algarabia

[victor steinbok]

An additional comment:

Gabble, Gabber (and Jabber), Gibber (hence Gibberish) also all appear to
originate at about the same time, if the earliest OED citations are to be
takes as a guide.

The etymologies are not as fuzzy, but the default is that they are all
onomatopeaic.

Gabble (1577):

onomatopoeic; compare gabber n.1 and the words there cited; also Middle
> Dutch gabbelnof similar meaning; and gaggle v.



Gibber (1604; Gibber v.2 has 1602, but no definition)


> Onomatopoeic; compare gabber n.1, jabber n.
> Probably /ˈdʒɪbə(r)/ and /ˈgɪbə(r)/ are originally independent words of
> parallel formation, not merely divergent interpretations of the written
> form.



Gabber (1386)

One who gabs.
>
> †1. A mocker; a deceiver; a liar. Obs.
> c1386    Chaucer Parson's Tale ⁋15   He is a Iaper and a gabber, and no
> verray repentant, that eftsoone dooth thyng, for which hym oghte repente.
> c1400    Mandeville's Trav. (1839) xiv. 160,   I schal speke a litille more
> of the Dyamandes‥to the ende that thei that knowen hem not, be not disceyved
> be Gabberes [Fr.barratours], that gon be the Contree, that sellen hem.
> 1450    Pol. Poems (Rolls) II. 237   Gabberys gloson eny whare.
>


The latter is listed as a derivative of Gab v.1 (1200). But Gab etymology
again is fuzzy with references to Romance languages:

apparently < Old French gab(b)er (also written gauber, gaiber, once, perhaps
> erroneously, jaber), to mock, deride, jest; the word is found (perhaps as an
> adoption < Old French) as Provençal and Old Spanish gabar, Italian gabbare,
> to mock, jest, Portuguese gabar to praise, refl. to boast. Compare the
> related gab n.1
> Most etymologists regard the Romance vb. and n. as adoptions of the
> Germanic words which appear as Old Norse gabba to mock, gabb mockery
> (gab n.1), Old Frisian gabbia to accuse, prosecute (compare sense 1 below),
> Middle Dutch and Middle Low German gabben to mock, deceive. But in words of
> early adoption, Germanic ga- normally became ja- in Central French; further,
> the occurrence of bb in Germanic words (apart from hypocoristic and
> onomatopoeic formations and West Germanic bb from ƀj) is rare and
> etymologically obscure; and the chronology of the various Germanic forms
> would not forbid the supposition that they were all adopted < Old French. If
> the words be either Germanic or Romance formations from a Germanic root,
> they may perhaps be connected ultimately with gape v.; compare the Icelandic
> use of gap in the sense of clamour, jeers; on the other hand they may be
> onomatopoeic formations expressing the notion of loud outcry, chatter;
> compare gab v.2, gabble n., gaggle v.



Note, in particular, the move from French gabber/gaiber to gab, then back to
gabber. The Dutch have a connection with Spain--particularly through Spanish
Jews, so I am not enthusiastic about the Norse explanation. And the parallel
with Gaggle is just that--not particularly explanatory. And the note does
not sound particularly certain of the direction of adoption.

What if any or all of these words can be traced to the Arabic original
behind Spanish algarabia that spread in various forms first through Spain
and Southern Italy, then France and the Netherlands into Germany and
England?

It's at "pure speculation" stage, but is there any reason to dismiss this
speculation outright?

VS-)


On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 10:14 PM, victor steinbok <aardvark66 at gmail.com>wrote:

> Algarabia/algaravia is a Spanish/Portuguese word for "gibberish". A
> commenter on Mark Liberman's post on "mighty white of you" today mentioned
> it, in passing. Just to be sure, here's a relevant page:
>
> http://goo.gl/aNS7B
>
> The second definition suggests it's the term given to the foreign tongue
> (Arabic--and it comes from Arabic, of course) "by the Christians at the time
> of the Reconquista". Reconquista generally applies to the Iberian kingdoms
> and it lasted until 1492 (nearly 800 years), but Southern Italy and Sicily
> were cleared of Muslims by Norman forces by 1072, then the French were
> cleared out from Sicily 200 hundred years later. Subsequent period saw
> Sicily and later Naples governed by Kings of Aragon and then other Spanish
> dynasties. So the term may well have existed in Southern Italy either on its
> own or from Spanish. It also might have had variants.
>
> Now, bear with me for a moment.
>
> My ignorance of historical phonology precludes a more educated guess, but I
> noticed that the OED has "garbage" and "garble" with fuzzy etymology.
>
>
> Garble (n) is listed back to 1503 in some forms:
>
> probably < Italian garbello (whence French grabeau, which has had all the
>> English senses), < garbellare to garble v
>
>
>  Garble (v) is earlier (1483) and the uses quite diverse:
>
> Apparently originally a term of Mediterranean commerce, <
>> Italian garbellare, < Arabic gharbala (also karbala) to sift, select,
>> related to ghirbāl, kirbāl, sieve; compare Spanishgarbillare to sift
>> corn, garbillo corn-sieve. The Italian word was adopted also in French; the
>> past participle garbellé occurs in a quot. given by Godefroy erroneously
>> s.v. gerbele; from 16th cent. the vb. appears as grabeler.
>
>
> The first definition is most interesting, but it's not the earliest one
> listed:
>
>  1. trans. To remove the garble or refuse from (spice, etc.); to sift,
>> cleanse (const. of); also, to sift out. Obs.
>
>
> A more specific second definition goes back further:
>
> 2. a. To select or sort out the best in (any thing or set of things); to
>> take the pick of. Now rare exc. in to garble the coinage . Also with out.
>
>
>
> Garbage is earlier, even more obscure in origin, and the earliest cite
> (1430) refers to offal or entrails.
>
> Of obscure origin; probably adopted < Anglo-Norman, like many other words
>> found in early cookery books. Derivation < Old French garbe sheaf is
>> probable for sense 4, and possible for the other senses
>
>
>
> Is it plausible that one or both of these might be related to "algarabia"?
> The dates fit, there is both a Norman and a Spanish connection through Italy
> and there is no competing explanation, at the moment.
>
> VS-)
>

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