Names for plants (1)
The plant
Rumex acetosa is called samh in Gaelic. People call it common sorrel in English. The English name came from the taste of the leaf. It’s sour. In Scots its name is sourock.
It’s not too clear where the Gaelic name came from. Does the plant have a strong smell? I mean – does it have a bad smell? I don’t think so. It must be
that
samh means something else.
Now, the word
samh has many meanings in Dwelly’s dictionary. For example, clownish or rustic person, savage, flock, herd, giant, a god, the sun, the sea. But none of those explain why Rumex acetosa would be called samh. And Alexander MacBain in his dictionary – Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language – does not explain the origin of the word.
Thus, here is my own wee idea. Perhaps it originally comes from Polish. Why not [wouldn’t it]? We talk about
vodka, don’t we?
In the old days, people in Scotland were eating sorrel leaves. They were a vegetable. In Eastern Europe people still do that. In Polish the plant’s
name is
szczaw
(“shrtav”). The Jews in Eastern Europe were also eating it a lot. They picked up the word from Polish. In Yiddish, the language of the Jews, the
plant’s name is
shtsav.
English-speaking people adopted the Yiddish name, modifying it to
schav. Schav
today doesn’t mean the plant itself, but a soup. But sorrel is the main ingredient of the soup. It’s a cold soup. There is sorrel in it, and onions,
lemon juice, eggs, sugar and sour cream.
I reckon the word
schav
at one time was meaning the plant itself. The Gaels picked up
schav
from English-speakers. They modified it to
samh
. Now, I don’t have proof that that was the route that
samh
took into Gaelic. But do you have a better thought?
Ainmean airson lusan (1)
’S e samh a’ Ghàidhlig air an lus Rumex acetosa. Canaidh daoine common sorrel ris ann am Beurla. Samh ann an Gàidhlig.
Thàinig an t-ainm Beurla bho bhlas na duilleig. Tha e searbh no sour. Ann an Albais, ’s e sourock an t-ainm a tha air.
Chan eil e cho soilleir cò às a thàinig an t-ainm Gàidhlig. A bheil samh làidir air an lus? Tha mi a’ ciallachadh – a bheil droch fhàileadh air?
Cha chreid mi gu bheil. Feumaidh gu bheil samh a’ ciallachadh rudeigin eile.
Nise, tha iomadh ciall air an fhacal samh ann am faclair Dwelly. Mar eisimpleir,clownish or rustic person, savage, flock, herd, giant, a god, the sun, the sea. Ach chan eil gin dhiubh sin a’ mìneachadh carson a bhiodhsamh air Rumex acetosa. Agus chan eil Alasdair MacBheathain anns an fhaclair aige – Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language – a’ mìneachadh tùs an fhacail.
Mar sin, seo smuain bheag agam fhìn. ’S dòcha gu bheil e a’ tighinn bho thùs bho Phòlainnis. Carson nach bitheadh? Bidh sinn a’ bruidhinn air bhodca, nach bi?
Anns an t-seann aimsir bha daoine ann an Alba ag ithe duilleagan an t-saimh. Bha iad mar ghlasraich. Ann an taobh sear na Roinn Eòrpa bidh daoine ri sin
fhathast. Ann am Pòlainnis ’s e szczaw (“shrtav”) ainm an luis. Bha na h-Iùdhaich ann an taobh sear na Roinn Eòrpa ga ithe gu mòr cuideachd. Thog
iadsan am facal à Pòlainnis. Ann an Iuidis, cànan nan Iùdhach, ’s e shtshav an t-ainm air an lus.
Thog luchd na Beurla an t-ainm Iuidis, ga atharrachadh gu schav. Chan eil schav an-diugh a’ ciallachadh an luis fhèin, ach brot. Ach ’s e
samh an rud as motha sa bhrot. ’S e brot fuar a tha ann. Tha samh ann, agus uinneanan, sùgh liomaid, uighean, siùcar agus uachdar goirt.
Tha mi an dùil gun robh am facal
schav
uaireigin a’ ciallachadh an luis fhèin. Thog na Gàidheil
schav
bho luchd na Beurla. Dh’atharraich iad e
samh
. Nise, chan eil dearbhadh agam gur e sin an rathad a thug
samh
a-steach don Ghàidhlig. Ach a bheil smuain nas fheàrr agaibh fhèin?
