# Etymology of calamo



## nic4

Hi you all,

I was wondering about the etymology of the Italian word _"CALAMO_", it means "pen". 
 Is it from Latin _"calamus"_ or from the Greek_ "kàlamos"?_
Or is it from the Arabic قلم  (qualam) ?

Thank you for helping me!


----------



## Agró

Según el DRAE, y en referencia  a la palabra española cálamo:

*cálamo**.*
 (Del lat. _calămus_).
* 1.     * m. Especie de flauta antigua.
* 2.     * m. Parte inferior hueca del eje de las plumas de las aves, que no lleva barbas y se inserta en la piel.
* 3.     * m. poét. *caña*      (‖ tallo de las Gramíneas).
* 4.     * m. poét. Pluma de ave o de metal para escribir.



_Real Academia Española © Todos los derechos reservados_


----------



## berndf

http://www.etimo.it/?term=calamo


----------



## origumi

Are Latin Calamus and Greek Kalamis / Kalamos independent cognates, or did the Romans borrow the word from the Greeks?


----------



## berndf

Probably imported from or influenced by Greek, because Latin has a second cognate: "culmus". The cognate in many Germanic languages is _halm_ (/k/>/h/ is a typical Proto-Germanic sound shift).


----------



## nic4

Thank you! And what about the Arab origin?


----------



## origumi

Arabic (and Persian, Kurdish, Turkish) _qalam_ is derived from Greek κάλαμος:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Qalam

See here the word in several European languages:
http://www.utexas.edu/cola/centers/lrc/ielex/R/P0999.html

See here Isidore's etymology of _Calamis_ / _Culmus_ in Latin and the Hebrew equivalent _canna_ (cane):
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/isidore/17.shtml

And take all that in mind next time you eat _calamari_ or anything _caramelized_ .

In Hebrew we have the loanwords _culmus_ (pen) and _calmar_ (case for pens).


----------



## Arrius

The Arabic قَلَمُ (qalam) has, untypically for the language, no derivatives from its triliteral root , and so it appears to be an isolated  loan word from the Greek or Latin (like qaSr, palace, from Latin castra).


----------



## nic4

Thank you very much you all!!!


----------



## Mahaodeh

Arrius said:


> The Arabic قَلَمُ (qalam) has, untypically for the language, no derivatives from its triliteral root , and so it appears to be an isolated loan word from the Greek or Latin (like qaSr, palace, from Latin castra).


 
I don't think that this is accurate. The root qalama means to cut carefuly in order to give thing a neat shape, such as cutting your fingernails neatly or cutting a twig so that it would be a nice neat little stick. Most of it's uses are related to the latter (please note, Arabs did not use feathers as pens, they used twigs and reeds).

The word qalam is originally given to the piece that is being made neat and qulaama to the small pieces that fall off and are thrown away. qalam is not used only for pen/pencil (in Arabic we do not differentiate) but basically an small straight piece of wood or similar material (something that looks like a pen). That is for Classical Arabic, in MSA it's basically used for two things, pen and a twig that looks like a pen and is used to grow some plants (such as roses).

According to the Lisaan and the Taaj, qalam is the name of the pen after it is sharpend, if it's not sharpened it's called yaraa3 (literally twig).

I don't understand why you would say it's not related to the root!!


----------



## Arrius

I meant that the triliteral root is not otherwise productive, but you know best, *Mahaodeh*. I believe that_ qalam_ is, nevertheless. a loan word and the noun gave rise to the verb meaning "to trim (e.g.a twig into the shape of a pen)" rather than vice versa, just as the obviously borrowed noun _tilifoon_ ('phone) has yielded the quadriliteral verb _talafana_ (to telephone). All the examples you gave are very closely related semantically, though in a more helpful dictionary I have since found another derivative *إِقْلِيم* _iqliim_, that means _territory_, an area of land _cut off_ _from_ the rest. It does not seem likely that it was the Greeks who took this word for pen from the Arabs rather than the other way around, though conceivably both may have acquired it from some other nation like the Hittites who used cuneiform writing. Is there such a thing, I wonder, as an Arabic etymological dictionary, at least for imported words?


