Res miranda: Arabes, qui pomarancias (mala Sinensia) in
Europam primi adportaverunt, in Italiam meridionalem scilicet, quae sub ditione
Arabum tunc manebat [iam saeculo XI nuntiatur hortos arancianos ibi haberi] -
ipsi nomine huius fructus arborisque... obliti sunt. Nam ab ipsis tunc adhibitum
nomen pomi fuerat naranj, e Persico narang, quod sua vice e Sancritico naranga-s. Et fructum et nomen eius ab
Arabibus datum libenter nationes Europae meridionalis acceperunt: Italorum (n)arancia, Venetianorum naranza etc.; ipsi autem Arabes (et nunc domini ipsorum Turci, et gentes Europaeae sub ditione Turcica manentes) saeculis XV-XVI nomine novo uti
coepurunt, pomaranciam appellantes '(fructum) Lusitanicum', id est a nautis mercatoribusque
Lusitanicis (=Portugalicis) adportatum.
Controversiam pulchre explanat Douglas Harper – de duabus
enim subgeneribus pomi agebatur: primo, sapore amaro, ergo facillime oblivioni
dato, altero autem [ex aliis videlicet terris importato] suavissimo, pomo scilicet victore lexicali. Harper de hac
re:
The tree's original range
probably was northern India. The Persian orange, grown widely in southern
Europe after its introduction in Italy 11c., was bitter; sweet oranges were
brought to Europe 15c. from India by Portuguese traders and quickly displaced the
bitter variety, but only Modern Greek still seems to distinguish the bitter (nerantzi) from
the sweet (portokali "Portuguese")
orange. Portuguese, Spanish, Arab, and Dutch sailors planted citrus trees along
trade routes to prevent scurvy.
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