Aneisum

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Aneisum dicit arabs nos et grecus anisum.


Apparatus:

Aneisum AC fj | Aneissũ p | Aneison B | Anaisuʒ ms. e
dicit | dixit ep
{et} secundum add. f
grecus AC jp | grecos f | grecũ ms. e | gř. B
{grecus} dicimus add. f
anisum | anixuʒ ms. e


Translation:

Aneisum says the Arab, we and the Greek say anisum {“aniseed”}.


Commentary:

Aneisum:
Cf. Siggel (1950: 17): ﺍﻧﻴﺴﻮﻥ /anīsūn/ Pimpinella anisum (Umb.) Anis {i.e. “anise”}

A vocalisation closer to Simon’s Aneisum is found in Vocabulista, ed. Schiaparelli (1871: 32): ﺍﻧﻴﺴﻮﻥ /anaisūn/ Anisium {sic!} [[1]] ; (1871: 243) [*ANISIUM] ﺍﻧﻴﺴﻮﻥ /anaisūn/ [[2]].

Karbstein (2002: 41) shows an interesting variant form s.v. “14) Anis Pimpinella anisum L: ﺍﻧﻴﺴﻮﻥ /anyasūn/", but this may simply be a scribal error where the sequence of /fatḥa/ and /sukūn/ were inadvertently reversed.

This word has probably entered Arabic from ultimately Greek through Syriac transmission, cf. Gignoux (2011: 21) s.v. ‘nyswn «anis»

Greek ἄννησον /ánnēson/:
ἄννησον /ánnēson/, ἄνησσον /ánēsson/, ἄνησον /ánēson/, ἄννισον /ánnison/ and ἄνισον /ánison/ are variant forms of this plant name which is often assumed to be loaned from Old Egyptian. The word was Latinised as anisum or anesum.


Botanical identification:

Most authors identify the plant with Pimpinella anisum L., “anise, aniseed” [[3]], e.g. Siggel (1950) s.v.; Berendes (1902: 301); André (1985: 17), s.v. anēsum; LSJ s.v. ἄννησον /ánnēson/; Harvey (1992: 78), s.v. ANISE; Daems (1993: 105: 25), Anisum.

In Antiquity but also later this plant was frequently confused with the similar sounding Anethum {“dill”}, a plant whose seeds have a similar taste.


WilfGunther 23:01, 23 June 2015 (BST)


See Aniton


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