Re: turkey/peru/portuguese

From: Douglas G. Kilday (fufluns_at_chorus.net)
Date: 09/05/04 

Date: Sun, 5 Sep 2004 15:42:46 -0000

"Nigel Greenwood" <ndsg_mmii@yahoo.co.uk> wrote ...
>
> [...]
>
> BTW Can someone tell me the derivation of the Italian word for
> turkey: tacchino? A hasty googling turned this up:
>
> "Tacchino č voce onomatopeica, dal verso dell'animale:tak tak."
>
> Is this correct? The same source tells us that an alternative, N.
> Italian term is "dindio", in line with other European languages.

I don't know if that is correct, but I tend toward a suspicious view of most
onomatopoeic etymologies, given their rather arbitrary nature.

In this case <tacchino> 'turkey-*** of American origin' is so similar to
<tāccola> 'jackdaw' that possible derivation of the former from the latter
should at least be considered. <tāccola> is from Langobardic *<tahhala>
(cf. German <Dohle>) and its ending does not represent the Latin diminutive
suffix <-ula>, but the word could well be perceived as a diminutive of a
presumed root [takk-]. This root could then surface with other suffixes.
In particular the contrast between <bambino> 'child' and <bāmbola> 'child's
doll' comes to mind. If the turkey were likened to a large jackdaw,
<tacchino> and <tāccola> would produce a similar contrast.

This is, of course, pure guesswork. What is needed is the Italian
equivalent of the OED, or an Italian Brian M. Scott with access to one, for
dated citations and possible variants of <tacchino>.

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