英语中的许多食物名称来自非洲

Many Food Names in English Come From Africa

On a recent program, we told you stories of English words borrowed from other languages. Today, we will tell you about words English has taken from African languages.

Many of these words entered English as a result of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade.

Joseph E. Holloway is a historian¹ of African-American history. In his paper African Crops and Slave Cuisine², he explains the way many crops from Africa reached North America.

Slave ships carried these crops as food for enslaved Africans during the long voyage. The foods included rice and other grains, okra, yams, different kinds of beans and peanuts.

And, as we will discuss today, some of the food names later became part of the English language.

Yam

Let’s start with the yam. The yam was the most common food fed to enslaved Africans on ships traveling to the Americas. Yams are long, starchy vegetables with white, reddish or purple flesh.

What many Americans call a yam is actually a sweet potato. American supermarkets are largely responsible for the confusion³; they often mark yams as sweet potatoes.

The word yam is of West African origin. Two languages spoken there have similar versions of the word. In Fulani, the word is nyami and it means “to eat.” In Twi, the word is anyinam.

Portuguese⁴ and Spaniards brought yams to the Americas through Guyana and Brazil. Yams later became common throughout the Caribbean.

In the late 1500s, the Portuguese changed the word to inhame; the Spanish changed it to i?ame. Its first usage⁵ in English was igname. By the mid-1600s, the English spelling had changed to y-a-m.

And today, in Jamaican Patois⁶ – an English-based language with African influences – the word nyam still means “to eat.”

Okra

Another vegetable with an African name - and origin - is okra. Okra is a tall, green plant whose pods are eaten as a vegetable. It is often used in soups and similar dishes. The original word was okuru, from the Igbo language of Nigeria.

Okra reached the Caribbean and the United States in the 1700s. Not long after, the vegetable was introduced in Europe.

In the American state of Louisiana, okra has been used for centuries to thicken stews⁷ and soups. During colonial⁸ times, African, European and Native American cultures mixed to form what would become Creole culture. Today, okra is still a key part of Creole cooking, especially its most famous dish: gumbo. Interestingly, the word gumbo once meant simply “okra.” The original word was ki ngombo, from Mbundu, a language of Angola.

Goober

Our next food name with African origins is goober. The American English word goober once commonly meant peanut. The word was used throughout the American South in the 19th century, with the first known English usage in 1833.

As Holloway’s paper explains, “Union soldiers fighting on southern soil during the Civil War found southern peanuts both tasty and filling.” They even made a song about it called “Eating Goober Peas.”

The original word, nguba, is the same in two Bantu languages: Kikongo and Kimbundu.

Today, in American English, goober is rarely used to mean peanut. More often, it is used informally to mean “a foolish or simple person.”

Banana

The word banana is believed to come from Wolof, a West African language of Senegal, Gambia and Mauritania. In Wolof, the word is banaana. Some research also links the word to bana, from the Mande language of Liberia in West Africa.

Many historians⁹ say bananas probably first grew in Southeast Asia and Papua New Guinea around 6,000 years ago. Recent research shows that Africans began harvesting this fruit at least 4,500 years ago. How the fruit reached Africa from Asia is more of a mystery, although many reports say Arab traders may have brought them there. One Arabic word for finger or toe is banan.

In the late 1500s, Portuguese and Spanish colonists¹⁰ took the fruit with them from Africa to the Americas and brought along its African name. The Portuguese began banana plantations¹¹ in the Caribbean islands and Brazil.

Then, in 1633, an herbalist in Britain sold the first banana to reach Europe at his store.

Jumbo

Along with food names, English has borrowed other kinds of words from African languages. One example is jumbo.

In English, the word jumbo is an adjective that means “very large for its type.”

Today, the word can be found in many places where products are sold: supermarkets, online stores and even restaurants.

In Washington, D.C., for example, Jumbo Slice is the name of a popular late-night pizza place that sells very, very large pieces of pizza.

The word came into popular American usage in an interesting way. Jumbo was the name of an African bull¹² elephant that was a zoo animal and a circus performer.

Historical accounts say Jumbo was captured as a baby elephant in East Africa in 1861. His captors brought him to France and sold him to a botanical garden. He lived there in unhealthy conditions.

Later, the London Zoo purchased Jumbo. He became a main attraction there. In 1882, the zoo sold him to a famous American circus.

Jumbo was reportedly a very calm animal. At his largest, he stood 3.6 meters tall. After his death, his name became a synonym¹³ for “huge.”

But as early as the 1820s, jumbo was a slang¹⁴ term used to describe a big, clumsy person, animal or thing. Language experts say the word may come from the word nzamba – a word that now means “forest” in Kongo, a language of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Republic of the Congo and Angola.

Some accounts define¹⁵ the word nzamba as “elephant,” though this may be an outdated¹⁶ meaning.

Join us again soon to learn the history of English words borrowed from other languages.

I’m Phil Dierking.

And I’m Alice Bryant.

