大象传媒

鈥橲 e samh a鈥� Gh脿idhlig air an lus Rumex acetosa. Canaidh daoine common sorrel ris ann am Beurla. Samh ann an G脿idhlig. Th脿inig an t-ainm Beurla bho bhlas na duilleig. Tha e searbh no sour. Ann an Albais, 鈥檚 e sourock an t-ainm a tha air.

Chan eil e cho soilleir c貌 脿s a th脿inig an t-ainm G脿idhlig. A bheil samh l脿idir air an lus? Tha mi a鈥� ciallachadh 鈥� a bheil droch fh脿ileadh air? Cha chreid mi gu bheil. Feumaidh gu bheil samh a鈥� ciallachadh rudeigin eile.

Nise, tha iomadh ciall air an fhacal samh ann am faclair Dwelly. Mar eisimpleir, clownish or rustic person, savage, flock, herd, giant, a god, the sun, the sea. Ach chan eil gin dhiubh sin a鈥� m矛neachadh carson a bhiodh samh air Rumex acetosa. Agus chan eil Alasdair MacBheathain anns an fhaclair aige 鈥� Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language 鈥� a鈥� m矛neachadh t霉s an fhacail.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Mar sin, seo smuain bheag agam fh矛n. 鈥橲 d貌cha gu bheil e a鈥� tighinn bho th霉s bho Ph貌lainnis. Carson nach bitheadh? Bidh sinn a鈥� bruidhinn air bhodca, nach bi?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Anns an t-seann aimsir bha daoine ann an Alba ag ithe duilleagan an t-saimh. Bha iad mar ghlasraich. Ann an taobh sear na Roinn E貌rpa bidh daoine ri sin fhathast. Ann am P貌lainnis 鈥檚 e szczaw (鈥渟hrtav鈥�) ainm an luis. Bha na h-I霉dhaich ann an taobh sear na Roinn E貌rpa ga ithe gu m貌r cuideachd. Thog iadsan am facal 脿 P貌lainnis. Ann an Iuidis, c脿nan nan I霉dhach, 鈥檚 e shtshav an t-ainm air an lus.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thog luchd na Beurla an t-ainm Iuidis, ga atharrachadh gu schav. Chan eil schav an-diugh a鈥� ciallachadh an luis fh猫in, ach brot. Ach 鈥檚 e samh an rud as motha sa bhrot. 鈥橲 e brot fuar a tha ann. Tha samh ann, agus uinneanan, s霉gh liomaid, uighean, si霉car agus uachdar goirt.

The plant Rumex acetosa is called samh in Gaelic. People call it common sorrel in English. The English name came from the taste of the leaf. It鈥檚 sour. In Scots its name is sourock.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 It鈥檚 not too clear where the Gaelic name came from. Does the plant have a strong smell? I mean 鈥� does it have a bad smell? I don鈥檛 think so. It must be that samh means something else.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Now, the word samh has many meanings in Dwelly鈥檚 dictionary. For example, clownish or rustic person, savage, flock, herd, giant, a god, the sun, the sea. But none of those explain why Rumex acetosa would be called samh. And Alexander MacBain in his diction-ary 鈥� Etymological Dictionary of the Gaelic Language 鈥� does not explain the origin of the word.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 Thus, here is my own wee idea. Perhaps it originally comes from Polish. Why not [wouldn鈥檛 it]? We talk about vodka, don鈥檛 we?

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 In the old days, people in Scotland were eating sorrel leaves. They were a vegetable. In Eastern Europe people still do that. In Polish the plant鈥檚 name is szczaw (鈥渟hrtav鈥�). The Jews in Eastern Europe were also eating it a lot. They picked up the word from Polish. In Yiddish, the language of the Jews, the plant鈥檚 name is shtsav.

聽聽聽聽聽聽聽 English-speaking people adopt-ed the Yiddish name, modifying it to schav. Schav today doesn鈥檛 mean the plant itself, but a soup. But sorrel is the main ingredient of the soup. It鈥檚 a cold soup. There is sorrel in it, and onions, lemon juice, eggs, sugar and sour cream.