in order to have bread on the table, people should not be lazy. They should work hard and make the bread or earn the right to have it on the table.

III, IV English and Norwegian

English bread​ and Norwegian brød​ both have a common origin. Old English bread “bit, crumb, morsel; bread,” is a cognate of Old Norse brauð​ ,​ Danish brød,​ Old Frisian brad​ ​, Middle Dutch brot​ ​, Dutch brood​ ,​ German Brot​ ​. According to one theory from Proto-Germanic *brautham​ ,​ from PIE root *bhreu- “to boil, bubble, effervesce, burn,” in reference to the leavening. By c. 1200, it had replaced the usual Old English word for “bread”, which was hlaf​ .​ (Barnhart, 1988).

Extended sense of “food, sustenance in general” (late 12c.) is perhaps via the Lord's Prayer. Slang meaning “money” dates to the 1940s, but compare

52 breadwinner,​ and bread as “one's livelihood” dates back to 1719. “Bread​ and circuses” ​(1914) is from Latin, in reference to food and entertainment provided by the government to keep the population content. The adage is found in Juvenal: Duas​ tantum res anxius optat, Panem et circenses “It wants only two things anxiously: bread and circuses” [Juvenal, Sat. x.80].

According to the book “A Collection of Proverbs of All nations on Bread and Baking”, we can see the following proverbs about bread that are used in the English language:

1) A dry March never begs its bread. It is common that people connect nature and their life. In this case, it can be seen that people were very attentive and kept an eye on nature because sometimes their life depended on weather conditions and certain temperatures. In case if the March was dry and old, people do not await for rich and bountiful harvest. 2) Give the birds crumbs; God gives you loaves. This proverb teaches that all people have to be humble. Sharing even little crumbs with the closest one is important and in that way God will be humble in reply.

Similar proverbs can be also found in the Norwegian language:

1) Bedre er halv brø​d​ enn alt mangler. The literal meaning of this proverb is: Half​ a loaf is better than no bread. ​It means that it is very important to cherish what you have even if it is several crumbs of bread, as bread is the most important food that can be on the family table. 2) Det er baking og godt brød i et fremmed land. This proverb means They​ also bake good bread in foreign lands. A​ lot of people compare their cultures and their life to others. This proverb shows that

53 Norwegian people are no exception. In a lot of cultures, people usually underestimate their features, however, it is clear that Norwegians are proud of their culture and traditions.

Term bread​ is​ very interesting for the analysis in the stated languages and cultures because it allows to notice connection between all of them. Czech and Russian version share the same origin and come from a Germanic word related to Old Norse hleifr.​ ​It is also possible to notice the connection with English loaf​ ("portion of bread baked in a mass of definite form," from Proto-Germanic *khlaibuz,​ the common Germanic word for bread’, source also of Old Norse hleifr,​ Swedish lev​ ,​ Old Frisian hlef​ ,​ Old High German hleib​ ,​ German Laib, Gothic hlaifs​ "bread, loaf" (Barnhart, 1988)). At the same time, the etymology of English and Norwegian shares the same origin. This term is an example of close connection of words and roots both inside and out of the language families.

54 VEGETABLES

● Russian - Овощи​ ​; ● Czech - Zelenina​ ;​ ● English - Vegetables​ ;​ ● Norwegian - Grønnsaker​ .​

Vegetable is a plant or a part of a plant used as food, such as cabbage, a potato, a turnip, or a bean. The origin of the word comes through Late Middle English (in the sense ‘growing as a plant’) and Old French, or from the Late Latin vegetabilis ‘animating’, from the Latin vegetare​ ​. The English noun dates back to the late 16th century. (Oxford Dictionary). More detailed etymology of the term will be presented further.

Language and etymology

I R​ ussian

The Russian word овощи​ (nom. sg. овощ​ )​ has corresponding forms in many Slavic languages. In the other Slavic language, however, the word means ‘fruit’, not ‘vegetable’: Ukrainian ​о́ воч, Old Church Slavonic овошть​ (used as a translation of the Greek ὀ​πώρα ‘fruit’), Bulgarian ​ово́ ще, Macedonian овошје​, Serbo-Croatian voće​ ,​ Slovene ovočje​ ,​ Czech ovoce​ ​, Slovak ovocie​ ​, Polish owoc​ .​ As the concepts of ‘fruit’ and ‘vegetable’ are very close to each other, such a semantic shift is quite understandable. The Old Slavic form is reconstructed as *ovoťe​ (Rejzek, 2001: 457). Because of the presence of -щ- in stem, the Russian word is considered to be a loanword from Old Church Slavonic овошть ‘fruit’ (as noted by Vasmer and Rejzek), as in Russian, Old Slavic *ť regularly changes to -ч-, not to -щ-.

55 Vasmer and Rejzek explain the Slavic *ovoťe​ with the Indo-Wuropean root *au̯eg-, *u̯ōg- "to grow, to increase, to enlarge" (Lithuanian áugti "to grow", Greek ​αὐξάνω, Latvian augt​ ​, German wachsen​ ​, lat. augere​ ​), the original semantic motivation is therefore “the grown things, what grows”.

The similarity with German Obst​ ("fruit"), Dutch ooft​ ,​ English dialectal ovest​ ("the mast and acorns of the oak") are considered to be coincidental by Rejzek and Vasmer; the Germanic words are from *uba-etaz​ ("what is to be eaten", the second part is related to the root *h1ed-​ "to eat"). Machek tries to interpret the Germanic words as loanwords from Slavic (Machek, 1968: 424).

II Czech

The Czech word zelenina​ is derived from the adjective zelený​ (“green”). The forms corresponding to the Czech adjective “zelený” are present in all Slavic languages: Polish zielony​ ​, Slovak zelený​ ,​ Serbo-Croatian zelen​ ,​ Bulgarian and Macedonian зелен​ ,​ Belarussian зялёны​ ,​ Russian зелёный​ ,​ Ukrainian зелений​ ​, Old Church Slavonic зеленъ​ ​. The reconstructed Indo-European form is *ǵʰelh₃​, the cognates include Sanskrit hari-​ "fallow, yellowish, greenish", Greek χλωρός​ ("bright green or yellow"), Latin helvus​ ("yellowish"), Old High German gelo​ (and English yellow​ )​ (Derksen 2008: 541). Simpler derived forms of the same root zelí​ ("cabbage", from Old Slavic *zelьje​ "greens, herbs") and zelina ​("herb") are also attested in Czech.

