[This entry is an excerpt from the chapter "Spices, herbs, and other condiments" of Part II of the open-source textbook Spanish-English Cognates: An Unconventional Introduction to Spanish Linguistics.]
Go to the listing of entries on spices, herbs and other condiments
Go to the listing of entries on spices, herbs and other condiments
Eng. cinnamon and Sp. canela
The word cinnamon refers
to ‘the dried aromatic inner bark of certain tropical Asian trees in the genus Cinnamomum, especially C. verum and C. loureirii, often ground and used as a spice’ (AHD). In addition,
the name cinnamon also refers to the
the plant itself from which bark is extracted, the cinnamon tree. This spice
comes in two main forms, stick and powder (Sp. canela en rama and canela en
polvo). It is used mostly in baking (confectionery, desserts, pastries),
but some varieties are also used as a spice in meat dishes and curries, for
example. Cinnamon tea is also a popular drink in some places (Sp. té de canela). The bark from these plants,
and in some cases the leaves as well, has been used by humans for close to
5,000 years, both as medicine and as a condiment. In the English-speaking world
is associated with things such as cinnamon rolls and in the Spanish-speaking
world with rice pudding (Sp. arroz con
leche), which is typically served with cinnamon sprinkled on top.
The word cinnamon [ˈsɪn.ə.mən]
was borrowed in the 14th century from Old French cinnamone, itself a loanword from Latin cinnamōmum, from Ancient Greek κινναμωμον
(kinnamōmon). An early spelling of this word in Middle English was synamome. Actually, there were several
Latin variants of this spice’s name in Latin, one of which was cinnamon, from Gk. κίνναμον (kínnamon), which presumably
influenced the final form of the English word. The Greek word is ultimately a
loanword from Phoenician, an ancient Semitic language, and is cognate with Hebrew
קִנָּמוֹן (qinnāmōn).
The word for ‘cinnamon’ in Spanish is canela, a word unrelated to Eng. cinnamon. It is a loanword from Old French canele (cf. Modern French cannelle),
which was a loanword from Italian cannella
(same in Modern Italian), which was a diminutive of the word canna ‘reed, cane’ (cognate with Sp. caña), from Latin canna (same meaning), from Ancient Greek κάννα (kánna) ‘reed’, a loanword from a Semitic source,
probably Akkadian 𒄀 (qanû) ‘reed’, related to Sumerian
𒄀𒈾 (gi.na) ‘reed’.[1]
This name was given to the spice because of the similarity of the rolled-up
cinnamon bark to the hollow stem of a reed or cane. Sp. canela is attested in the 13th century, whereas its French and
Italian cognates are attested in the 12th century. The name of the cinnamon
tree in Spanish is canelo or árbol de la canela.
The cinnamon tree is an evergreen tree with oval leaves from
the Lauraceae (laurel) family. The genus
name of this plant is Cinnamomum,
which comes from one of the names of the plant in Latin. There are more than 250
species of this genus and they are found in different Asian countries,
primarily China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, and Madagascar. Next, we will
look at the major ones that are used as condiments.
The first one is Cinnamomum
verum (or Cinnamomum zeylanicum),
which is known as true cinnamon, Sri Lanka cinnamon or Ceylon cinnamon (Ceylon is the former name of Sri Lanka), cf. Sp. canela de Ceilán. The word verum is the neuter form of the Latin
adjective vērus ‘true’, thus the full
name means literally ‘true cinnamon’. This is the sweetest and mildest type, as
well as the most sought after and expensive one. The bark is also the thinnest
and most brittle.
Cinnamomum cassia
is known as cassia or Chinese cinnamon (Sp. canela china). It is native to southern
China and it is also produced in Vietnam. It is considered to be ‘an inferior
kind of cinnamon,… thicker, coarser, less delicate in flavor, and cheaper than
the true cinnamon’ (OED). Cassia sticks are much harder than Sri Lanka cinnamon
and are usually made of just one thick layer of bark, whereas Ceylon cinnamon
sticks have more layers and is much easier to grind. However, cassia is the
most common commercial type of cinnamon in many countries, such as in the
United States.
The word cassia
comes from Latin cassia, another word
for ‘cinnamon’, besides cinnamōmum and
cinnamon. This word also comes from
Ancient Greek, namely from κάσια
(kásia), which comes from Hebrew קציעה (q'tsīʿāh) ‘a bark resembling cinnamon,
but less aromatic’ (OED). Ultimately, it seems, this word comes from Aramaic, a
Semitic language related to Hebrew and Arabic.
The English word cassia
has other meanings besides the one we just saw. It is also the name of another
type of plant, namely ‘any of various chiefly tropical or subtropical trees,
shrubs, or herbs of the genus Cassia
in the pea family, having pinnately compound leaves, usually yellow flowers,
and long, flat or cylindrical pods’ (AHD). Obviously, the genus Cassia is unrelated to the Cinnamomum genus. In Spanish, the name casia is used only for this other type
of plant, not for the cinnamon plant.
Cinnamomum loureiroi (earlier:
Cinnamomum loureirii) is known as Saigon cinnamon, Vietnamese cassia, or Vietnamese
cinnamon (in Spanish, the main name is canela
de Saigón; cf. Portuguese: canela-de-saigão).
This species has a high essential oil content and, thus, it is more sought
after and more expensive than cassia. It is grown primarily in the central highlands
regions of Vietnam. The species is named after botanist João de Loureiro.
