Arabic-L:LING:Albuquerque etymology responses

[Dilworth B. Parkinson]

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Arabic-L: Wed 27 Dec 2000
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1) Subject: Albuquerque etymology response
2) Subject: Albuquerque etymology response

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1)
Date: 27 Dec 2000
From: Jim Rader <jrader at Merriam-Webster.com>
Subject: Albuquerque etymology response

The city of Albuquerque in New Mexico takes its name from a
Duque de Alburquerque who was viceroy of New Spain when the
city was founded in 1706.  The <r> in the 2nd syllable was dropped
sometime in the town's later history.

There are several noble lineages named "Albu(r)querque" in
Spanish and Portuguese history whose roots most likely go back
to the medieval "reconquest" of the Iberian Peninsula from Muslim
rulers.  Probably the best known at least in respect to the Islamic
world was the Portuguese nobleman Afonso de Albuquerque (1453-
1515), who conquered Goa in India and Melaka on the Malay
Peninsula from Muslim rulers. Their name must derive ultimately
from the town of Alburquerque in northwestern Badajoz province,
Spain, which was presumably a family appanage.  I have no
trustworthy information on the origin of this town name--someone
with access to Iberian toponymic studies is needed.  _A Dictionary
of Surnames_, by Patrick Hanks and Flavia Hodges (Oxford Univ.
Press, 1988), claims that the name is "from Latin <alba> white
(fem.) + <quercus> oak."  From a Romance linguistic standpoint,
this is little better than semi-learned folk etymology.  Latin
<quercus> does not survive in Romance outside of some isolated
forms in Sardinia and southern Italy, and in any case there are all
sorts of phonetic objections one could raise to such a derivation.
My guess is that this name is either Arabic or Mozarabic (i.e., the
Iberian Romance speech of Muslim Spain) filtered through Arabic,
but I don't know what the true component elements are.

Jim Rader

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2)
Date: 27 Dec 2000
From: aziz abbassi <moustique51 at hotmail.com>
Subject: Albuquerque etymology response

Just a hunch, to be confirmed later: the word may come from Arabic
Al-barquuq(i) (meaning plums). I have adavanced such thesis to some Spanish
teachers I work with and they seem convinced. The original word may have
been derived from "albaricoque" directclt from Arabic...
Incidentally, I believe that the same word may have given the Englis apricot
and others: ex fr. abricot etc...
Hope this is helpful.

Aziz Abbassi
Author, Translator
(International Education Management Service)
PO BOX 6030
Monterey, CA 93944
(831) 375-5969

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End of Arabic-L: 27 Dec 2000