III English

The English word vegetable​ is a Latin loanword borrowed through Old French. The Latin adjective vĕgĕtābĭlis​ means “animating, enlivening” (from the word vĕgĕto “to arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate”). The same root is present in Latin verbs vegeō​ (“to move, excite, quicken, arouse, to be lively or active”) and vigeō​ (“to be lively or vigorous, to thrive, flourish, bloom, to live,

56 to be alive”). The Latin stem was a source of a great number of semantically distant English words from vigorous​ to vegetarian​ (and vegan​ ​, veganism​ ​, veganic,​ vegeburger​ ,​ veggie​ ...).​ De Vaan (2008: 657) reconstructs the Proto-Italic form as *weg-eje/o-​ and the Proto-Indo-European form as *u​ ̯eg-o- (“active, awake”), *u​ ̯oǵ-eie/o “to awaken” and lists the Indo-European cognates: Sanskrit ​vā́ ja (“strength, vigour”) and vājáyati​ (“impels”), Gothic wakjan​ “to waken” and Old High German wahhën​ “to be awake” (related to modern German wecken​ and English to wake​).

IV Norwegian

The Norwegian word grønnsak​ (plural form grønnsaker​ )​ is a compound word from grønn​ (green) and sak​ (thing): “green things, greens”. The semantic motivation is therefore similar to the Czech word zelenina​ .​ The Norwegian form grønn​ comes from Proto-Germanic *grōni​ “green”, whose descendants include Old Norse groenn​ ​, Old English grēne​ and Modern English green​ ,​ Dutch groen​ ,​ Old High German gruoni​ and Modern German grün​ ​. The Proto-Germanic root is a descendant of the Proto-Indo-European root *g​ ʰroh₁ “to grow”, present in Latin grāmen​ (grass) and with another suffix, in Germanic *grasą​ (as in English grass​ ).​ (Kroonen, 2013: 191). The second element comes from the Proto-Germanic root *sakō​ (“case, lawsuit”), present in Old Norse s​ǫk “lawsuit, accusation, trial”, Old English sacu “strife, contention, dispute”, Modern English sake​ ​, Old Saxon saka​ “affair, lawsuit”, Dutch zaak​ “affair, lawsuit”, Old High German sahha​ “case, guild”, Modern German Sache​ “affair, matter”. (Kroonen, 2013: 424). This nominal form is derived from a verb *sakan​ (Gothic sakan​ “to dispute”, Old Saxon sakan “to rebuke”, Old High German sahhan​ ​, “to argue”), that comes from the Indo-European root *sh​ ₂g​, whose cognates include Old Irish saigid​ “to try to

57 reach, to claim”, Middle Welsh haeddu​ “to attempt”, Hittite šāgāi​ “omen”, Latin sāgus​ ​“prophetic, prescient” (Kroonen, 2013: 423).

The semantic motivation of the word meaning “vegetable” in the green colour is present both in Norwegian grønnsak​ and Czech zelenina​ .​ In both languages, the word for “vegetable” includes the root meaning “green” and the basic meaning of the whole form (a compound word in Norwegian and a morphologically derived word in Czech) is “the green things”: although various kinds of vegetables can have many colours, they are the only item of human diet that is normally of green colour. The same semantic motivation occurs in the colloquial English expression greens​ ​ “green vegetables used for food”.

The etymological connection between the vegetables​ and growing​ is present both in Proto-Slavic *ovoťe​ and Proto-Germanic *grōni​ ​. Both words come from different Indo-European roots, whose meaning is “to grow, to enlargen, to increase”. This semantic motivation is based on the most characteristic feature of the vegetative life, growth.

Furthermore, this chapter will include the history and the etymology of the following vegetables: radish, onion and carrot. All of them were consumed in all the analysed cultures at some point in time. Hopefully, this information will show how the terminologies interacted with each other throughout the history and development of gastronomic preferences.

58 RADISH

● Russian - Редька​ ;​ ● Czech - Ředkev​ ;​ ● English - Radish​ ;​ ● Norwegian - Reddik​ ​.

“Radish” is “a small vegetable, usually red or white and round or shaped like a finger, that grows underground and is usually eaten uncooked in salads.” (Cambridge Dictionary)

The history of radish dates back to the ancient times, when people were already aware of its unique nutritive and healing features. (Prigozhina, 2018). According to scientists, radish comes from the area that surrounds the Mediterranean Sea. A lot of materials from archaeological excavations and monuments of literary art serve as the proof of this fact. More than five thousand years ago, it was cultivated in ancient Egypt, Babylonia, ancient Greece and Rome.

59 Language and etymology

I Russian

Radish came to the Russian land from Asia in the ancient times. The following proverb explains its meaning in the life of Russian people better than many words:

1) Семь перемен, а все редька: редька триха, редька ломтиха, редька с квасом, редька с маслом, редька в кусочках, редька в брусочках да редька целиком. It can be interpreted as: “No matter what happens, it can be seven changes but radish is eaten always and under any circumstances”.

The etymology of the Russian редька​ (ре​ ́ дьки/ре́ дьки/ре́ дек ) starts​ with the lat. rādīx​ (rādīcem​). It was borrowed through a Germanic language. The borrowing is adapted to the phonological and morphological system of Russian through the change of the vowel of the first syllable and the -y​ suffix.​ Later on, two more forms that belonged to Old Russian came into existence: ретька​ (from the 15​th ​Century) and редьковь​ ​(1296).

Due to the fact that radish was very popular in Slavic cuisine, it is not surprising that this plant started to be used in people’s speech. Here are several examples showing its application:

16 1) Хуже горькой редьки. This expression can be used in a dialogue when one person is not satisfied with something and another person describes him/her as the one who is worse than bitter radish. 2) Хрен редьки не слаще.

16 See: ​.

60 It can be said in a situation when someone stands in front of a particular/difficult choice and their options are not that different from each other. For example, when someone is choosing the country for moving, another person can encourage him/her by saying: “Please,​ evaluate all the pros and cons of your decision, but horseradish is not sweeter than radish.​” It can be interpreted as: moving is already a tough decision, no matter to which country.

II Czech

Accroding to Rejzek, Czech ředkev​ and​ ředkvička​ ​is related to Polish rzodkiew​ ,​ Russian редька,​ Serbo-Croatian​ ​rotkva. The Proto-Slavic form can be reconstructed as *redьky​ ​, it is a loanword from a Germanic language related to Old Saxon redik​ ,​ OHG retih​ (Modern German Rettich​ ),​ English radish​ ​. All those forms come from Latin ​rādīx .

