LL-L "Etymology" 2009.08.23 (03) [EN]

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L O W L A N D S - L - 23 August 2009 - Volume 03
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From: Mike Morgan <mwmosaka at gmail.com>
Subject: LL-L "Etymology" 2009.08.23 (02) [EN]

Elsa,

On Sun, Aug 23, 2009 at 1:53 PM, Lowlands-L List<lowlands.list at gmail.com>
wrote:
> I've been
> noticing of late stickers on Del Motne BRAND bananas that say "BANANO de
> Costa Rica". My question is is this a new SPANISH word based on the
ENGLISH
> pronounciation? Isn't real Spanish for banana; "ANANA?"

I, of course, do NOT have a native speaker's intuitions about the
matter, but MY feeling is that maybe the masculine -O would give the
connotative of a BIGGER banana vs a plain old banana (as feminines the
world over, for whatever reason, are frequently used as diminutives,
so too can masculines be augmentatives).

OR, it might be a Costa Rica thing ... or maybe making fun of the
crazy Gringos who tend to tag -Os onto the end of English nouns and
think they are speaking Spanish ;-)

mike || U C > || мика  || माईक || マイク || ሚካኤል
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
          (( Michael W Morgan, PhD ))
    to be Assistant Professor in Linguistics
Ethiopian Sign Language & Deaf Studies Program
      Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia)
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Yo afaan wali galle malee, diina keenya il en manque.

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From: R. F. Hahn
<sassisch at yahoo.com<http://us.mc596.mail.yahoo.com/mc/compose?to=sassisch@yahoo.com>
>
Subject: Etymology

Elsa,

Just as Mike thought, Castilian *banano* is an alternative name, one of
several, for what tends to be more widely known as *plátano*, other regional
alternatives being *banana*, *cambur*, *topocho *and *guineo*. So it's a
general label for what in English is called "banana" (*Musa sapientum*) and
"plantain" (*Musa acuminata*). The plantain specifically is *plátano
malayo*("Malay banana") in Castilian, since it is native to Southeast
Asia.

European languages got the name "banana" from Portuguese or Castilian
(Spanish). It is believed to go back to the Wolof language (used mostly in
Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania, and nowadays in France). The Wolof word is *
banaana*.

Regards,
Reinhard/Ron
Seattle, USA

•

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