# Strawberries



## AutumnOwl

This post in a thread in the Language lab got me thinking about strawberries.


Myridon said:


> I object to not calling them seagulls.  I object to calling straw-aggregate-accessory-fruits "strawberries".
> A great many living things have more than one common name.


In Swedish we use '_smultron_' for the small wild strawberries, while strawberries are '_jordgubbe_', from '_jord_' (earth, soil) and '_gubbe_' a dialectical word for a small lump (today the word 'gubbe' is used for an old man).
What's your word for strawberries?


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## Olaszinhok

*Italian:*
strawberries - *fràgole*
wild strawberries -* fragoline di bosco*  (little wood strawberries)


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## Dymn

*Catalan*:
_maduixa_ (pre-Roman word; usual word in Catalonia and standard), _fresa/fressa_ (from Spanish; used in Valencia, Majorca and Eivissa), dialectalisms: _fraga _(< Latin _fraga_)_, fraula _(< Latin _fragula_)

If you want to say "wild strawberries" add "_del bosc_" or "_silvestres_".


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## AndrasBP

Hungarian:

*eper *[ˈɛpɛr], which sounds like a simplified version of German 'Erdbeere', but it's just a coincidence.


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## elroy

Palestinian Arabic:

توت أرضي /tu:t ardˤi/ — literally “earth berry”*

فراولة /fara(:)wla/ — I think this is from Italian “fragola”

توت سديه /tu:t sade:/ — Hebrew borrowing, literally “field berry”

*Arabic أرض /ardˤ/ and Hebrew ארץ /ereʦ/ (“earth”) may seem like they’re related to English “earth,” German “Erde,” Dutch “aarde,” etc., but I think this is another coincidence!


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## apmoy70

In Greek its name in the vernacular is *«φράουλα»* [ˈfra.ula] (fem. nom. sing.), *«φράουλες»* [ˈfra.ule̞s̠] (fem. nom. pl.) < It. fragola.
Its native name is *«χαμαικέρασος»* [xame̞ˈce̞ɾas̠o̞s̠] (fem.) - - > lit. _ground-cherry_, a compound: Classical adverb *«χαμαί» kʰămaí* + Koine fem. noun *«κέρασος» kérăsŏs*


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## Agró

*Spanish*: _fresa_ (from Fr. _fraise_)
*Aragonese*: _fraga_ (from Lat. _fragula_, see #3).


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## elroy

Dymn said:


> *Catalan*:
> _maduixa_


Portuguese: morango 

I’m sure they’re not related, but they’re both not from Latin “fragula” and they both start with an “m”!


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## Graciela J

Agró said:


> *Spanish*: _fresa_ (from Fr. _fraise_)



In Argentina and other countries: "frutilla" (lit.: small fruit).


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## Frank78

German:

strawberry - Erdbeere (earth/soil + berry)
wild strawberry - Walderdbeere (forest earth berry)


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## Terio

French :

fraise
fraise des bois (wild)


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## elroy

Graciela J said:


> In Argentina and other countries: "frutilla" (lit.: small fruit).


It’s curious that strawberries got this generic name.  Are they particularly common / widespread in Argentina?  Are they a “default” fruit of sorts?


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## AquisM

Mandarin: *草莓* /t͡sʰɑʊ̯²¹⁴⁻²¹¹ meɪ̯³⁵/ (lit. _grass/straw_ _berry_; calque of English)
Cantonese: *士多啤梨 */siː²² tɔː⁵⁵ pɛː⁵⁵ lei̯²¹⁻³⁵/ (translit. of English)


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## Penyafort

elroy said:


> Portuguese: morango
> 
> I’m sure they’re not related, but they’re both not from Latin “fragula” and they both start with an “m”!



I don't think they are related. _Morango _is said to come from a Latin *_moranicu_, from mora 'mulberry, blackberry'. But it's uncertain, as there's a whole bunch of words in western Iberia (Portuguese: *morango*, Galician: _*[a]morodo*, *morote*, *[a]morogo*,_ Asturian: _*meruéndano*_) that seem to go back to a *_MOROTANU_ root.

