[Discussion] Türkiye-Turkey-Hindi...

Thu, 8 Sep 2005 11:36:25 +0300

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Talking Turkey: The Story of How the Unofficial Bird of the United =
States Got Named After a Middle Eastern Country

by Giancarlo Casale

How did the turkey get its name? This seemingly harmless question popped =
into my head one morning as I realized that the holidays were once again =
upon us. After all, I thought, there's nothing more American than a =
turkey. Their meat saved the pilgrims from starvation during their first =
winter in New England. Out of gratitude, if you can call it that, we eat =
them for Thanksgiving dinner, and again at Christmas, and gobble them up =
in sandwiches all year long. Every fourth grader can tell you that =
Benjamin Franklin was particularly fond of the wild turkey, and even =
campaigned to make it, and not the bald eagle, the national symbol. So =
how did such a creature end up taking its name from a medium sized =
country in the Middle East? Was=20
it just a coincidence? I wondered.

The next day I mentioned my musings to my landlord, whose wife is from =
Brazil. "That's funny," he said, "In Portuguese the word for turkey is
'peru.' Same bird, different country." Hmm.

With my curiosity piqued, I decided to go straight to the source.

That very afternoon I found myself a Turk and asked him how to say =
turkey in Turkish. "Turkey?" he said. "Well, we call turkeys 'hindi,' =
which means, you know, from India." India? This was getting weird.

I spent the next few days finding out the word for turkey in as many =
languages as I could think of, and the more I found out, the weirder=20
things got. In Arabic, for instance, the word for turkey is "Ethiopian =
bird," while in Greek it is "gallapoula" or "French girl." The Persians, =
meanwhile, call them "buchalamun" which means, appropriately enough, =
"chameleon."

In Italian, on the other hand, the word for turkey is "tacchino" which, =
my Italian relatives assured me, means nothing but the bird. "But," they =
added, "it reminds us of something else.

In Italy we call corn, which as everybody knows comes from America, =
'grano turco,' or 'Turkish grain.'" So here we were back to Turkey =
again! And as if things weren't already confusing enough, a further =
consultation with my Turkish informant revealed that the Turks call corn =
"misir" which is also their word for Egypt!

By this point, things were clearly getting out of hand. But I persevered =
nonetheless, and just as I was about to give up hope, a pattern finally =
seemed to emerge from this bewildering labyrinth. In French, it turns =
out, the word for turkey is "dinde," meaning "from India," just like in =
Turkish. The words in both German and Russian had similar meanings, so I =
was clearly on to something. The key, I reasoned, was to find out what =
turkeys are called in India, so I called up my high school friend's =
wife, who is from an old Bengali family, and popped her the question.

"Oh," she said, "We don't have turkeys in India. They come from America. =
 Everybody knows that."

"Yes," I insisted, "but what do you call them?"

"Well, we don't have them!" she said. She wasn't being very helpful.

Still, I persisted:

"Look, you must have a word for them. Say you were watching an American =
movie translated from English and the actors were all talking about =
turkeys.

What would they say?"

"Well...I suppose in that case they would just say the American word, =
'turkey.' Like I said, we don't have them."

So there I was, at a dead end. I began to realize only too late that I =
had unwittingly stumbled upon a problem whose solution lay far beyond =
the capacity of my own limited resources. Obviously I needed serious =
professional assistance. So the next morning I scheduled an appointment =
with Prof. =DEinasi Tekin of Harvard University, a world-renowned =
philologist and expert on Turkic languages. If anyone could help me, I =
figured it would be Professor Tekin.

As I walked into his office on the following Tuesday, I knew I would not =
be disappointed. Prof. Tekin had a wizened, grandfatherly face, a=20
white, bushy, knowledgeable beard, and was surrounded by stack upon =
stack of just the sort of hefty, authoritative books which were sure to =
contain a solution to my vexing Turkish mystery.

I introduced myself, sat down, and eagerly awaited a dose of Prof. =
Tekin's erudition.

"You see," he said, "In the Turkish countryside there is a kind of bird, =
which is called a =E7ulluk. It looks like a turkey but it is much =
smaller, and its meat is very delicious. Long before the discovery of =
America, English merchants had already discovered the delicious =
=E7ulluk, and began exporting it back to England, where it became very =
popular, and was known as a 'Turkey bird' or simply a 'turkey.' Then, =
when the English came to America, they mistook the birds here for =
=E7ulluks, and so they began calling them 'turkey" also. But other =
peoples weren't so easily fooled. They knew that these new birds came =
from America, and so they called them things like 'India birds,' =
'Peruvian birds,' or 'Ethiopian birds.' You see, 'India,' 'Peru' and =
'Ethiopia' were all common names for the New World in the early =
centuries, both because people had a hazier understanding of geography, =
and because it took a while for the name 'America' to catch on.

"Anyway, since that time Americans have begun exporting their birds =
everywhere, and even in Turkey people have started eating them, and have =
forgotten all about their delicious =E7ulluk. This is a shame, because =
=E7ulluk meat is really much, much tastier."

Prof. Tekin seemed genuinely sad as he explained all this to me. I did =
my best to comfort him, and tried to express my regret at hearing of the =
unfairly cruel fate of the delicious =E7ulluk. Deep down, however, I was =
ecstatic. I finally had a solution to this holiday problem, and knew I =
would be able once again to enjoy the main course of my traditional =
Thanksgiving dinner without reservation.

Now if I could just figure out why they call those little teeny dogs
Chihuahuas....