III English

Etymology of the English radish​ comes​ from the Middle English radishe,​ redich, radiche, raddik, radike, redic​. Later on from the Old English redic,​ rædic​, from the Vulgar Latin rādīce​ ​, the accusative singular of rādīx​ (root of a plant; radish); later influenced by the Anglo-Norman radich,​ radice,​ and the Middle French radice​ (modern French radis​ )​ that originated from Latin. (Skeat, 1961: 486).

The Latin word rādīx​ (in its basic meaning “root”, but in a more specialised meaning “radish”), is derived from the Proto-Indo-European *ur(e)h​ ₂-d-iH "root" (the -d-iH​ is considered to be a suffix by De Vaan), whose cognates include Welsh gwraidd​ "roots", Bretonian gwrizienn​ "root", Greek ​ῥᾱ́δῑξ

61 "branch", Gothic waurts​ ,​ Old English wyrt,​ Modern English wort​ ,​ Middle High German wurz​ ​, Modern German Wurzel​ ,​ and Albanian rrëzë​ (De Vaan, 2008: 512).

In addition, according to the Farlex Dictionary of Idioms, English language includes the following idiom:

1) Have had the radish It means to be no longer functional or useful; to be dead or about to perish. A colloquialism local to the state of Vermont. Primarily heard in US. Use in language: This old truck has served me well, but after lasting 20 years, it's finally had the radish. Despite the doctor's best efforts, it looked as though I'd had the radish​.

IV Norwegian

The Norwegian reddik​ comes from the Low-German rēdik,​ reddik, rētik​. This language was used in the 10​th century for trading relations between Germany and other countries from the Northern European region. The Old Swedish form of the word appeared later on: rädikia,​ rätikia​. However, the initial root of this word is the Latin *rot-​ (​rādīx) ​. (Torp, 1919: 520).

Term radish​ is one more example of the interaction of all analyzed languages and their history. Despite the different word forms (редька,​ ředkev, radish and reddik),​ they all have similar pronunciation and all include Latin word rādīx​ in the base of their origin.

Next chapter of this thesis will concentrate on the the etymology and analysis of the word onion​ .​

62

ONION

● Russian - Лук;​ ● Czech - Cibule;​ ● English - Onion​ ;​ ● Norwegian - Løk.​

Onion is a vegetable with a strong smell and flavour, made up of several layers surrounding each other tightly in a round shape, usually brown or red on the outside and white on the inside. (Cambridge Dictionary).

It is not certain when and how exactly onion started to be commonly used in analysed cultures. However, in Russia it was definitely known since 12​th to 13​th centuries. Onions were one of the few vegetables that preserve vitamins and other nutrients during the long and severe Russian winters. In addition, the healing power of onion was also greatly appreciated in Slavic culture. It is possible that the proverb ‘Лук​ от семи недуг’​ appeared at the same time. It means that onion can be used for any kind of disease or ailment.

Language and etymology

I Russian

The Russian word лук​ has cognates in most Slavic languages, with various semantic alterations: Ukrainian and Belarusian лук​ (“onion”), Macedonian лук​ (“garlic”), Old Church Slavonic лоукъ​ (used to translate the Greek noun κρόμμυον “onion”, Bulgarian лук​ (“onion”), Serbo-Croatian luk​ (“onion”), Slovene luk​ ,​ Old Polish łuk​ ​, Polabian läuk​ ​. It has also a Latvian cognate luõks​ .

63 In Old Czech, the word luk​ meant “field garlic”, in Modern Czech, however, only its unrelated homonym meaning “a bow” exists (Machek, 1968: 343) . The Slavic word is considered to be an old borrowing from Germanic *lauka​ “onion, leek”, whose descendants in Germanic languages include the Old Norse laukr “leek, onion, garlic”, Faroese leykur​ “onion”, Old English lēac​ “leek” (and also the compound gārlēac​ from gār​ “spear, arrow” and lēac​ ),​ Modern English leek and garlic​ ​, Dutch look​ “garlic”, Old High German louh​ and German Lauch​ ​. (Kroonen, 2013). The Germanic word *lauka​ ,​ however, has no certain etymology: Kroonen proposes the derivation from the strong verb *leukan​ “to close” (Gothic ga-lukan “to close”, us-lukan​ “to pull a sword”, Old Norse lúka​ ,​ ljúka​ “to close, finish”, Faroese lúka​ “to close, to weed, clean out”, Old English lūcan​ “to close”, Modern English lock​ ,​ Dutch luiken​ “to close”, Old High German liohhan​ “to pull, pluck”, lūhhan​ “to close”), “in view of the leaves or scales enclosing the stem or growing-point in both leeks and onions” (Kroonen, 2013: 329). The etymology of this Germanic verb is problematic as well. According to Kroonen, it could be a result of merging of two entirely different Indo-European verbs: a root *lug​ ,​ meaning “to pull”, related to Greek λύγος​ “a flexible branch, twig suited for twisting” and Lithuanian lùgnas​ “flexible”, and a root *lu(​ ǵ)​, related to Sanskrit rujáti​ ​ “to break” and Lithuanian​ lū́ žti (the same meaning).

In Russian, this word is used in an idiomatic expression горе​ луковое (“double-trouble”, literally “onion trouble”).​ ​It is an ironic expression, used in relation to a crying person, when the cause of his/her tears from the side seems insignificant, sometimes even nonsense. Sometimes tears without a serious reason, as the tears shed during the cutting of an onion. Such tears most often occur with children and the mother is trying to sooth the situation by saying: “Горе ты мое луковое!”.​

64 II Czech

The Czech word cibule​ comes from the Latin cēpa,​ caepa, caepula (diminutive). The Latin form cēpa​ or caepa ("onion") is a loanword from an unknown language, but probably related to Greek καπια​ "onions" (De Vaan, 2013: 108). The same Latin loanword is in Slovak cibuľa​ ​, Polish cebula​ ,​ Lower Sorbian cybula​ and Ukrainian цибуля​ .​ According to Machek, it was borrowed through the Middle High German zibolle​ ​, zebulle, whose descendants include Modern German Zwiebel​ ​(Machek, 1968: 85).

The Latin word caepa​ is the source of the Old French cive​ ,​ the Old English cipe​, and, via the Late Latin diminutive cepulla​ ​, Italian cipolla​ ,​ Spanish cebolla, the​ Polish cebula​ .​ German Zwiebel​ also comes from this source but it is altered by folk etymology in Old High German zwibolla​ from the words for “two” ​and “ball”​ ​.