Another uncertain root, *MAIOSTA, probably Celtic, might have been spread in ancient Iberia, as we see it in Catalan (_*maiosta>majoixa/majuixa>madoixa/*maduixa *_through dissimilation), but also in the Cantabrian word *mayueta*.

Then Basque, probably from Latin _marrubiu _(although the plant was a 'horehound') has _*marrubi*_, and variants of it, among which _maguri_, are at the origin of the Western Aragonese *magoria*. However, Aragonese has another one, *martuel *or *matruel*, which I can't figure the origin of. The most spread one, though, being *fraga*, straight from Latin, as is also used in some Catalan variants. Other Catalan variants also have _*fraula*_, coming from Latin _fragula _'little _fraga_'. Compare Italian _fragola_.

In fact, Spanish is the only Iberian 'traitor', having taken _*fresa *_from the French (_fraga>fraigue>fraie>fraise>*fresa*_). But Castilians also used genuine ones before accepting the Gallicism, and a very nice interesting one was *amiésgado *(from Latin _domesticu_). --Not all Spanish-speaking areas accepted the French word, though, as the Southern Cone preferred to call it 'little fruit', *frutilla*.


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## Sobakus

Russian is in the ground-related company with its _*земляни́ка* zemlʲaníka_, from _*земля́* zemlʲá_ “earth, ground” + *-н-*_ -n-_ “relative adjective-forming suffix” + *-и́ка*_ -íka_ “noun-forming suffix that points out a characteristic, common in plant names”.

That's wild strawberry, which is found everywhere around here and commonly gathered; the cultivated type is massively different and doesn't even look (or taste) all that related. The Russian word for it is different – *клубни́ка*_ klubníka._ Same formation as above, only to the stem _*клу́бень* klúbenʲ _“a tuber; something bulbous”.


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## Zareza

*Romanian*

strawberry - *căpșună, căpșune* (sg.pl.)  /cəp'ʃu.nə/
wild strawberry - *fragă, fragi* (sg.pl.)  /'fra.gə/


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## Welsh_Sion

*Cymraeg/Welsh*

(a) strawberry - *mefusen* /mev'əsɛn/
(a) wild strawberry - *mefusen wyllt, mefusen y goedwig *('woodland strawberry'), *mefusen y coed* ('wood strawberry')

The sing. is formed from the plur. (mefus > mefusen), more correctly, the collective. Etymology unknown.


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## Stoggler

Welsh_Sion said:


> *Cymraeg/Welsh*
> 
> (a) strawberry - *mefusen* /mev'əsɛn/



I’ve not seen that middle vowel pronounced like that before?  Isn’t it more  /mɛˈvɪsɛn/ (in the south) or mɛˈvɨ̞sɛn (in the north)?


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## Welsh_Sion

Call it a Gwynedd quirk then, Stoggler. I've always said it that way myself - others can other things  (Though I suppose they are more standard in that case ...)

In fact, I raise you /mɛˈvəsan/ as a north westerner!


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## Włoskipolak 72

Polish

*truskawka* = strawberry
*poziomka* = wild strawberry

Wyraz *truskawka *pochodzi od dźwiękonaśladowczego trusk, co znaczy 'szelest, lekkie trzaskanie, jakie słychać przy odłamywaniu liści i owoców'. Wyraz zapisany już w XV w., odnosił się pierwotnie do różnych roślin.

The word strawberry comes from the sonorant *trusk*, which means 'rustling, a light crackling sound heard when the leaves and fruit break off'. Recorded as early as the 15th century, the word originally referred to various plants.


