--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Patrick Ryan" <proto-language@...>
wrote:
alexandru_mg3 wrote:
> > > *ksud-ró <initial meaning: 'similar-with' an object resulted from
> > > a 'to crush/pulverise operation: 'very small'>>
> > > --------------------------------------------------------------
> > > Skt. ks.udrá f (a:)
> > > - minute, diminutive, tiny, very small, little, trifling
...
> > > - m. a small particle of rice
> > > [My note: Note that the rice is not obtained by a pulverisation or
> > > other 'to crush, to broke'-methods]
Richard wrote:
> > It is threshed, and broken rice is an undesirable by-product.
> Patrick wrote:
> I am under the impression, perhaps wrongly, that reaping with a sickle
> produces some loss of grain from the unthreshed stalks.
>
> But I would not swear to it. Anybody know?
That's what I understand from Religious Education, not necessarily
applicable to rice. My wife can't help; she's a country girl, but
not a rice farmer's daughter. The grain harvesting (wheat?) I saw as
a boy was done by combine harvester; I've only seen people reap rice
from a car window. Curiously, my English-Thai dictionary defines
'glean' rather than translates it, and defines it as collecting fallen
_ears_ of rice.
My point was that the grains first break during threshing, not
reaping, and that it is desired that they not break. I dug the
following description of threshing out from
<
http://www.fao.org/documents/show_cdr.asp?url_file=/docrep/T1838E/T1838E0p.htm
>:
<quote>
The traditional threshing of rice is generally made by hand: bunches
of panicles are beaten against a hard element (eg, a wooden bar,
bamboo table or stone) or with a flail. The outputs are 10g to 30kg of
grain per man-hour according to the variety of rice and the method
applied. Grain losses amount to 1-2%, or up to 4% when threshing is
performed excessively late; some unthreshed grains can also be lost
around the threshing area.
In many countries in Asia and Africa, and in Madagascar, the crop is
threshed by being trodden underfoot (by humans or animals); the output
is 30kg to 50kg of grain per manhour. The same method, but using a
vehicle (tractor or lorry) is also commonly applied. The vehicle is
driven in circles over the paddy bunches as these are thrown on to the
threshing area (15m to 20m in diameter around the stack). The output
is a few hundred kg per hour. This method results in some losses due
to the grain being broken or buried in the earth.
In south-east Asia, total losses induced by traditional harvesting and
threshing methods are estimated between 5 and 15%
</quote>
Threshing sounds like a crushing process to me, even if it isn't a
pulverising one. The small particles of rice come from grains that
didn't experience the difference! However, it is entirely possible
that the application of _ks.udra_ to particles of rice arises from
their being small and despised rather than from how they come about.
Richard.