[Ads-l] Bald eagle etymology

[Barretts Mail]

FWIW, I’ve always thought it interesting that “vulture” is 禿鷲 (bald eagle) in Japanese and “bald eagle” is 白頭鷲 (white-headed eagle).

Because neither exist in Japan (though occasionally a vulture will wander there by mistake, https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8F%E3%82%B2%E3%83%AF%E3%82%B7 <https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E3%83%8F%E3%82%B2%E3%83%AF%E3%82%B7>), it is likely that these terms come from English or some other European language. It seems unlikely that such words entered the Japanese language during the closed period, when there was extremely limited communication from the West, in which case, they probably developed in the late nineteenth century.

I wonder if some understanding of the etymology of “bald” had to do with the terms chosen in Japanese.

Benjamin Barrett
Formerly of Seattle, WA

> On 20 Feb 2018, at 14:56, Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> 
> Oxford Book of Bird Names: "Used of the Marsh Harrier and the Osprey, but
> properly a name for the Kite, as in Merrett 1667 'Peronos bald Buzzard, or
> Kite'."
> 
> 
> The chief connection between "bald eagle" and "bald buzzard" would thus
> seem to be that the namers of the bald eagle may possibly
> 
> Since said eagle indisputably has a white head, I wonder what William of
> Ockham would have thought of this. But even if English speakers
> folk-etymologized "balbusard" (osprey) into "bald buzzard," the line holds
> that "bald"still  means "bald" (or "sure looks bald").
> 
> JL
> 
> On Tue, Feb 20, 2018 at 5:28 PM, Peter Reitan <pjreitan at hotmail.com> wrote:
> 
>> It seems plausible to me that the French/Latin term, "balbusard" came
>> first.
>> 
>> 
>> The English easily heard as "bald buzzard," particularly in light of the
>> fact that looked bald.
>> 
>> The people who first saw a bald eagle saw the similarity, and recognized
>> that it was an eagle, and named it "bald eagle," which seemed appropriate
>> because they also looked bald.  So although the early naming of the osprey
>> may have been based on the Latin word for stuttering, the word was later
>> understood to refer to apparent baldness, without a conscious memory or
>> understanding of the earlier term.
>> 
>> Also, the call of an osprey, the so-called "bald buzzard," does sound like
>> it is stuttering, so the "balbusard" origin seems believable.
>> 
>> https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/OSPREY/sounds
>> 
>> 
>> 
>> ________________________________
>> From: American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU> on behalf of
>> ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Sent: Tuesday, February 20, 2018 2:01 PM
>> To: ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU
>> Subject: Re: Bald eagle etymology
>> 
>> ---------------------- Information from the mail header
>> -----------------------
>> Sender:       American Dialect Society <ADS-L at LISTSERV.UGA.EDU>
>> Poster:       ADSGarson O'Toole <adsgarsonotoole at GMAIL.COM>
>> Subject:      Re: Bald eagle etymology
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> -------------------
>> 
>> Fascinating investigation, Peter. What you have found certainly
>> provides an intriguing alternative explanation for "bald" in "bald
>> eagle".
>> Garson
>> 
>> 
>> ------------------------------------------------------------
>> The American Dialect Society - http://www.americandialect.org
>> 
> 
> 
> 
> -- 
> "If the truth is half as bad as I think it is, you can't handle the truth."
> 
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