ORIGIN AND EXPANSION OF CULTIVATED BRASSICA RAPA IN EURASIA: LINGUISTIC FACTS

Because plant names belong to the most ancient group of words in any modern language, they have often been used to trace similarity between languages.
De Candolle (1886) was the first to apply linguistic analysis in tracing the origin of cultivated plants.
In the present study, we analyzed linguistic data related to Brassica rapa and other brassicas in modern languages of European, Central, East Asian, and North-African countries.
Among speakers of Indo-European, Caucasic and Afro-Asian language families, wild crucifers, mustards and turnip are originally named by words with the root g(h)-r-d(t) or g(h)-d(t)-r; e.g. the name ‘siddhartha’ was applied in Sanskrit to sarson (oilseed turnip). The words ‘Hardal’ (Turkish), ‘gor(t)chitsa’ (Russian) and many others are related to hot/bitter taste specific of brassicas.
The words ‘silum’, ‘zele(n)’ and ‘shelem’ are used for turnips.
The origin of these words can be inferred from Sumerian ‘silum’ which means vegetable.
Words with the root s-l(g)-m (‘shalgham’, ‘shalkam’, ‘sha(l)gam’, ‘sha(l)hgam’) are used in all Altaic, some Indo-European and Afro-Asiatic languages for turnips or cabbages.
Their meanings are reflected in the Mongolian word ‘shaltgaan’ which means plant root.
Words with r(n)-p (i.e. rapa, repa, raps, napus, naps) were used for cultivated brassicas by Indo-Europeans spreading across Europe.
They have been borrowed by some other languages in recent times.
The names ‘rapa’ vs. ‘napus’ correlate with the grouping of turnip varieties by Sinskaya (1928, 1969) where ‘rapa’ is spread across areas occupied by Central and North European groups of turnip while ‘napus’ (nauris) is associated with areas having the Minor Asian group of turnips.
Based on linguistic and historical research, the first domestication of Brassica rapa – biannual turnip – appears to have occurred in West/Central Asia region.
Spreading of turnip and other types of B. rapa across Europe and East Asia could be associated with migrations of farmers, starting from the area of Central and Minor Asia around the 8^th-7^th millennium BC as well as during the 5^th millennium BC.

V International Symposium on Brassicas and XVI International Crucifer Genetics Workshop, Brassica 2008

A.N. Ignatov, A.M. Artemyeva, K. Hida

Brassica rapa, origin, domestication, linguistics

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.867.9