3 ms·
> Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally Not exclusively to vegetables. It originally comes from 'kari', meaning 'blackened' or 'burnt
by joshuaissac 4y ago
> Curry is a South Indian word referring to vegetables originally
Not exclusively to vegetables. It originally comes from 'kari', meaning 'blackened' or 'burnt', and referred to cooked vegetables and meat.
1. https://www.etymonline.com/word/curry#etymonline_v_491 https://www.etymonline.com/word/curry#etymonline_v_491
- anuraj 4y agoThat etymology is probably wrong. I posit - it comes from 'Kant/rikkuka' means to cut and cook. Kari vs KaRi.
- kelipso 4y agoThat etymology might actually be wrong. The kari for blackened, burnt, etc comes from കരി where the r sound is a dental flap type r sound, while the kari for curry comes from കറി where the r sound is the typical r sound. So it's more likely the etymology is from malakkarry, which means vegetables, meaning than kari from the blackened, burnt, etc meaning.
- joshuaissac 4y agoPerhaps, but the difference is pronunciation is not definitive evidence. For example, curry veppu (curry tree) is pronounced with the regular r sound in the standard dialect, but in some dialects, it is instead kariyaappu with the dental flap r sound (the 't' in American English 'atom'). The kari for 'burnt', 'blackened' is also related to 'karuppu' for 'black', which is pronounced with the regular 'r' (like curry) instead of the dental one.
- hannibal529 4y agoRegardless of this article’s content and the discussion here, I’m glad to see some fellow mallus in a HN thread :)