# Hamster



## Olaszinhok

Hello everybody!

How do you say "hamster" the small pet in your language? I've noticed that some languages have adopted the English word. In Italian, we still call it *criceto* /kri'ʧɛto/, apparently  from Czech  křeček.

Thank you in advance


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## Yendred

In French, _hamster__._

Note that the English word comes from German _Hamster, _itself borrowed from Old Slavic хомѣсторъ (same meaning).


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh

bochdew* (n.m.) 'fat-cheek'
*bochog *(n.m.) 'cheek-y'
*twrlla'r  *(n.m.)* Almaen *'German marmot/lemming/field-mouse'
*codlyg* (n.m.) 'bag-mouse/shrew'
*llygoden* (n.f.) *fochog* 'cheek-y mouse'

Strange how some of these creatures are identified as being European/foreign to us:

*twrlla'r  *(n.m.)* Almaen * being from 'Germany'.
*llygoden * (n.f.) *Ffrengig *being from 'France' (It's a 'French mouse', i.e. 'a rat').


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## Olaszinhok

Yendred said:


> Note that the English word comes from German _Hamster_


Thank you! I knew the German word but I mistakenly thought that it had been borrowed from English, while it is the other way round.


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## AndrasBP

Olaszinhok said:


> Italian, we still call it *criceto* /kri'ʧɛto/, apparently from Czech křeček.


An Italian word of Czech origin? That's unusual. 



Olaszinhok said:


> I've noticed that some languages have adopted the English word.


The English word 'hamster' is not used in Hungary. 
We call the animal '*hörcsög*' [ˈhørt͡ʃøɡ], which is probably of South Slavic origin (Croatian 'hrčak').


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## Yendred

Welsh_Sion said:


> *llygoden * (n.f.) *Ffrengig *being from 'France' (It's a 'French mouse', i.e. 'a rat').


Apparently, it's due to the fact that rats were not natively present on the British Isles, and arrived from the continent, but it dates back to late Antiquity, when France was not yet France


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## Olaszinhok

AndrasBP said:


> An Italian word of Czech origin? That's unusual.


It is, that's why I wrote "apparently".  This is my source: https://it.wiktionary.org/wiki/cricet


AndrasBP said:


> The English word 'hamster' is not used in Hungary.
> We call the animal '*hörcsög*' [ˈhørt͡ʃøɡ], which is probably of South Slavic origin (*Croatian 'hrčak')*.


Apparently, Slavic tongues had a big influence on many languages in this respect.


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## Awwal12

The basic Russian word is хомяк (khomyák [xɐ'mʲak]), but for a pet the more common form is хомячок (khomyachók [xəmʲɪ'ʨɔk], lit. "_little_ hamster").


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## apmoy70

Greek:

*«Χάμστερ»* [ˈxams̠t̠e̞ɾ] (neut. indecl.), or (equally used) *«χαμστεράκι»* [xams̠t̠e̞ˈɾaci] which is its diminutive (little-hamster). Its formal Greek name is *«κρικητός»* [kriciˈt̠o̞s̠] (masc.) but it's not used in the vernacular.


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## AndrasBP

*Lithuanian *is another European language that didn't adopt 'hamster'.
Their word is '*žiurkėnas*', formed from 'žiurkė' (= 'rat').

I wonder why the word 'hamster' became so widespread in Europe, given that it's a European animal.


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## Yendred

AndrasBP said:


> I wonder why the word 'hamster' became so widespread in Europe, given that it's a European animal.


I don't see what you mean. Can you develop? It's a Eurasian animal and the word is Eurasian, so what's the problem?
Geographical distribution of Cricetus cricetus (common hamster)


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## AndrasBP

Yendred said:


> I don't see what you mean. Can you develop?


If the animal is common in Europe, why did so many languages adopt the English word? Why was there a need for it?


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## Yendred

Once again, the English word comes from German, itself coming from Old Slavic, which is logical since the animal comes from Russia.


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## AndrasBP

Yendred said:


> Once again, the English word comes from German


Okay, I see, but did French, Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, etc. borrow the word from English or German?


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## Olaszinhok

Yendred said:


> Once again, the English word comes from German,


Yes, it does . However, I am pretty sure that French and Spanish _hamster/ hámster_ come from English. Looking at your map, I can better understand why_ cricetus cricetus_ (Scientific Latin) comes from Czech/Bohemian_ křeček,_ hence Italian_ criceto_ via Latin _cricetus. _According to the map, hamsters seem to be quite common in most Slavic countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc.) not only in Russia. It would be interesting to know the etymology of Greek *«κρικητός», *probably the same as Scientific Latin?!
This is a reliable Italian dictionary: cricèto in Vocabolario - Treccani:


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## Perseas

AndrasBP said:


> Okay, I see, but did French, Spanish, Romanian, Swedish, Greek, Turkish, etc. borrow the word from English or German?