Cinnamomum burmannii
(sometimes mistakenly spelled Cinnamomum
burmanni and also known as Cinnamomum
mindanaense) is yet another variety of cinnamon, popularly known as Korintje,
Padang cassia, Batavia cassia, or Indonesian cinnamon (Sp. canela de Indonesia). This plant is native to Southeast Asia and
Indonesia, in particular West Sumatra and Indonesia’s western Jambi province,
though this tropical plant has been also introduced in subtropical areas, such
as Hawai’i. From this plant comes the cheapest form of cinnamon. During the
Vietnam War, supplies of Saigon cinnamon were interrupted in the West and
Indonesian cinnamon substituted for it in part. The species name burmannii comes from the last name of
the 18th century Dutch botanist Nicolaus Lorenz Burmann and it is not related
to the country of Burma (Sp. Birmania).[2]
Cinnamomum
citriodorum is commonly known as Malabar cinnamon. It is also from Sri
Lanka and from the Western Ghats region of southern India. It has a distinctive
lemon grass smell, and hence its species name citriodorum, a New Latin word that means ‘lemon-scented’, since it
is derived from Latin citrus, the
name of the citrus or citron tree, and Latin odor ‘smell’ (citr-i-odor-us),
cf. Fr. citron ‘lemon’ and Eng. citrus ‘a tree of a genus that includes
citron, lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit. [Genus Citrus.]’ (COED). (Several species of plant have this adjective in
their botanical name, e.g. the botanical name of lemon basil is Ocimum citriodorum and of lemon thyme or
citrus thyme is Thymus citriodorus.)
Let us finish our review of different species of the genus Cinnamomum by looking at two species of this genus
found in India, namely Cinnamomum tamala
and Cinnamomum malabatrum.
Although the bark of these plants is sometimes used for cooking, the part of
the plants that is most commonly used is its leaves. The leaves of Cinnamomum
tamala are commonly known as Indian bay
leaves, although they are unrelated to real bay leaves (cf. §47.3.4
above). They are used in the cuisines of India, Nepal, and Bhutan, especially in
the Moghul cuisine of North India and Nepal. They are also used in tsheringma
tea in Bhutan. Other names for different parts of this plant used in cooking
and medicine are Malabar leaf, Indian bark, Indian cassia, and malabathrum
(also malabathron or malobathrum). This latter word is the
name of ‘(a perfumed ointment prepared from) an aromatic leaf mentioned by
ancient writers’ (SOED) and it is thought that the leaves in question came from
the Cinnamomum tamala tree. Cinnamomum malabatrum is also known as wild cinnamon, country cinnamon, as well as Malabathrum.
The origin of both tamala and malabatrum must be found in the Latin name mālabathrum or mālobathrum,
which was a loanword from Ancient Greek µᾱλάβαθρον
(mālabathron) or µᾱλόβαθρον (mālobathron), which came from Sanskrit तमालपत्त्रम् (tamālapattram),
a compound formed of tamāla ‘dark tree’, the name of various
trees, such as various species of Cinnamomum, including Cinnamomum tamala, and pattra ‘leaf’. Note that the Greeks
removed the first part ta‑ of
the Indian name, which was mis-analyzed as the Greek definite article.[3]
Finally, we should mention that the English word cinnamon and its Spanish equivalent canela are sometimes used to refer to
the color of this spice, namely ‘a light reddish brown’ (AHD) or ‘a
yellowish-brown color’ (COED). In Spanish, the noun canela can be used as a modifier, typically accompanied by the noun
color, as in un traje (color) canela ‘a cinnamon-colored suit’, cortinas (color) canela
‘cinnamon-colored curtains’, or un gato
de color canela ‘a cinnamon-colored cat’.
[1] The Akkadian and
Sumerian words are given in its original cuneiform format (Sp. cuneiforme). Cuneiform writing refers to
‘a character or characters formed by the arrangement of small wedge-shaped
elements and used in ancient Sumerian, Akkadian, Assyrian, Babylonian, and
Persian writing’ (AHD). The word cuneiform
was formed in French in the 16th century, from the Latin root cuneus ‘wedge’ (cf. Sp. cuña ‘wedge’).
[2] The official name of the country in English is Myanmar since 1989, though those who oppose the military government
in place since that time continue to call it Burma; the names in the Burmese
language are, respectively, မြန်မာ (Myanma), pronounced [mjəmà], and ဗမာ (Bama),
pronounced [bəmà].
[3] The word malabatrum is
not related to the word Malabar in
the name of the Malabar Coast, ‘a region of southwest India bordering on the
Arabian Sea and bounded on the east by the Western Ghats’ (AHD). (The Western
Ghats are ‘a low mountain range in W India, along the W margin of the Deccan
plateau and bordering on the Arabian Sea. ab. 1000 mi. (1600 km) long’, RHWU.) This
region is currently part of the Indian states of Karnataka and Kerala. The word
Malabar, which came into English through Portuguese in the 16th century, comes
ultimately from Arabic Malaybār, Manībār, or Mulaybār, for the Malabar Coast or its inhabitants, a word that
comes from a Dravidian first element (cf. Tamil malai and Malayalam mala)
and the Persian word bār ‘region,
country’.
[i] Source: By Simon A.
Eugster - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=39582136
(2018.10.01)
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