Words in This Story

voyage – n. a long journey to a distant or unknown place especially over water or through outer space

flesh – n. the soft part of a fruit that is eaten

origin – n. the point or place where something begins or is created

pod – n. a long, thin part of some plants that has seeds inside

peanut – n. a nut with a thin shell that grows under the ground and that can be eaten

herbalist – n. a person who grows, sells, or uses herbs to treat illness

circus – n. a traveling show that is often performed in a tent and that typically includes trained animals, clowns and acrobats¹⁷

botanical – adj. of or relating to plants or the study of plants

attraction – n. something interesting or enjoyable that people want to visit, see, or do

synonym – n. a word that has the same meaning as another word in the same language

slang – n. words that are not considered part of the standard vocabulary of a language and are used informally in speech, especially by a particular group of people

1 historian   

n.历史学家，编史家

参考例句：

• As a historian,he was most typical of the times in which he lived.作为历史学家，他是他所处时代最有代表性的人物。
• He calls himself a historian,but his books are a mere journalism.他自称为历史学家，但是他的书都是些肤浅的通俗作品。

2 cuisine   

n.烹调，烹饪法

参考例句：

• This book is the definitive guide to world cuisine.这本书是世界美食的权威指南。
• This restaurant is renowned for its cuisine.这家餐馆以其精美的饭菜而闻名。

3 confusion   

n.困惑，迷乱，混淆，混乱，骚乱

参考例句：

• His answers to my questions have only added to my confusion.他对我的问题的回答只是使我更加困惑不解。
• His unexpected arrival threw us into total confusion.他的突然来访使我们完全不知所措。

4 Portuguese   

n.葡萄牙人；葡萄牙语

参考例句：

• They styled their house in the Portuguese manner.他们仿照葡萄牙的风格设计自己的房子。
• Her family is Portuguese in origin.她的家族是葡萄牙血统。

5 usage   

n.惯用法，使用，用法

参考例句：

• I am clear about the usage of this word at last.这个词的用法我算是弄明白了。
• The usage is now firmly established.这种用法现已得到确认。

6 patois   

n.方言；混合语

参考例句：

• In France patois was spoken in rural,less developed regions.在法国，欠发达的农村地区说方言。
• A substantial proportion of the population speak a French-based patois.人口中有一大部分说以法语为基础的混合语。

7 stews   

n.炖煮的菜肴( stew的名词复数 )；烦恼，焦虑v.炖( stew的第三人称单数 )；煨；思考；担忧

参考例句：

• Corn starch is used as a thickener in stews. 玉米淀粉在炖煮菜肴中被用作增稠剂。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most stews contain meat and vegetables. 炖的食物大多是肉类和蔬菜。 来自辞典例句

8 colonial   

adj.殖民地的，关于殖民的；n.殖民地，居民

参考例句：

• The natives were unwilling to be bent by colonial power.土著居民不愿受殖民势力的摆布。
• The people of Africa have successfully fought against colonial rule.非洲人民成功地反抗了殖民统治。

9 historians   

n.历史学家，史学工作者( historian的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Historians seem to have confused the chronology of these events. 历史学家好像把这些事件发生的年代顺序搞混了。
• Historians have concurred with each other in this view. 历史学家在这个观点上已取得一致意见。

10 colonists   

n.殖民地开拓者，移民，殖民地居民( colonist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Colonists from Europe populated many parts of the Americas. 欧洲的殖民者移居到了美洲的许多地方。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Some of the early colonists were cruel to the native population. 有些早期移居殖民地的人对当地居民很残忍。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 plantations   

n.种植园，大农场( plantation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Soon great plantations, supported by slave labor, made some families very wealthy. 不久之后出现了依靠奴隶劳动的大庄园，使一些家庭成了富豪。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• Winterborne's contract was completed, and the plantations were deserted. 维恩特波恩的合同完成后，那片林地变得荒废了。 来自辞典例句

12 bull   

n.公牛，买进证券投机图利者，看涨的人

参考例句：

• It's only a hair off a bull's back to them.这对他们来说，不过九牛一毛。
• Many dogs closed around the bull.很多狗渐渐地把那只牛围了起来。

13 synonym   

n.同义词，换喻词

参考例句：

• Zhuge Liang is a synonym for wisdom in folklore.诸葛亮在民间传说中成了智慧的代名词。
• The term 'industrial democracy' is often used as a synonym for worker participation. “工业民主”这个词常被用作“工人参与”的同义词。

14 slang   

n.俚语，行话；vt.使用俚语，辱骂；vi.辱骂

参考例句：

• The phrase is labelled as slang in the dictionary.这个短语在这本字典里被注为俚语。
• Slang often goes in and out of fashion quickly.俚语往往很快风行起来又很快不再风行了。

15 define   

vt.解释，下定义，阐述，限定，规定

参考例句：

• Please define the words.请解释这些字的意义。
• It's hard to define exactly what has changed.很难解释清楚到底发生了什么变化。

16 outdated   

adj.旧式的，落伍的，过时的；v.使过时

参考例句：

• That list of addresses is outdated,many have changed.那个通讯录已经没用了，许多地址已经改了。
• Many of us conform to the outdated customs laid down by our forebears.我们许多人都遵循祖先立下的过时习俗。

17 acrobats   

n.杂技演员( acrobat的名词复数 )；立场观点善变的人，主张、政见等变化无常的人

参考例句：

• I was always fascinated by the acrobats at the circus. 我总是着迷于马戏团里的杂技演员。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The acrobats' performance drew forth applause from the audience. 杂技演员的表演博得了观众的掌声。 来自《简明英汉词典》