My Gr. dictionary says: χάμστερ < English hamster < German Hamster < Old German hamustro (related to Old Saxon hamstra) < Ancient Slavic chomestoru


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## Welsh_Sion

PSSST!

I'll let you all into a secret. I feel confident in saying that outside professional interpreters, translators, other linguists, language nerds and people like @AndrasBP, most Welsh speakers would probably use the English word (and derive it from that, not directly from German or Slavic), though in writing we/they would probably italicise it.

As a north westerner, I'd go for the following pronunciation, though: ['hamstar].


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## apmoy70

Olaszinhok said:


> Yes, it is . However, I am pretty sure that French and Spanish _hamster/ hámster_ come from English. Looking at your map, I can better understand why_ cricetus cricetus_ (Scientific Latin) comes from Czech/Bohemian_ křeček,_ hence Italian_ criceto_ via Latin _cricetus. _According to the map, hamsters seem to be quite common in most Slavic countries (Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, Bulgaria, etc.) not only in Russia. It would be interesting to know the etymology of Greek *«κρικητός», *probably the same as Scientific Latin?!
> This is a reliable Italian dictionary: cricèto in Vocabolario - Treccani:



Ultimately from PIE *(s)ker- _to turn around, bend_ with cognates the Greek *«κυρτός»* (kurtós, MoGr[cirˈt̠o̞s̠]), Latin cortīna, English ring.


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## Penyafort

In Catalan, it's *hàmster *['hamstər, ˈamstər]. In Spanish, it's *hámster* ['hamstər, 'xamster, 'amster].

In both, it's one of those few words in which the h is usually aspirated by most people. That reveals it must be a recent loanword, probably from the second half of the 20th century.

It must have been taken from English. As far as I know, there is no local word, as Iberia wasn't a traditional habitat for this animal.


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## Welsh_Sion

Anyone care to open a new thread in 'other languages' on 'hamster/gerbil/guinea pig'?


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## Olaszinhok

Welsh_Sion said:


> *guinea* pig'?


That's interesting indeed. In Italian, we call it _porcellino d'India -_ *Indian *little pig.


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## Welsh_Sion

And for us - '*mochyn Gini*' (ok, not very original), but more commonly '*mochyn cwta*' ('short pig').


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## Yendred

Welsh_Sion said:


> guinea pig





Olaszinhok said:


> That's interesting indeed. In Italian, we call it _porcellino d'India -_ *Indian *little pig.


And in French, _cochon d'Inde_ (lit. _Indian pig_).

The animal comes for the Andes Mountains in South America, and its name is typical of the idea the first conquerors of America had that they reached the Indies.
The origin of the English name _guinea pig_ is more colorful and uncertain, as told by Wikipedia.

Apparently, the comparison with a pig is due to its cry, which resembles the cry of a pig.

Although _hamster _and _guinea pig_ are both rodents, they are not so close, since the hamster is a _myomorph_ (cousin with mice), whereas the guinea pig is an _hystricomorph_ (cousin with porcupines).


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## Ansku89

Finnish:
hamster=hamsteri (boring generic European loanword)
guinea pig=marsu (I guess this one comes from Swedish marsvin)


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## Olaszinhok

Yendred said:


> The animal comes for the Andes Mountains in South America, and its name is typical of the idea the first conquerors of America had that they reached the Indies.


In Italian, it's also called *càvia* from Portuguese _çaviá_, _saviá_ ‘mouse’, a word that Portuguese borrowed from the Tupi language.


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## Yendred

Olaszinhok said:


> In Italian, it's also called *càvia* from Portuguese _çaviá_, _saviá_ ‘mouse’, a word that Portuguese borrowed from the Tupi language.


Yes, in French it's also called _cobaye_, a deformation of the Portuguese/Tupi word.
By extension, _cobaye_ is also the word for a human test subject in medical experiments, since guinea pigs  were used in scientific experiments.

I think the Spanish also call the animal _cobaya_, but with no by extension meaning. Anyone can confirm?


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## apmoy70

Welsh_Sion said:


> Anyone care to open a new thread in 'other languages' on 'hamster/gerbil/guinea pig'?