III English

17 English word onion​ firstly appeared in 12​th century, as it was borrowed from the Anglo-French union​ ,​ the Vulgar Latin oignon​ ‘onion’ (formerly also oingnon​), and directly from the Latin unionem​ (nominative unio,​ m.).​ The colloquial rustic Roman stood for ‘a kind of onion’, also a ‘pearl’ (via the notion of a string of onions), literally ‘one, unity’; sense connection is the successive layers of an onion, in contrast with cloves of garlic.

It must be noted, however, that the Latin word ūnĭo​ meaning​ “the number one, oneness, unity”, is feminine, but the homonym word meaning “onion” or “pearl” is masculine.

The feminine form is doubtlessly derived from the Latin numeral ūnus​ ​('one'), that comes from Proto-Indo-European *Hoino​ and is related to Old Irish óen​ ,​

17 S​ee: Barnhart, ​.​

65 Welsh un​ ,​ Greek ​οἰνή 'one at dice', Old Prussian ainan​ ,​ Lithuanian víenas​ ,​ Latvian viêns​ , Old Church Slavonic inъ​ 'someone, other', Russian иной​ 'other, another, different' and Czech jiný​ 'other', Gothic ains​ ​, English one​ and German ein ​and Sanskrit éka.​

Witczak (2006), however, considers the feminine and masculine forms to be coincidentally similar but of different origin. In his opinion, the masculine form is related to Sanskrit u​ṣṇá 'onion', Khowar ​vəẓnū 'garlic', Pashto ú​ẓ̌a 'garlic', Middle Irish uinniun​ 'onion' and Welsh wynwyn​ 'onions', Lithuanian ​usnìs 'thistle', usnýnė​ 'thistle's thicket" and ​usnė́ tas 'grown by the thistles' and Hittite šuppi-wašḫar 'onion' (the first part is from šuppiš​ 'pure, clean'), gen. sg. *wašḫanaš. The Indo-Hittite form is reconstructed as ​*wósHr̥, with oblique stem *usHn​ ̥ and can be related to the Indo-European root *eus/*wes​ "to​ burn" (semantically motivated by the "hot" taste of most onions), "though there is no evident confirmation of this derivational process".

In the English language, the word onion​ is​ also used in the following idioms (Farlex​ Dictionary of Idioms, 2015):​

1) Know (one's) onions

The expression describes someone, who is very knowledgeable or skilled in some area. Primarily heard in the UK or Australia. I assume that Elizabeth is the best for this position. She knows best strategies in this business, she really knows her onions.

2) A lonely little petunia in an onion patch. This idiom refers to someone who is out of place among those one finds unpleasant, uncouth, or overly aggressive. He seems to be very uncomfortable in public places. He might feel as a lonely little petunia in an onion patch.

66 IV Norwegian

Norwegian løk​ comes​ from the Old Norse *laukr-​ ,​ from the Proto-Norse laukaz​, from the Proto-Germanic *laukaz-​ (Torp, 1919: 386), whose etymology was discussed above.

It is very interesting that both Norwegian and Russian language versions of the word onion have common origin. This origin starts with the root *laukaz-​ .​ Despite the fact that all Germanic languages are genetically located at the same distance from all Slavic languages — it is very interesting to see the similarity in both groups.

All these parallel developments of one word in various cultures and languages make this research highly interesting. The obvious existence of the same base/root word or a base language makes one think that these cultures are not that different after all. However, it is very important to observe how foods were brought from one culture to another and how these food products are blended into the new cuisines and cultures. Later on, as centuries passed by these products have developed their own histories, which differed from those that their ancestors had. An amazing example of such blend will be described in the next chapter about carrot.

67 CARROT

Figure 6

● Russian - Морковь​ ​; ● Czech - Mrkev​ ​; ● English - Carrot​ ​; ● Norwegian - Gulrøtter.​

“Carrot:​ a long pointed orange root eaten as a vegetable.” (Cambridge Dictionary). Vegetable that is successfully cultivated today all over the world was obtained from wild varieties whose roots were not orange at all. As shown by research scientists, carrots were originally purple or yellow. The evidence of wild carrot consumption confirmed by archaeological findings was found at the sites of the ancient man in Switzerland. Temple drawings in Egyptian Luxor, dating from the second millennium BC, show purple roots. And in the papyrus, found in one of the burials of a Pharaoh, there is a mention of a treatment of carrot seeds or a plant similar to it. (Lotha, 2006).

68 The first cultural plantings of purple and yellow carrots, according to confirmed sources, first appeared in the 10​th century in Afghanistan and Persia. At the same time in Iran and in the north of the Arabian Peninsula, carrots with red root vegetables appear. The Asian type of the plant reached China and Italy, where red carrots began to spread in the 12​th century. In the 14​th to 15​th centuries, red, yellow and white carrots began to be cultivated in Germany, France, England and the Netherlands.

69 Language and etymology.

I, II Russian and Czech

The Proto-Slavic *mъrky-​ (mъrkъve)​ is related to the Old German mor(a)ha​ and the Low German more​ or the Greek ​βράκανα τὰ ἄγρια λάχανα (vrakana - wild cabbage). From this form, we can now see the development of Russian морковь and the Czech mrkev​ .​ (Vasmer, 1986: 417). In addition, the same basic form is shared with other Slavic languages:

● Ukrainian морк​ о́ в, мо́ рква; ● Belarusian ​мо́ рква; ● Bulgarian ​мо́ рков; ● Serbo-Croatian ​мр̏ква; ● Slovak ​mrkva​ ;​ ● Polish marchew​ .​

In addition, Derksen gives the reconstructed Proto-Indo-European form *mrk-uH (Derksen, 2008: 335), the cognates include Old High German morha​ 'carrot' (and modern German Möhre​ )​ and Old English moru​ 'carrot' (and the Modern English more​ and morel​ ​). According to Kroonen, however, it is an European (non-Indo-European) word, "an indigenous European term (...) referring to a root vegetable, e. g. a carrot, parsnip or turnip, and was picked up by different groups of Indo-Europeans when they arrived in their new European homelands" (Kroonen, 2013: 378). The European word had two forms, *mrk​ (whose descendants include Germanic and most Slavic forms) and *brk​ (whose descendants include Greek βράκανα​ 'wild vegetables', Russian dialectal боркан​ "wild carrot", Lithuanian burkantai,​ burkunas​, Latvian bur​ ̃kãns and Finnish loanword porkkana​ ​).

