Words denoting faba bean (Vicia faba) in European languages
2011
Mikić, A., Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, Novi Sad (Serbia)
Faba bean (Vicia faba L.) took part in the agricultural revolution of post-glacial Europe along with other grain legumes and cereals. In order to assess the diversity and the origin of the words denoting faba bean in the languages of Europe, a lexicological study was carried out with emphasis upon etymological dictionaries. The words in almost all modern Indo-European languages in Europe owe their origin to the Proto-Indo-European root *bhabh-, bhabhā, also denoting faba bean. The Proto- Altaic root *bŭkrV, denoting pea, nut and cone, through the Proto-Turkic *burčak, denoting both pea and bean, is responsible for the words in several modern Altaic languages of Europe, while the others are borrowings from Arabic. The origin of the words in modern Caucasian languages is the Proto-Caucasian root *howł[ā], meaning both bean and lentil. The words in Uralic languages are either borrowings, mostly from Slavic, or derived from their own words denoting pea.
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