Greek:

Gerbil is *«Γερβίλος»* [ʝe̞rˈvilo̞s̠] (masc.), obviously a Hellenization of the Fr. gerbille.
Guinea pig is *«Ινδικό χοιρίδιο»* [inðiˈko̞çiˈɾiði.o̞] (both neut.) --> _Indian little-piɡ_, or *«Ινδόχοιρος»* [inˈðo̞çiɾo̞s̠] (masc.) --> _Indian piɡ_, lit. _Indopiɡ_, a calque for the Fr. cochon d'Inde.


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## Yendred

@apmoy70 French has so many words coming from (Ancient) Greek. I'm happy to see you also borrowed some from us


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## amikama

Hebrew:
*אוגר *(_oger_) - literally "[he/it] hoards", because it 'hoards' food in its cheek pouches.


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## Abaye

amikama said:


> Hebrew:
> *אוגר *(_oger_) - literally "[he/it] hoards", because it 'hoards' food in its cheek pouches.


I've heard also cavia קביה rarely but this is probably a kind of erronously confusing two different rodents.


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## amikama

Abaye said:


> I've heard also cavia קביה rarely but this is probably a kind of erronously confusing two different rodents.


That is a different rodent. קביה (also called שרקן, חזיר ים) = guinea pig.


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## AutumnOwl

In Swedish it's _hamster_, and from its name Swedish have got the word _hamstra_, which means (to) hoard.


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## Terio

Yendred said:


> In French, _hamster__._
> 
> Note that the English word comes from German _Hamster, _itself borrowed from Old Slavic хомѣсторъ (same meaning).


According to the Trésor de la langue française, French took it from German, not from English (Buffon _Histoire naturelle_, 1765).


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## Linnets

Olaszinhok said:


> How do you say "hamster" the small pet in your language? I've noticed that some languages have adopted the English word. In Italian, we still call it *criceto* /kri'ʧɛto/,


For some strange reason I've always pronounced it /kriˈtʃeto/: it's not the standard pronunciation, but a modern one, according to Luciano Canepari.



Olaszinhok said:


> apparently  from Czech  křeček.


From (scientific) Latin _Cricetus_, in turn from _křeček_; it's worth noting it's not the only Italian word of Czech origin: _pistola_ comes ultimately from _píšťala _(through German _Pistole_), _robot_/_robotico_ from _robota_ and so on.


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## Olaszinhok

Linnets said:


> For some strange reason I've always pronounced it /kriˈtʃeto/: it's not the standard pronunciation, but a modern one, according to Luciano Canepari.


I thought it was pronounced cricèto in Tuscany.  Anyway, it is still pronounced with an open-mid o in wildlife documentaries.


Linnets said:


> From (scientific) Latin _Cricetus_, in turn from _křeček_; it's worth noting it's not the only Italian word of Czech origin: _pistola_ comes ultimately from _píšťala _(through German _Pistole_), _robot_/_robotico_ from _robota_ and so on.





Olaszinhok said:


> Looking at your map, I can better understand why_ cricetus cricetus_ (Scientific Latin) comes from Czech/Bohemian_ křeček,_ hence Italian_ criceto_ via Latin _cricetus._


 I wrote something similar in my message above. _Robot _is a famous one.


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## Linnets

Olaszinhok said:


> I wrote something similar in my message above.


Ooops, I missed it, sorry.


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## raamez

In spoken Arabic it is also called hamster but formally it is known as قداد qadaad.


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## Awwal12

raamez said:


> In spoken Arabic it is also called hamster


Interesting. Is it limited to the dilects where the "rule of three consonants" is weakened?..


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## raamez

Awwal12 said:


> Interesting. Is it limited to the dilects where the "rule of three consonants" is weakened?..


Sorry It wasn't my intention to transcript the pronunciation in Arabic but merely to state that we use the same English word in Arabic. I personally pronounce it as ham-star but maybe some would fit in an extra e -> hames-tar


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## Linnets

raamez said:


> Sorry It wasn't my intention to transcript the pronunciation in Arabic but merely to state that we use the same English word in Arabic.


According to Wiktionary, it's قَدَاد _qadād_ or هامستر _hāmistar._


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## Włoskipolak 72

In Polish it's *chomik*  [ˈxɔ̃mʲik] derives from an old Russian *chomekъ .
Chomik = *a person who collects a lot of unnecessary things..

* krzeczek* in old Polish from skrzeczeć (squawk)


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## Awwal12

Włoskipolak 72 said:


> *chomekъ*


Choměkъ, to be precise.
Polish chomik likely comes from early Ukrainian dialects (with /ě/ > /i/).


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## hx1997

Chinese:

仓鼠 "barn mouse" (referring to the rodent's disposition to store food (in its mouth), which is what a barn is used for)


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