70 Curiously, in North Germanic languages, the related forms may have developed into Old Norse, Icelandic and Faroese mura​ and Norwegian gåsemure​ (the first part meaning "goose", as in English goose​ grass​, Russian лапчатка​ гусиная and Czech mochna​ husí​). Kroonen explains this strange semantic connection thus: "This is all more likely in view of the facts that the roots of this plant were often used to supplement the diet, and have a taste similar to carrots." (Lubotski, 2013: 378)

Carrot was very popular in Slavic culture and that is why it was often used in communication. Here is an example of Russian proverb about this vegetable:

Морковка хороша, когда яблока нет. It means that it is not problem if someone cannot find and eat an apple, carrot can also be a nice replacement as it contains a lot of useful elements.

III English

The English word carrot​ comes from a common name of plants of the genus Daucus,​ cultivated from the ancient times for their large, tapering, edible root, c. 1500, karette​ ​, from the Middle French carrotte​ ​, from the Latin carota​ ,​ from the Greek karoton​ ‘carrot’, probably from PIE *kre-​ ,​ from the root *ker-​ ‘horn; head’ and so called for its horn-like shape. A Middle English name for the wild carrot was dauke​ ​(late 14 C), borrowed from Latin. (Barnhart, 1988).

71 Example of a proverb with word carrot in English language:

1) Never bolt your door with a boiled carrot. ​(Farlex​ Dictionary of Idioms, 2015) It can be explained as advice not to do something less than smart. If someone is obviously about to make a mistake, another one can prevent him/her from doing so by simply saying this proverb.

IV Norwegian

The Norwegian form gulrøt​ is a compound word. Its first part, gul​ ,​ means "yellow" and is a descendant of the Proto-Germanic *gelwa-,​ *gulu- (Kroonen,​ 2013:174). The cognates include Old Norse gulr​ ,​ Faroese gulur​ ​, Old English geolo,​ Modern English yellow​ ​, Old Saxon gelo,​ gelu​, Old High German gelo​ ​, Modern German gelb​ (all forms mean 'yellow'). The Proto-Germanic root comes from the Proto-Indo-European *​ǵʰelh₃​, related to Slavic words like Russian зелёный​ and Czech zelený​ ('green'). The Indo-European cognates were mentioned above.

The second part, rot​ ,​ comes from Old Norse ró​ t​ and is related to Faroese rót​ .​ These forms are usually connected with the Germanic root *wurti​ ('medicinal root, herb'), whose descendants include Gothic waurts​ 'root', Old Norse urt​ 'root', Old English wyrt​ 'plant, herb' and Old High German wurz​ 'root, herb, spice'. Although this root is sometimes considered Indo-European (related to Greek ​ῥιζα, Welsh gwreidd​ and Latin radix​ 'root'), Kroonen considers it to be an Old European word, as the phonological development presents serious problems (Kroonen, 2013: 601).

Kroonen (2013:597), however, is sceptical about the connection with the root *wurti as well. He gives the reconstructed Proto-Germanic root of the

72 Norwegian word rot as *wrōt​ and considers it to be an another Old European word different from *wurti​ .​ Author notes: "A root noun usually reconstructed as PGm. wrōt-​ ​. The loss of the initial *w​ is unexpected in East Norse, however. This means that the standard etymological connection with *wurti-​ 'root' can only be maintained by assuming ad hoc deletion of *w​ ​."

Norwegian also includes a proverb that mentions carrot:

1) Pisk eller gulrot. It literally means: Just​ a whip and a carrot, like a pair. It can be interpreted as a method of combining various methods of influence or stimulation: negative ‘whip’ and positive ‘carrot’. The method of encouragement and punishment is used in pedagogy, but it is also used in politics and management, known in English as ‘a​ carrot and a stick​’. (Tvedt, 2016).

It is important to mention that similarities can be found in the different language families. In case with carrot,​ Czech​ people also use word karotka​ ​that is similar to English version. However, karotka​ describes​ only earlier varieties of carrots that grow faster than traditional ones. Classical carrot is still called mrkev.​

73

FISH

● Russian — Рыба;​ ● Czech - Ryby; ● English - Fish​ ​; ● Norwegian — ​Fisk.

“Fish is an animal that lives in water, is covered with scales, and breathes by taking water in through its mouth, and it also denotes the flesh of these animals eaten as food. It is characterized by an elongated body, supported by a strong skeleton consisting of a set of articulated bones, a head with eyes (rarely, they are reduced), a mouth with developed jaws and teeth.” (Cambridge Dictionary).

The history and the etymology of each fish name is closely connected with the area from which that one particular fish comes from. This connection dates back to the ancient times. During historical migration, the population was often faced with unknown species. It lead to the transfer of old names to new ones and, eventually, completely different versions of fish appeared. It was also common to borrow certain names from local settlements.

This chapter will mention several fish species and will observe Norwegian fish in particular, as it is the biggest part of Norwegian cuisine and culture.

74 Language and Etymology

I, II Russian and Czech

The cognates of Russian рыба​ and Czech ryba​ occur in all Slavic languages (Polish and Slovak ryba​ ,​ Slovene and Serbo-Croatian riba​ ​, Bulgarian, Macedonian and Belarussian риба​ ,​ Ukrainian риба​ ​, Old Church Slavonic рꙑба​). The Proto-Slavic form *ryba​ is, however, difficult to explain. As Rejzek puts it, "there are many interpretations, but none of them convincing" (Rejzek, 2001:580).

Vasmer, after mentioning spurious etymologies connecting the Slavic word with Old High German rûрра,​ rûpa 'caterpillar', Latin rubētа​ 'toad' and several other words, concludes that the Slavic *ryba​ is a taboo substitution for the original East Indo-European word (from *d​ ʰǵʰu,​ related to Lithuanian žuvis​ and Greek ​ἰχθῡ́ς). Its origin, however, remains shrouded in mystery. (Vasmer, 1986: 614).

According to Machek, it is doubtlessly related to the second part of the German word Aalraupe​ (‘burbot’; the first part means 'eel' and whole compound could be interpreted as ‘eel fish’), but not with German Raupe​ 'caterpillar' (Machek, 1968: 526).

III, IV English and Norwegian

The English word fish​ shares its origin with the Norwegian word fisk​ .​ The Germanic form *fiska​ is derived from the West Indo-European *pisk;​ its cognates include Latin piscis​ 'fish' and Old Irish íasc​ .​ In the other Indo-European languages, the above mentioned East Indo-European root *dʰǵʰu- is the source of the term for the fish. According to Klein: ”Old English

75 fisc originated from fish.​ Proto-Germanic​ *fiskaz-​ (source also of Old Saxon, Old Frisian, Old High German fisc​ ​, Old Norse fiskr​ ,​ Middle Dutch visc​ ,​ Dutch vis​, German Fisch​ ,​ Gothic fisks​ ),​ perhaps from PIE root *pisk-​ "a fish.” (Klein, 1966-67:283).​

In addition, English language includes several phrases with word fish​ that are commonly used till this day:

1) Other fish to fry Other objects which invite or require attention. 2) Fish-eye A type of lens that is used in photography. 3) Fish and chips A traditional British meal that includes fish that is deep-fried in a crispy batter served with fat golden chips (French fries).

