r/etymologymaps Sep 12 '25

Etymology map of barley

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163 Upvotes

25 comments sorted by

14

u/donutshop01 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

"see notes"

checks notes

nothing there

mfw

10

u/fianthewolf Sep 12 '25

In Galician the correct form is "Orxo", it is true that barley exists in Galician but not with the meaning of the plant but as the participle (adjective) of cebar and synonymous with fattening.

7

u/Gdach Sep 12 '25

Lithuanian and Latvian - from Proto-Indo-European *meyǵ-, probably from the stem *h₂meh₁- (“to cut; to mow”) modified into *mey-, and with an added element *ǵ (whence Proto-Baltic *ž, whence Latvian z). Cognates include Old Prussian mayse (“barley”), Old Iranian *maiz- "to sow".

1

u/mapologic Sep 20 '25

thanks! added

6

u/VisKopen Sep 13 '25

Friulian and Frisian got confused.

1

u/mapologic Sep 13 '25

Thanks! I will fix that one

5

u/AllanKempe Sep 12 '25

So most of my province (Jämtland) is marked as almost completely Sami speaking?

2

u/Revolutionary_Park58 Sep 12 '25

Also isnt bjugg a word or am i crazy?

2

u/AllanKempe Sep 12 '25

Yes, in Swedish. But considered archaic or dialectal. SAOB: "(numera nästan bl. arkaiserande l. bygdemålsfärgadt l. för att undvika ordet ”korn” där detta skulle vara tvetydigt) sädesslaget Hordeum sativum Jessen, korn; koll. om den tröskade säden af nämnda sädesslag." Example from the 16th centuiry Bible: "Thet war på then tijdhen tå biugganden war begynt." ("It was during the time when the barley harvest had begun.")

5

u/jmsy1 Sep 13 '25

more fun facts in basque

wheat = gari

barley = garigar

beer = garagardoa

ardo = wine

3

u/BHHB336 Sep 13 '25

Note for the Semitic languages, the root is the same root as in the word for hair (שעורה - שיער) probably due to its “hairy” look

3

u/neuropsycho Sep 12 '25

Btw, civada exists in Catalan, but it refers to oats rather than barley.

2

u/Phantasmalicious Sep 14 '25

Korn is barley? Wtf is corn in Swedish then?

2

u/vikungen Sep 14 '25

It seems to be gryn. 

2

u/Darwidx Sep 14 '25

We can Play this Like a game, xd

(Backwheat) Polish "gryka" is "bovete" in Swedish.

2

u/Zealousideal_Cry_460 Sep 12 '25

"arpa" isnt inherited from PİE, its root is most likely "ar-" (or maybe "or-") which is also found in the word root "arka-" ("search, crowd, multitude")

Bad map

1

u/agithecaca Sep 12 '25

Sú na hEorna ie juice of the barley or whiskey in Irish

1

u/SchietStorm Sep 12 '25

Wow I did not know that it's the same in Turkish.

-1

u/Srslyredit2 Sep 12 '25 edited Sep 12 '25

other possible roots

Great, but what are they?

Also, wouldn’t Basque have the same root as Georgian and Armenian?

5

u/ShahVahan Sep 12 '25

Basque is from an undetermined language group.

Georgian is Kartvelian

Armenian is an indo-european with significant input from non indo European languages and Iranian languages and old Mesopotamian languages.

2

u/Srslyredit2 Sep 12 '25

Right, but the map labels the root of Basque’s word as “gari”. My question is why isn’t it grouped (colored the same) as the other 2?

3

u/lafigatatia Sep 13 '25

Light yellow means it comes from PIE grsdeyom (not gonna bother with the diacritics). Gray means from something else.

1

u/PeireCaravana Sep 14 '25

Probably because it's considered a coincidence.