Re: kitchen

Thanks for clearing up the difference between the two "latins" and their relation to classic latin. Elof Hellquist writes that it is medieval latin that is the origin for the word kitchen while etymoonline (Douglas Harper is the name of the man who keeps this site going) writes that it is vulgar latin that is the origin of the germanic word. That is why I'm asking. Which one of them is right? The vulgar latin *cocina seems to be more right as far as I'm concerned.

Sideline: I had some fun replacing the coquina with oscan popina and thought to myself that if latin had replaced coquina with popina maybe the english word for kitchen could have been popchen.

Carl Hult

Rick McCallister wrote:

--- Carl Hult <Carl.Hult@... com> wrote:

> It's me again...
>
> Elof Hellquist says:
>
> "kök, jfr fsv. kökia f., 1500-t. o. ofta
> på 1600-t.: köke n., motsv. no. kjok, da.
> kvkken, från mlty. koke, kokene = fhty.
> kachina (ty. kliché), ägs. cycene (eng.
> kitchen); från mlat. cucina (;> fra.
> cui-sine), av lat. coqulna, till coquo (se
> koka)."
>
> Etymonline.com says:
>
> "O.E. cycene, from W.Gmc. *kocina (cf. M.Du. cökene,
> O.H.G. chuhhina,
> Ger. Küche, Dan. kjøkken), probably borrowed from
> V.L. *cocina (cf.
> Fr. cuisine, Sp. cocina), variant of L. coquina
> "kitchen," from fem.
> of coquinus "of cooks," from coquus "cook," from
> coquere "to
> cook" (see cook (n.))."
>
> I want to know whether Hellquist considers medieval
> latin to be the
> same as vulgar latin or a continuation of vulgar
> latin.
>
> Carl Hult

I don't know what Helquist says but my understanding
is that Medieval Latin is essentially Classical Latin
pronounced as Italian with loanwords to make it up to
date, i.e. Church Latin.
BUT he may be talking about Late Latin, spoken after
the fall of the Roman Empire until the time when
Romance languages separated out, which I understand to
be a more or less a form that attempted to adhere to
Classical Latin but was actually strongly affected by
spoken Vulgar Latin.
It depends on when Medieval times begin --at the fall
of the Roman Empire or at the end of the Dark Ages.
But Latinists may have a standard definition all their
own.

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