piątek, 25 grudnia 2015

De duobus nominibus pomaranciarum in Europa meridionali


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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