WW #5: The Fruits of our Labour

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This week’s theme is fruit.

The Kharulians were particularly fond of dates (saghmiigh [saʝˈmiːʝ]); they also ate olives (iighwi [ˈiː.ɣʷi], singular eev [ˈeːβ]), apples (chiry [tʃiɹ̠ʲ]), and grapes (puzh [puʒ]). Mostly these are basic roots, but “date” comes from a verb form meaning “it is sweet” (from the verb khyamíi [ɕaˈmiː] “to be sweet”).

Neighbouring Muipido had the same fruits available, but it was their widespread use of olive oil (kotado) that drove their fruit production. The words for these fruits were anok’ïdo [ˈa.nɔˌkʼɨ.do] “date”, kok’ïdo [ˈko.kʼɨ.do] “olive”, lihmük’ide [ˈli.m̥ʏˌkʼi.də] “apple”, and ip’ik’ide [ˈi.pʼɪˌkʼi.də] “grape”. The interesting etymology here is for “apple”, which is from lihmümüde “illegitimate child” by replacing the -müde class suffix for family members with the -k’ide class suffix for food. This refers to how apple trees don’t breed true, i.e. seedlings often look very different from their parents.

Nitheria’s tropical setting gave it a very different menu of fruits, including bananas (opa [ˈo.pa]), pineapples (tlwa [tɬwa]), and coconuts (tn [tn̩]).

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