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To add to your point on curry leaves: > Curry leaf” comes from the Tamil word “karu-vep-ilai” (‘black neem leaf’), leaves of the sweet neem plant Murraya koeni
by dagmx 4y ago
To add to your point on curry leaves:
> Curry leaf” comes from the Tamil word “karu-vep-ilai” (‘black neem leaf’), leaves of the sweet neem plant Murraya koenigii
- bakul 4y agoThanks! In Gujarati we call it "meettho limdo" or sweet neem. It is dark green but not black (except when left in the 'frig for a few days or on the plant when it is sick!).
- dagmx 4y agoThere’s some possible history further back in our languages where kala might have meant darker not just black. Similarly the etymology of Krishna (the deity) is both considered “dark” or “black” depending on whom you ask. I suspect it may be a case where our languages at the time didn’t need to delineate between black and a dark colour. Tone/shade was a relative unlike hue.
- vrc 4y agoTelugu is karivepaaku. Same stuff.