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## Awwal12

Sobakus said:


> Russian is in the ground-related company with its _*земляни́ка* zemlʲaníka_, from _*земля́* zemlʲá_ “earth, ground” + *-н-*_ -n-_ “relative adjective-forming suffix” + *-и́ка*_ -íka_ “noun-forming suffix that points out a characteristic, common in plant names”.
> 
> That's wild strawberry, which is found everywhere around here and commonly gathered; the cultivated type is massively different and doesn't even look (or taste) all that related. The Russian word for it is different – *клубни́ка*_ klubníka._ Same formation as above, only to the stem _*клу́бень* klúbenʲ _“a tuber; something bulbous”.


In fact, from the botanical perspective, *клубника* should refer only to Fragaria moschata. Still, unofficially all cultivated species and hybrids of the Fragaria genus with large berries are called клубника, most typically Fragaria × ananassa (a hybrid of Fragaria chiloensis and Fragaria virginiana), which is officially called *земляника садовая* (i.e., literally, 'garden *земляника*').


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## apmoy70

Just found out that in a 1835 Katharevousa Greek botanology book, strawberry (the fruit) is called *«φράγουλα»* [ˈfra.ɣu.la] (fem.), and the plant, *«χαμαίβατον»* [xa.ˈme̞.va.t̠o̞n] (neut.) --> lit. _ɡround-bush_.

Wild strawberry is *«φραγκάρια»* [fraŋ.ˈɡa.ɾi.a] (fem.), or *«φραγγαρία»* [fraŋ.ɡa.ˈɾi.a] (fem.). In the vernacular it's *«κουμαριά»* [ku.mar.ˈʝa] (fem.) the plant, and its fruit, *«κούμαρο»* [ˈku.ma.ɾo̞] (neut.) < ByzGr *«κόμαρον» kόmaron* < Classical masc. *«κόμαρος» kómărŏs*


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## clamor

In Armenian it's *ելակ* /jelag/ (in Eastern Armenian /jelak/), probably from a Turkic root (compare Bashkir *yeläk* "berry").  



Sobakus said:


> That's wild strawberry, which is found everywhere around here and commonly gathered; the cultivated type is massively different and doesn't even look (or taste) all that related. The Russian word for it is different – *клубни́ка*_ klubníka._


In Soviet Armenia, many people use the Russian form.


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## apmoy70

apmoy70 said:


> Just found out that in a 1835 Katharevousa Greek botanology book, strawberry (the fruit) is called *«φράγουλα»* [ˈfra.ɣu.la] (fem.), and the plant, *«χαμαίβατον»* [xa.ˈme̞.va.t̠o̞n] (neut.) --> lit. _ɡround-bush_.
> 
> Wild strawberry is *«φραγκάρια»* [fraŋ.ˈɡa.ɾi.a] (fem.), or *«φραγγαρία»* [fraŋ.ɡa.ˈɾi.a] (fem.). In the vernacular it's *«κουμαριά»* [ku.mar.ˈʝa] (fem.) the plant, and its fruit, *«κούμαρο»* [ˈku.ma.ɾo̞] (neut.) < ByzGr *«κόμαρον» kόmaron* < Classical masc. *«κόμαρος» kómărŏs*


Apologies for quoting myself, I want to correct a typo error (unfortunately I spotted it late, and I can no longer edit my post):
Wild srawberry is *«φραγκάρια»* [fraŋ.ˈka.ɾi.a] (fem.), or *«φραγγαρία»* [fraŋ.ɡa.ˈɾi.a] (fem.)...


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## Depty Dawg

AutumnOwl said:


> This post in a thread in the Language lab got me thinking about strawberries.
> 
> In Swedish we use '_smultron_' for the small wild strawberries, while strawberries are '_jordgubbe_', from '_jord_' (earth, soil) and '_gubbe_' a dialectical word for a small lump (today the word 'gubbe' is used for an old man).
> What's your word for strawberries?


fragoj in Esperanto


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## se16teddy

In Irish sú talún - earth-juice. sú talún - Wiktionary 
It is one of the first words that Irish Duolingo teaches you!


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