----------



## origumi

Arrius said:


> Is there such a thing, I wonder, as an Arabic etymological dictionary, at least for imported words?


You can try this: http://etymological.freeweb.hu/AEDweb.htm:


> *qalam* : pen [from Gre kalamos] Aze qelem, Hin kalam, Per qalam, Swa kalamu, Taj qalam, Tat kalem, Tur kalem borrowed from Ar


I don't know how authoritative it is.


----------



## Arrius

Thank you *origumi*. I think that etymology must be right. I feel that if this weren't a loan word, there would be far more Arabic words in the family q-l-m. which is in the nature of the language, whose consonantal roots often beget lexemes the connection of which with the basic term has been obscured by the mists of time. That is not the case with qalam.


----------



## Abu Rashid

There was another thread more specifically related to the suggested Arabic loaning of this word from Greek, which I can't find right now, so I am posting this here.

I came across this word (ቀለመ qalam) in a Ge'ez dictionary, and it also mentions a root, but with the meaning to ink, stain or dye, which exists in almost all Ethiopic languages, I then looked up the origin of the Greek word and wikipedia states the derivation of it meaning reed comes only from about the 4-5th. century C.E, which is not that long before the oldest Arabic mention of the word (that I know of).

I am wondering whether there is any evidence of it being an Indo-European root at all, because if not, then it would make more sense that Greek borrowed it from north-east Africa/Middle East, rather than the other way 'round.


----------



## djmc

The earlier uses of the word in Greek are by Herododotus, Pindar, Aristotle; all classical authors of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and Herodotus uses it to mean reed. In my day the distinction was BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini). The distinction is now CE (common era) and BCE (before common era) the limit date being the same. The author of the Wikipedia article was wrong or to be charitable confused in his dating.


----------



## ancalimon

Isn't Turkish verb "kal" (stay, to stay where it's put, remain) related with the Turkish version of the word kalem (pencil) since what you write with pencil stays there?  This would make Turkish kalem rougly mean: "thing which makes something stay where it's put"

http://www.seslisozluk.com/?word=kalmak
http://www.seslisozluk.com/?word=kalıcı   (permanent)



> Proto-Turkic: *Kiāl-
> 
> Altaic etymology: Altaic etymology
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Meaning: to stay behind, remain
> Russian meaning: оставаться
> Old Turkic: qal- (Orkh., OUygh., Yenis.)
> Karakhanid: qal- (MK, KB)
> Turkish: kal-
> Tatar: qal-
> Middle Turkic: qal- (Sangl., Qutb., Houts., AH, IM, MA, Pav. C.)
> Uzbek: qɔl-
> Uighur: qal-
> Azerbaidzhan: _Gal-_
> Turkmen: _Gāl-_
> Khakassian: xal-
> Shor: qal-
> Oyrat: qal-
> Chuvash: jol-
> Yakut: xāl-
> Dolgan: kāl-
> Tuva: qal-
> Tofalar: qal-
> Kirghiz: qal-
> Kazakh: qal-
> Noghai: qal-
> Bashkir: qal-
> Balkar: qal-
> Karakalpak: qal-
> Kumyk: qal-
> Comments: EDT 615-616, VEWT 224, ЭСТЯ 5, 226-227, Егоров 347, Федотов 2, 483, Stachowski 142.



It is definitely an Arabic loan in Turkish but...   I guess I am wrong.


----------



## Abu Rashid

djmc said:


> The earlier uses of the word in Greek are by Herododotus, Pindar, Aristotle; all classical authors of the fifth and fourth centuries BC, and Herodotus uses it to mean reed. In my day the distinction was BC (before Christ) and AD (Anno Domini). The distinction is now CE (common era) and BCE (before common era) the limit date being the same. The author of the Wikipedia article was wrong or to be charitable confused in his dating.



Thanks. Yes those abbreviations were used in my day also, but due to my beliefs nowadays, I do not feel comfortable speaking of a human being as Lord, hence my use of the other abbreviations.


----------



## artion

The word καλαμος or καλάμη is found in Homer:  Iliad T (19) , 222,  Odyssey 14, 214. Also in the Hymn to Hermes 47.


----------