Norwegian has several expressions that are used in communication as a folk proverbs:

1) Fisken og gjesten lukter vondt den tredje dagen. The fish and the guest smell bad on the third day. Can be used in the situations, when someone is not amazed by having guests or the possibility of having them for too long.

2) Den fisken som slapp unna, var alltid stor. The fish that escaped was always great. This phrase can be applicable when someone regrets about something in the past that was missed (chance/opportunity/some particular thing).

3) Hvis du tror alt du hører, går du til havet etter kaniner og til skogen etter fisk.

76 If you believe everything you hear, go to the sea for rabbits and to the forest for fish. This expressions can be used to warn someone not to be believe 18 everything he/she hears and be cautious of believing in certain things.

18 See: Norwegian folk proverbs: ​

77 ZANDER

● Russian - Судак;​ ● Czech - Candát;​ ● English - Zander;​ ● Norwegian - Gjørs;​

According to the International Game Fish Association database, zander lives worldwide and earlier it was considered that this fish initially appeared on the European continent, and only relatively recently mastered the reservoirs of North America. Zander is native to eastern and central Europe, Sweden and Finland, and western Asia. It has been introduced into several other European countries, including England and is rapidly extending its range. Zander is a predatory species most abundant in large lakes and lowland rivers, preferring cloudy water and avoiding weed-beds.

Slavic and Germanic languages share a common term for zander, not present in other Indo-European languages. The most plausible explanation of this linguistic phenomena is that both German and Slavic tribes occupied the area of coastal land of Baltics and assimilated unknown non-Indo-European peoples in 7-6th centuries BC. They borrowed not only words and terminology that can be used to describe fishing, but also names of the particular species, and zander equivalents were one of them.

78 Language and etymology

I Russian

According to linguists, the first version of the word cудак is an Old Russian судокъ that dates back to 1460, or судочина​ (1547). It is considered that the word has been borrowed from Polish language because, among other things, the birthplace of this fish is Elba, Oder, Vistula.

In the southern part of Russia there is a city named Cудак, however, its etymology has nothing in common with the fish. It comes from the Ossetian - suǧdæg or the Iranian suxta-ka​ ​and means ‘sacred’, ‘pure’, ‘immaculate’. (Vasmer, 1986).

II Czech

The precise ancestor of the word candát​ is unknown. It originates from the Upper German Sandart,​ Sander and from the Low German sandat(e),​ sandan​. These words are considered to be a derivative of the modern German Sand​ ,​ as this type of fish enjoys being in a sandy bottom of a river. However, this assumption is considered to be a mistake. According to Rejzek, the Czech form (and its Polish cognate sandacz​ ​) is unclear. Furthermore, both Czech and English versions of zander share the same history that started with Upper German word Zander​ ​that originated in 19​th ​century.

III English

“The English zander​ is​ sometimes called a pike-perch​ as they resemble a pike with their elongated body and head, and a perch with their spiny dorsal fin. Perch stands for ‘spiny-finned freshwater fish’, c. 1300, from the Old French

79 perche​, from the Latin perca​ ‘perch​ ’,​ from the Greek perke​ ‘a perch’, from PIE root *perk-​ ‘speckled, spotted’ (source also of Sanskrit prsnih​ ‘speckled, variegated;’ the Greek perknos​ ‘dark-colored,’ perkazein​ ‘to become dark’).” (Barnhart, 1988).

Although zander are a relative newcomer to the British Isles, having been introduced to the Great Ouse Relief Channel in Cambridgeshire during the latter half of the last century, they are spreading rapidly. This fish can now be found in the area of Fin river and in the River Severn catchment. (Garner, 2001).

IV Norwegian

The Norwegian gjørs​ is not as popular as salmon, however, it can be found in many local rivers. Here are several of them: Tista, the island areas of Glomma, south of Leira, Vansjø, Gjersjøen, Akersvannet, Nærevannet, Isesjøen, Tunevannet and Borrevannet. In Norway, gjørs​ is not commonly used for eating. It is mostly considered to be a popular sport fish. (Ambjørnlund, Stigum: 1965).

The older dictionary by Falk and Torp (1910: 322) connects the Norwegian word gjørs​ with Swedish gärs​ (‘ruffe’). They connect it with the English word gorse (a plant with spiny leaves), Sanskrit h​ṛṣyati (‘is pleased, takes pleasure’), Greek χέρσος​ ‘dry, firm, barren’, Latin hirsutus​ ‘rough, bristly, prickly’ and horreo ‘I stand erect’. This corresponds to the Indo-European root *​ǵʰers- ‘to jut out, to bristle’ As the sharp and spiny fins are typical for both zander and ruffe, this semantic motivation seems quite plausible. The authors moreover hint the possibility of a relation to the Old Norse gjosa​ ​ ‘to gush’.

This hint is also developed by de Caprona (2013). According to him, the Norwegian word gjørs​ means ‘a spouting fish’ and is related to Old Norse verb

80 gjósa ‘to gush, to spurt’, "either because the zander tends to spout the air or because the stomach contents tend to spill through the oral cavity as the fish is pulled upwards" (chapter Fisker, s. v. gjørs​ ).​ The Old Norse verb gjósa​ is a frequentative form of a verb gjóta​ ‘to pour’; from the same verb comes the English word geyser​ (in Icelandic Geysir​ ,​ ‘the gusher’, originally a toponym). The form is related to Gothic giutan​ ‘pour’, Norwegian gyte,​ gjote ‘to pour, run, spawn’, Old English ġēotan​ ‘to pour, gush’ and Modern English yote​ ,​ Dutch gieten,​ Old High German giozan​ ‘to pour, mix, melt’ and Modern German gießen​. The Proto-Germanic form is reconstructed as *geutan​ ,​ the Indo-European cognates include Sanskrit juhoti​ ‘to pour, to sacriface’, Tocharian ku-​ ‘to pour, to offer a libation’, Greek χέω​ ‘to pour’ and Latin fundō​ ‘to pour, to smelt’, the Proto-Indo-European root is reconstructed as *​ǵʰewd- ‘to pour’ (Kroonen, 2013).

The English word gust​ (Klein, 1966-67: 327) is related to the same Germanic verb, the English word gush​ ,​ however, is thought to be of imitative origin (Klein, 1966-67: 327).

