More on pastrami

[Jim Rader]

While attempting to sort and file the mass of papers on my desk, I
ran across a "pastrami" folder.  It contained an article on
<pastrami> that appeared in the _Journal of English Linguistics_,
21:2, Oct., 1988, by John A.C. Greppin, best known as an Armenian
specialist.  According to Greppin, the Anatolian Turkish origin is
certain, but the internal explanation as a verbal noun of <bastirmak>
(dotless i), a causative of <basmak>, "to press," is improbable,
because a noun meaning "something pressed" should be based on a
passive rather than a causative stem.  Says Greppin: "Since the word
is not pan-Turkic but of Ottoman origin, and since it cannot be
explained through an inner Turkish construction, it would possibly
itself be an early loan into Ottoman Turkish from yet another
source unknown."  I won't impose further on the list with
details--see the article if you're interested.

JIm Rader