=20

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<DIV align=3Djustify>Talking Turkey: The Story of How the =
Unofficial Bird=20
of the United States Got Named After a Middle Eastern=20
Country by Giancarlo Casale How =
did the=20
turkey get its name? This seemingly harmless question popped into my =
head one=20
morning as I realized that the holidays were once again upon us. After =
all, I=20
thought, there's nothing more American than a turkey. Their meat saved =
the=20
pilgrims from starvation during their first winter in New England. Out =
of=20
gratitude, if you can call it that, we eat them for Thanksgiving dinner, =
and=20
again at Christmas, and gobble them up in sandwiches all year long. =
Every fourth=20
grader can tell you that Benjamin Franklin was particularly fond of the =
wild=20
turkey, and even campaigned to make it, and not the bald eagle, the =
national=20
symbol. So how did such a creature end up taking its name from a medium =
sized=20
country in the Middle East? Was it just a coincidence? I=20
wondered. The next day I mentioned my musings to my landlord, =
whose wife=20
is from Brazil. "That's funny," he said, "In Portuguese the word for =
turkey=20
is 'peru.' Same bird, different country." Hmm. With my =
curiosity=20
piqued, I decided to go straight to the source. That very =
afternoon I=20
found myself a Turk and asked him how to say turkey in Turkish. =
"Turkey?" he=20
said. "Well, we call turkeys 'hindi,' which means, you know, from =
India." India?=20
This was getting weird. I spent the next few days finding out the =
word=20
for turkey in as many languages as I could think of, and the more I =
found out,=20
the weirder things got. In Arabic, for instance, the word for turkey =
is=20
"Ethiopian bird," while in Greek it is "gallapoula" or "French girl." =
The=20
Persians, meanwhile, call them "buchalamun" which means, appropriately =
enough,=20
"chameleon." In Italian, on the other hand, the word for turkey =
is=20
"tacchino" which, my Italian relatives assured me, means nothing but the =
bird.=20
"But," they added, "it reminds us of something else. In Italy we =
call=20
corn, which as everybody knows comes from America, 'grano turco,' or =
'Turkish=20
grain.'" So here we were back to Turkey again! And as if things weren't =
already=20
confusing enough, a further consultation with my Turkish informant =
revealed that=20
the Turks call corn "misir" which is also their word for =
Egypt! By this=20
point, things were clearly getting out of hand. But I persevered =
nonetheless,=20
and just as I was about to give up hope, a pattern finally seemed to =
emerge from=20
this bewildering labyrinth. In French, it turns out, the word for turkey =
is=20
"dinde," meaning "from India," just like in Turkish. The words in both =
German=20
and Russian had similar meanings, so I was clearly on to something. The =
key, I=20
reasoned, was to find out what turkeys are called in India, so I called =
up my=20
high school friend's wife, who is from an old Bengali family, and popped =
her the=20
question. "Oh," she said, "We don't have turkeys in India. They =
come from=20
America.&nbsp; Everybody knows that." "Yes," I insisted, "but =
what do you=20
call them?" "Well, we don't have them!" she said. She wasn't =
being very=20
helpful. Still, I persisted: "Look, you must have a word =
for them.=20
Say you were watching an American movie translated from English and the =
actors=20
were all talking about turkeys. What would they =
say?" "Well...I=20
suppose in that case they would just say the American word, 'turkey.' =
Like I=20
said, we don't have them." So there I was, at a dead end. I began =
to=20
realize only too late that I had unwittingly stumbled upon a problem =
whose=20
solution lay far beyond the capacity of my own limited resources. =
Obviously I=20
needed serious professional assistance. So the next morning I scheduled =
an=20
appointment with Prof. =DEinasi Tekin of Harvard University, a =
world-renowned=20
philologist and expert on Turkic languages. If anyone could help me, I =
figured=20
it would be Professor Tekin. As I walked into his office on the =
following=20
Tuesday, I knew I would not be disappointed. Prof. Tekin had a wizened,=20
grandfatherly face, a white, bushy, knowledgeable beard, and was =
surrounded=20
by stack upon stack of just the sort of hefty, authoritative books which =
were=20
sure to contain a solution to my vexing Turkish mystery. I =
introduced=20
myself, sat down, and eagerly awaited a dose of Prof. Tekin's=20
erudition. "You see," he said, "In the Turkish countryside there =
is a=20
kind of bird, which is called a =E7ulluk. It looks like a turkey but it =
is much=20
smaller, and its meat is very delicious. Long before the discovery of =
America,=20
English merchants had already discovered the delicious =E7ulluk, and =
began=20
exporting it back to England, where it became very popular, and was =
known as a=20
'Turkey bird' or simply a 'turkey.' Then, when the English came to =
America, they=20
mistook the birds here for =E7ulluks, and so they began calling them =
'turkey"=20
also. But other peoples weren't so easily fooled. They knew that these =
new birds=20
came from America, and so they called them things like 'India birds,' =
'Peruvian=20
birds,' or 'Ethiopian birds.' You&nbsp;see, 'India,' 'Peru' and =
'Ethiopia' were=20
all common names for the New World in the early centuries, both because =
people=20
had a hazier understanding of geography, and because it took a while for =
the=20
name 'America' to catch on.</DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> "Anyway, since that time Americans have begun =
exporting=20
their birds everywhere, and even in Turkey people have started eating =
them, and=20
have forgotten all about their delicious =E7ulluk. This is a shame, =
because =E7ulluk=20
meat is really much, much tastier." Prof. Tekin seemed genuinely =
sad as=20
he explained all this to me. I did my best to comfort him, and tried to =
express=20
my regret at hearing of the unfairly cruel fate of the delicious =
=E7ulluk. Deep=20
down, however, I was ecstatic. I finally had a solution to this holiday =
problem,=20
and knew I would be able once again to enjoy the main course of my =
traditional=20
Thanksgiving dinner without reservation.</DIV>
<DIV align=3Djustify> Now if I could just figure out why they call =
those little=20
teeny dogs Chihuahuas.... </DIV>
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