81 STURGEON

● Czech - Jeseter​ ​; ● Russian - Осётр​ ;​ ● English - Sturgeon​ ​; ● Norwegian - Stør​ .​

Sturgeon​: a very large primitive fish with bony plates on the body. It inhabits temperate seas and rivers of the northern hemisphere, especially in central Eurasia, and is of commercial importance for its caviar and flesh. (Oxford Dictionary).

82 Language and etymology

I, II Russian and Czech

The Czech word jeseter​ and Russian word осётр​ are cognates, as is Polish jesiotr and Serbo-Croatian jesetra​ ​. The Proto-Slavic form is reconstructed as *esetrъ​. Machek (1968: 223) and Rejzek connect it with Old Prussian esketres​ ​, Lithuanian ​erškė́ tras and German Stör​ ​. According to Derksen, the Baltic forms are influenced by erškė​ ́ tis 'thorn' (Derksen, 2008: 145). Machek considers the word Old European, Rejzek mentions the possibility that the word is a loanword from "an unknown language of Caspian area". Derkson and Rejzek admit the possibility of the Indo-European origin and try to connect it with the Polish word jesiora​ 'fishbone' (from Proto-Slavic esera​ ,​ cognate to Lithuanian ešerys​ and Latvian asaris​ 'perch')​ and with Slavic *ostrъ​ (Czech and Slovak ostrý​ ​, Russian острый​ ​, Ukrainian гострий​ ​, Belarussian востры​ ​, Old Church Slavonic остръ​ ,​ Bulgarian остър​ ​, Macedonian остар​ ,​ Serbo-Croatian oštar​ ​, Slovene oster,​ Polish ostry​ ).​ The Slavic form *ostrъ​ comes from Indo-European ​*h₂eḱ-; its cognates include Latin ācer​ ​'sharp' and Greek ᾰ​̓́κρος 'pointed'. The semantic motivation is the sharp shape of a sturgeon (a similar semantic motivation is present in Russian шип​ ​, whose original meaning is 'thorn, spine', but it also means 'a thorn sturgeon').

III English

The English word sturgeon is of Germanic origin, but it came to English through Old French. The Old French esturgeon comes from Frankish *sturjo​ ​. This Frankish form is related to Old Saxon and Old High German sturio​ ​, Middle High German störe,​ stüre,​ German Stör​ ​, Middle Dutch store,​ störe​, Dutch steur​ ,​ Old English styria​ ,​ Old Norse styrja​ .​ Its descendants exist in

83 various Romance languages as well: Italian storione​ ,​ Old Provencal esturjon​ ,​ Spanish esturión​ ​. (Klein,1966-67:778). Kroonen reconstructs the Proto-Germanic form as *sturja,​ *sturjōn (Kroonen, 2013:488). Neither Klein nor Kroonen doubt that *sturjo​ is cognate with the above mentioned Slavic form, but non-Indo-European. In addition, Kroonen mentions that the non-Indo-European word could have existed in two related forms: *astr​ and *setr;​ the (prefixed?) form *astr​ is the source of the Baltoslavic form and the form *setr​ ​is the source of the Germanic one.

IV Norwegian

Stør is a very rare fish in Norwegian rivers, especially after 1940s. Stør​ is related to Swedish stör​ and Old Norse styrja​ .​ All of those versions represent the general meaning of ‘big fish’. This fact is supported by the goh. words stiuri​ and sturi​ that mean ‘big and strong’. (Falk and Torp, 1910: 1200). In this language, we again see the connection of the fish and its reputation, as in all observed cultures and languages. All those terms are related to the above mentioned Proto-Germanic *sturja.​

As it was already mentioned, in all observed cultures the name of the sturgeon was formed based on its royal and exclusive status. Different languages have the alternatives of the phrases ‘big fish’ or ‘whale’ that were used to name sturgeon. Despite the fact that we observe very different cultures and sturgeon is not the most popular fish, it is very important to mention that all four versions have the same term formation principle.

84 SALMON

Figure 8

● Russian - Лосось​ ​; ● Czech - Losos;​ ● English - Salmon​ ;​ ● Norwegian - Laks.​

Salmon is a medium-sized silver-coloured fish that lives in the sea or rivers and swims up rivers to produce its eggs. Its pink flesh is eaten as food. (Cambridge Dictionary).

Nowadays, the finest salmon comes from Russian and Norwegian seas. The history of the fish industry in those areas starts from the coast of the White Sea that began to be mastered by the Russians in the 14th and 15th centuries. The most important types of fisheries were Murmansk cod fisheries, white sea herring and salmon fishing. At the same time, although salmon was inferior to other species in terms of fishing, its prices were significantly higher than cod

85 and herring prices. In the Russian North salmon was called ‘fish’, and all other fish by their names, which documents the fact that salmon was a very important fish in the industry. People did not simply eat large salmon, they paid with it taxes, sent it to the tsar’s table, presented it as gifts to noble people, and sold them to more southern regions of the country in order to buy bread and iron products. Often, for this reason, salmon was called mother salmon (семга​ - матушка).​ Salmon production ensured the stable existence of entire settlements long before. As a result of the development of means of communication and intensive trade relations, the export of frozen salmon, and especially the so-called salmon salting, to other provinces of Russia and abroad became possible. Without exaggeration, it can be said that the attitude to salmon among the coast-dwellers of the North of Russia has always, always been and remains the same as among the peasants of the middle lane towards bread. (Lajus, 2010).

Language and etymology

I, II Russian and Czech

The common source of Russian лосось​ and Czech losos​ is the Proto-Slavic *lososь.​ Other Slavic descendants are Belarusian ласось​ ​, Ukrainian лосось​ ,​ Macedonian лосос​ ,​ Serbo-Croatian losos,​ los, Slovene losos​ and Polish łosoś​ ​. Most of the Slavic forms are borrowings from Russian, as the Atlantic salmon is found only in the northern Atlantic Ocean and in rivers that flow into it; not in the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. (Vasmer, 1986: 372).

The Proto-Slavic word is related to Lithuanian lašiša​ ,​ Latvian lasis​ ,​ Old Prussian lalasso​ ​, Ossetian л​ӕсӕг​, Tocharian B laks​ 'fish', Old Norse lax​ ,​ Faroese laksur​ ,​ English lax​ ​, German Lachs​ and Norwegian laks​ ​. The Indo-European form is reconstructed as ​*laḱs. Kroonen mentions the possibility that the Tocharian B word is unrelated, as its meaning is quite different

86 (Kroonen, 2013: 322). Machek thinks that it could be a loanword from a non-Indo-European language (Machek, 1968: 340).

