Re: turkey/peru/portuguese

From: Peter T. Daniels (grammatim_at_worldnet.att.net)
Date: 09/06/04 

Date: Mon, 06 Sep 2004 11:28:04 GMT

Douglas G. Kilday wrote:
>
> "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.

Have you ever seen a turkey and a jackdaw?

> 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>. 

-- 
Peter T. Daniels                       grammatim@att.net