Tamil loanwords in Ancient Greek came about due to the interactions of
Mediterranean and
South Indian merchants.
Tamil loanwords entered the
Greek language during different periods in history. Most words had to do with items of trade that were unique to South India. There is a general consensus about Tamil loanwords in Ancient Greek, while a few of the words have competing etymologies.
Early contacts
The mainstream view is that beginnings of trade between the
Mediterranean and
South India can be traced back to 500 BCE when the word zingíberis (ζιγγίβερις) derived from
Proto-South Dravidiancinki-ver (சிங்கிவேர்) for
Ginger first appeared in
Greek and thus
South India may have been involved in trade with the Mediterranean centuries earlier.[1][2] But there is evidence that trade between the Indian region and the Mediterranean may have been well established by 1500 BCE.[3][4] Greek lexicon contains both
cultural words that are common to many languages in the general area and
loanwords from various other languages.
Greek and Tamil relationship is on firmer ground during the
Ptolemaic and later Roman period from 305 BCE to 476 CE when Greek speaking merchants along with others extensively traded with Indians in general and Tamils in particular.[5][6] A
Pandyan king, based out of ancient
Tamilaham sent embassies twice to Rome, wanting to become the Roman Emperors friend and ally.[5] One of these reached
Augustus when he was at
Terracina in the eighteenth year after the death of
Julius Caesar in 26 BCE and another six years afterwards in 20 BCE.[5] Greeks were employed as
mercenaries by many Tamil kings.[6] There were also Greek settlements along the coasts of western and eastern
Tamilaham.[6] The Greek–South Indian relationships were impactful enough that a Greek play
Charition mime was written with a
Dravidian language presumed to be a coastal dialect of either
Kannada or
Tulu, speaker included in the play dated to 2nd century CE.[7][8]
Date of borrowings
It is difficult to exactly date the lexiconic borrowing of Tamil words in Ancient Greek. A few words such as taôs for peacock, agálokhon for Eaglewood and óruza for rice have similar words in Biblical Hebrew and other
West Asian languages.[9][10][11] Some of the
Tamil loanwords in Biblical Hebrew, which are common with Ancient Greek are found at its earliest stage around 1000 BCE to 500 BCE.[12]Franklin Southworth dates the borrowing of the word zingíberis (ζιγγίβερις) derived from Proto-South Dravidian cinki-ver (சிங்கிவேர்) to 500 BCE, where as
Kamil Zvelebil derives it from
Old Tamil form Inchi-Ver (இஞ்சிவேர்).[1][2] But a word for cinnamon used by
Ctesias in his Indica, namely karpion borrowed from a Tamil word for Cinnamon can be safely dated to 400 BCE.[13]Chaim Rabin dates the Greek word for rice, óruza/όρυζα borrowed via
Semitic words for rice, ultimately derived from Tamil to 400 BCE.[9]
^According to
Chaim Rabin Greek óruza, Hebrew wאורז are derived from South Arabian areez that was ultimately derived from Tamil arici/அரிசி for rice.[9]
^According to
Ernest Klein Greek taôs, Aramaic טוסא, Arabic لطاووس, also Hebrew תכי probably comes ultimately from Tamil tōkai/தோகை for peacock.[10]
^According to
Colin Masica Greek κόττος/kóttos probably comes from a Dravidian term for Chicken and suggests either Tamil kōḻi/கோழி or Telugu Kōḍi/కోడి for chicken.
References
^
abcSouthworth, F.Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia, p. 251
^Etymology, Online.
"Ginger". Retrieved 25 January 2021.
^ Masica, Colin. Aryan and Non-Aryan in India, p.125
^Podolsky, B.Past links:Studies in the Languages and Cultures of the Ancient Near East, p. 199-201
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Chandra, Moti (1977). Trade And Trade Routes In Ancient India. Abhinav.
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Clothey, Fred (2006). Ritualizing on the Boundaries: Continuity and Innovation in the Tamil Diaspora. Univ of South Carolina Press.
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Pdodolsky, Baruch (1998). Izre'el, Shlomo; Singer, Itmamar; Zadok, Ran (eds.). Past links:Studies in the Languages and Cultures of the Ancient Near East. Eisenbrauns.
ISBN1-57506-035-3.
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ISBN8120600630
Rabin, Chaim (Oct 1971). Proceedings of the Second International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies. International Association of Tamil Research. pp. 432–440.
Rawlinson, H G (1916). Intercourse between India and the western world from the earliest times to the fall of Rome. Cambridge University.
Shulman, David (2016), Tamil: A biography, Harvard University Press,
ISBN978-0-674-05992-4
Southworth, Franklin (2005), Linguistic Archaeology of South Asia, Routledge,
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