halva 1834 antedates OED 1846-

Tue Jun 24 16:24:29 UTC 2008

I sent Barry Popik Joel's "challenge for Barry?" ads-l message The challenge is whether Barry can further antedate the 1834 attestation of "halva," and it turns out he has already done so.  From the ads-l archives (written by Barry):

...
Date:         Sun, 2 Jun 2002 16:36:04 EDT
Reply-To:     American Dialect Society <[log in to unmask]>
Sender:       American Dialect Society Mailing List <[log in to unmask]>
Comments:     cc: [log in to unmask]
From:         [log in to unmask]
Subject:      Evliya Efendi's 17th Century Travels (continued)
Comments: To: [log in to unmask]
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="US-ASCII"

(...)

Pg. 157:  A great contest about precedency took place between the fish-cooks
and sugar-bakers (Halvaji). ...  To this reproach the Halvajis added the
praise of the Halva, grounded on the praise contained in the Koran of grapes
and honey.  It is of the Halva, that the Prophet (who was very fond of
sweetmeats) said, "The love of sweetmeats comes from the faith," and again,
"The faithful are sweet, the wicked sour."

Pg. 158:  They fit up their shops on litters with all kinds of Halvas and
robs, as white Halva, Moon Halva, Date Halva, Almond Halva, Ketan Halva, and
Ghazilar Halva, which brings the water into the mouth os the boys of the
town, who devour it with their eyes. ...
   The Merchants of the confections, called 'Akideh ('Akidehjian),...
   The Fishermen (Balikjian)...

* * * * * * * *

Original message to American Dialect Society from Joel S. Berson, Mon 6/23/2008 8:23 PM

[A challege for Barry?]

My companions being in advance, rode to the
larger town of the same name on the left, and
soon overtook my voiture with some excellent chalva.

antedates OED2 "halva"1846-

F[rancis] V[yvyan] J[ago] Arundell, British Chaplain at Smyrna.
Discoveries in Asia Minor; Including a
Description of the Ruins of Several Ancient
Cities, and Especially Antioch of Pisidia.
London: Richard Bentley, 1834.
II, 210.

Reprint Georg Olms Verlag, Hildesheim & New York, 1975; 2 Bände in einem Band.

Joel

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org <http://www.americandialect.org/> 

------------------------------------------------------------
The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org