ara/ndano

Larry Trask larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk
Thu Mar 18 17:52:21 UTC 1999


On Wed, 17 Mar 1999, Max W Wheeler wrote:

> Coromines suggests three base forms: *agri:nia, *agranio. *agrena; and
> mentions that Pokorny related the Celtic forms with Goth <akran>
> `fruit', OE <aekern> `acorn' CSl <(j)a'goda> `small fruit, berry' Lit
> <u'oga> id., 'cherry'.

> He suggests that Biskaian <okaran> `plum' may be < *okran < *akran <
> *agranio, influenced by <oko> `bunch of fruits' and other words in
> <ok-> where <ok-> is < <ogi> `bread'. (How does that grab you, Larry,
> Miguel?)

It strikes me as pretty fanciful, I'm afraid.  The combining form of
<ogi> `bread' is <ot->, not *<ok->, and there is absolutely no parallel
in Basque for the steps involved in the proposed derivation of <okaran>,
except that a putative *<okran> would indeed be borrowed into Basque in
the form *<okaran>.  Moreover, the strictly eastern word <oko> `bunch'
(of fruit) is not attested at all in the western dialect Bizkaian, or
even in its neighbour Gipuzkoan, and, in the east, so far as I can tell,
<oko> only ever appears as the final element in a compound, and never as
the first element.  This is reasonable, since <oko> plus <aran> in that
order would have to mean `bunch-plum' -- presumably a distinctive kind
of plum that grows in bunches.  Noun-noun compounds are always
head-final in Basque.

I agree that, in the face of common <aran> `plum', the common Bizkaian
form <okaran> is a puzzle.  Agud and Tovar discuss this last item
briefly, but fail to make any suggestions beyond the obvious: it's
related to <aran>.  But I have a suggestion.

The very frequent Basque word <baso> `woods, wilderness' is very
commonly used as the first element in compound nouns to denote the
equivalent of English `wild'.  In this position, <baso> exhibits both
the combining forms <basa-> (regular in old formations) and <baso->
(more usual in newer formations).  For example, from <jaun> `lord,
gentleman', we have both <Basajaun> and <Basojaun> for `the Old Man of
the Woods', a character in Basque folklore.  Among the numerous
formations are <basaurde> ~ <basurde> `wild boar' (<urde> `pig'),
<basalore> `wildflower' (<lore> `flower'), <basaporru> `wild leek,
asphodel' (<porru> `leek'), <basahuntz> `deer' (<ahuntz> `goat'),
<basamahats> `wild grapes' (<mahats> `grapes') and <baserri>, today
`farmhouse' but formerly `remote village' (<herri> `settlement,
habitation').

Now, the Basque word for `sloe' is in most varieties <basaran>,
literally `wild plum'.  This word is the direct source of <patxaran>,
the name of a favourite Basque beverage made by soaking anisette in
sloes.

But there also exists a derivative of <baso>, <basaka>, which as an
adjective means `wild' (of fruits and apparently only of fruits) and as
a noun means `wild fruit' (in general) in most places, but in one
locality means specifically `sloe'.  The possible variant *<basoka> does
not appear to be recorded as such.  However, a certain unidentified
manuscript uses the interesting word <basokaran> for `sloe', strongly
implying that the variant *<basoka> must once have existed.  But,
whether it did or not, I can see here an obvious origin for the Bizkaian
<okaran>.  Given the recorded <basokaran> `sloe', we have a simple
four-part analogy, where the word for `hen' is chosen somewhat
arbitrarily:

<basoilo> `wild hen' : <oilo> `hen :: <basokaran> `wild plum' : X

And solving for X yields the required <okaran> `plum'.

Don't know if this is right, but I'll back it against Coromines's
contortions.

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk



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