Samedi 23 octobre 2010
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One common yet erroneous explanation for this word's origin is that it comes from flutterby.
What we do know, instead, is that this word is very old (pre-8th century). It was originally buturfliogæ, a compound of butere "butter"
and fleoge "fly". Why butter? Some suggest that it was due to many butterflies being yellow in color, like butter. Others believe it is based upon the yellow excrement of butterflies.
Still others hold to the notion that butterflies were thought to land in kitchens and drink milk or butter left uncovered (this, interestingly, is supported by a German word for butterfly,
milchdieb "milk-thief").
From the net.
As author and etymologist David Feldman once asked, “Who put the butter in butterfly?”
From the net.
As author and etymologist David Feldman once asked, “Who put the butter in butterfly?”
The English common name did originate from the relatively simple combination of “butter” and “fly,” there’s a written old English citation for buttorfleoge, but
the literal origin is lost. Some sources have erroneously suggested that the excrement of butterflies is thought to resemble butter. The problem with this, of course, is that other than to void
excess water, butterflies do not excrete! Caterpillars do because they are the active growing stage, although a simple consideration of what they eat will make you wonder why anyone would
consider that it, commonly called frass, resembled butter! Intriguingly, the larvae of the Jamaican Mexican Fritillary, Euptoieta hegesia hegesia (Nymphalidae), when fed exclusively on the
yellow flowers of their preferred host plant, Turnera ulmifolia (Turneraceae), do excrete yellow frass! When a butterfly emerges from its chrysalis it voids its last larval meal and the waste
byproducts of metamorphosis in meconium, a fluid that is most often blood colored (which would lead one to “bloodfly” not “butterfly”).
More likely origins include considering the that males of the common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni, Pieridae) of England are butter-colored, or that, as author Samuel Jackson suggested, butterflies and the churning of butter are the simultaneous harbingers of spring, or that the word derives from the old myth that witches and fairies stole butter in the night, in the form of butterflies. The first of these is probably the most likely explanation but there is some etymological evidence for the last.
More likely origins include considering the that males of the common brimstone butterfly (Gonepteryx rhamni, Pieridae) of England are butter-colored, or that, as author Samuel Jackson suggested, butterflies and the churning of butter are the simultaneous harbingers of spring, or that the word derives from the old myth that witches and fairies stole butter in the night, in the form of butterflies. The first of these is probably the most likely explanation but there is some etymological evidence for the last.
Regardless, the word – at least in English – is unique although I find that it has posed some interesting problems. Think about this: its common to call
birdwatchers “birders” but what would one call a butterflywatcher? A butterflier? I don’t think so. It sounds too much like a food fight to me. And I can’t say I’m particularly enamored of the
alternatives, lepper or bugger, either!
Have you ever wondered what they call butterflies in languages other than English? I thought that I knew quite a few of them until I found this list!
Alatea
Have you ever wondered what they call butterflies in languages other than English? I thought that I knew quite a few of them until I found this list!
Alatea
In other languages:
| African (Suto, Tswana , Pedi, Southern Sotho) | Serurubele (see-roo-roo-bear-lair) |
| Hindi | Titli |
| Hungarian | Lepke, Pillango |
| Indonesian | Kupu-kupu |
| Italian | Farfalla |
| Maori | Pepeke |
| Spanish | Mari-posa |
| Japanese | Chou chou |
Par SisKiwiCouic
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Publié dans : Polyglotterie
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Communauté : L'agrume pressé
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