In the Russian language there is also one extra word that describes salmon​ - семга​. According to Dal, this word is mostly used by people of Northern regions, where семга​ is dwelling and is very popular. The etymology of this word starts with Finnish tonka/sonka​ - kind of a small salmon. The word was​ first borrowed by people of Arkhangelsk region in14th and 15th centuries. Grammar books dated back to 1625 were found mentioning семъжина​ - мясо семги.​ (Dal,​ 2006).​

III English

The English word salmon comes from the Latin *salmo-​ (salmon), whose etymology is obscure. Later on, it turns into the Anglo-Norman French saumoun and the Middle English samoun​ ​. The interesting fact about this word 19 is that the letter ‘l​’​ is not pronounced . It is connected with a very long and ongoing debate of linguists, mostly Latinophiles, who insisted on reinserting letters gone from English to show off words as originally Latin. (Klein, 1966-1967: 702).

19See: .

87

IV Norwegian

Despite the fact that Norwegian salmon is famous worldwide, it is not the most popular food in Norway and its cuisine. The most national fish of the Norwegians can be considered cod (torsk). It has been proven not only by the results of the national referendum in 1980s, but also by the excavations of 8th century conducted in Bergen. (T. Forseth, 2018).

Norwegian laks​ comes from the same Proto-Indo-European root *lak-​ ​, from Proto-Germanic *lahsaz​ and Old Norse lax​ .​ Norwegian language even developed several terms from this word. (Torp, 1919:360). One of them is: lakseelv​. It describes the river that contains a lot of salmon and is suitable for fishing. (Lexin).

This chapter observed the etymological development of word salmon​ .​ It showed that Czech and Russian versions of the words are the same, as they both belong to one language family. English word salmon​ ​is unique and it did not interact with any other observed languages. However, when it comes to comparison of Russian and Norwegian versions of the word, it seems that they are more developed. They share the same origin and both of the languages expanded the term and have created a new words (rus. семга​ and nor. lakseelv​ ).​ It might be explained by the fact that both cultures are involved into fishing industry and at some point of the history their fishing activities have blended and resulted in creation of the Russenorsk language. As it was stated in the first chapter of the thesis, Russenorsk - is the most colorful example of the interaction of two languages from two analysed families.

88 CONCLUSION

The main aim of this Master's Thesis was to compare and contrast the same terms of various foods in different languages and cultures. Taking all the reviewed information into consideration, I can conclude that analysed languages have a lot of differences. At the same time they do have a lot of common features.

Despite all the differences of the reviewed languages, their different cultural, historical and geographical backgrounds, I would like to mention that my aim was to focus on their similarities. The reason for that is because I assume that it is very interesting to see how such different cultures like Norwegian and Czech, Russian and English can have something in common and even interact.

Many words among the analyzed terms are genetically related to each other and their origin can be traced to a common ancestor - the Proto-Indo-European language. Each word in each language, however, has its own history and it goes through various semantic changes, which lead to the fact that the words for the same concept are often unrelated even between closely related languages.

However, in some cases, new terms were developed independently, unrelated to other Indo-European languages. The origin of some terms remains shrouded in mystery and cannot be linked to the other Indo-European forms. The words for ‘zander’, for example, seem to be related, but lack definitive interpretation.

In some cases, we have seen that the mutual interaction can lead to enrichment of different cultures. The communities that share a similar geographical position and a similar way of life (including similar diet, agricultural and fishing methods) need to communicate with each other and quite often it leads

89 to linguistic exchanges. Most frequently, such interaction leads to linguistic borrowings and loanwords, but in some cases, deeper linguistic contact can occur, as in the case of Russenorsk.

90 LANGUAGE ABBREVIATIONS bel. Belarussian bulg.. Bulgarian č. Czech deu. German eng. English germ. Germanic Go. Gothic Gr. Gr. fin. Finnish fr. French fris. Frisian languages goth. Gothic language Hitt. Hittite hsb. Upper Sorbian ide. Indo -European latv. Latvian LG Low German lith. Lithuanian language LSorb. Lower Sorbian MDu Middle Dutch NHG New High German non. Nynorsk (New Norwegian) norw. Norwegian norw. Norwegian OE Old English oFri Old Frisian OHG Old High German OIc. Old Icelandic old rus. Old Russian (Old East Slavic) old sl. Old Slavic Olith. Old Lithuanian ON Old Norse OPers.. Old Persian OS Old Saxon PGm. Proto-Germanic PIE Proto-Indo-European PIt. Proto-Italic

91 pol. Polish psl. Proto-Slavic rus. Russian SCr. Serbo-Croatian slk. Slovakian sln. Slovenian sp. Spanish sw. Swedish swg. Swabian German ukr.. Ukrainian

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97 IMAGE SOURCES

Figure 1 on page [online] Available on www: < http://avagabonde.blogspot.com/2010/08/norway-arriving-in-kirkenes.ht​ ml>​

Figure 2 on page [online] Available on www: < https://www.canadianprotein.com/lifestyle/7-of-the-healthiest-grains-you-​ could-wish-for-5520>​

Figure 3 on page [online] Available on www: < https://www.mounthopewholesale.com/product/grains-pasta/whole-spelt-f​ arro/>​

Figure 4 on page [online] Available on www: < https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/millet​ >​

Figure 5 on page [online] Available on www: < https://fabflour.co.uk/fab-bread/types-of-bread/​ >​

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Figure 7 on page [online] Available on www:

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99 RESUME

The main aim of this thesis is to define and analyse the basic food terms in English, Russian, Czech and Norwegian languages. The main spheres that were analysed are etymology and History of the terms, as both of them are connected. From this analysis the author was expecting to highlight not only differences in the languages but also their similarities. That is why thesis starts with chapter Russenorsk (pidgin of Russian and Norwegian languages). Existence of this pidgin is a proof that such different languages can interact and develop into something complex and important.

In the following chapters of work, author analysed the following terms: cereals,​ cereals foods (porridge), spelt, millet, bread, vegetables, radish, onion, carrot, fish, zander, sturgeon, salmon.

Each chapter started with history of the term and information of how humanity began to incorporate it in the cuisine of the certain culture. After that, author continues with etymological part and quite often it is possible to see that some of the terms have the same linguistic background, although they belong to very different countries.

The result of comparison and analysis show that modern world is very global and different cultures can interact even in linguistics. We can see that interaction in the similar proverbs in different languages, in various historical aspects. All those facts are the proof that food is very crucial for every culture and that in the future the globalization will be the leading aspect for the future research.

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