Talk:Ginger/Archive 2

Other Uses

In Korea and Japan, Ginger is used for a hot tea. This is called Saenggangcha (Korea) or Shoga Yu (Japan). In Japan, grated Ginger is also used as a condiment for some types of sushi (instead of Wasabi). For example, Aji or Katsuo would usually be served with ginger, not wasabi.

Semi-protected edit request on 2 December 2017

The word Ginger may be from an ancient Dravidian name that also produced the Tamil name for the spice, inchi-ver, from inchi "root." Arasupedia (talk) 09:36, 2 December 2017 (UTC)

Not done: please provide reliable sources that support the change you want to be made. Winged Blades ^Godric 15:42, 2 December 2017 (UTC)

The Wikitionary page for ginger already has the proper Tamil derivation for ginger = இஞ்சி ("inchi"/"inji" - ginger) + வேர் ("vEr" - root). Tamil is a part of the Dravidian language family. The Dravidian Etymological Dictionary published by Oxford University Press shows that those base words are Dravidian in origin: inji - https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/burrow_query.py?page=41, and ver - https://dsalsrv04.uchicago.edu/cgi-bin/app/burrow_query.py?page=505. It is also worth noting that the source used at the end of the paragraph to cite the Sanskrit origin of the word also mentions at the end that such a derivation may be more of a Sanskrit folklore, and that the derivation comes from Dravidian / Tamil, but also mixes up the meanings of the constituent words in doing so. It's easy to understand the derivation into Indo-European and Sanskrit through the linguistic "spreading processes" of sounds within a word and/or Grimm's Law. Elangoc (talk) 18:32, 5 August 2018 (UTC)

 Not done: The Wiktionary entry doesn't cite its sources, and other open wikis aren't citable sources per WP:SPS and WP:CIRC. We can't combine information in multiple sources to draw a conclusion not explicitly stated by any source. That's a form of original research called synthesis, which isn't permitted on Wikipedia. To have this information added to the article, please provide reliable sources that explicitly state the information you would like to have added. ‑‑ElHef (Meep?) 13:59, 7 August 2018 (UTC)

The Oxford English Dictionary cites the Dravidian origin of the word: https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/ginger The book Crops Production Technology has a chapter about ginger, in which the first page has info including the etymology of ginger, saying: "The English name 'Ginger' comes from French word 'gingembre', Old English: 'gingifere', Medieval Latin: 'ginginer', Greek: 'zingíberis'. Ultimately, the origin is from Tamil word 'inji ver' or Malayalam word 'inji veru'. The botanical term for root in Tamil is 'ver' and Malayalam is 'veru', hence inji root or 'injiver' in Orissa." Next, the website of Selected Words of Indian Language Origin by Iranga Fernando that also draws from the aforementioned sources -- Oxford English Dictionary and the Dravidian Etymological Dictionary -- also provides the same derivation logic. And finally, Occam's Razor -- the existing Etymology section of the page saying that the derivation from Sanskrit from srngam "horn" and vera- "body" is a little tenuous at face value, and in comparison to inji (ginger) + vEr (root), is highly dubious. In the 150 years since Caldwell's book (citation of current page's etymology verbiage), much much more has been found out about the depth and antiquity of Tamil language (the ancient literature collected by Dhamodarampillai and U.V. Saminaathaiyar), proving that Tamil was a contemporary of Sanskrit language, and to the point that there was much Dravidian influence in the earliest veda, Rig Veda [https://www.harappa.com/sites/default/files/pdf/dravidian-indus.pdf%7CDravidian Proof of the Indus Script via the Rig Veda: A Case Study]. Caldwell's book, which also established the separate language family called Dravidian, was a groundbreaking work for its time in the mid-1800s, but much more discoveries since then have refined our knowledge, making the work an insufficient source here to maintain the current association in the face of the obvious.— Preceding unsigned comment added by Elangoc (talk • contribs) 18:49, 26 December 2018 (UTC)

​Done, have included both explanations. – Thjarkur (talk) 12:58, 18 January 2020 (UTC)

reword "The inflorescences bear pale yellow with purple flowers"

Under Horticulture: Ginger produces clusters of white and pink flower buds that bloom into yellow flowers. So, I don't think it was supposed to be "bear pale yellow buds with purple flowers". Is "yellow with purple" a standard phrase when describing a flower? Does it mean mostly yellow, with purple markings? Jmichael ll (talk) 16:02, 22 May 2020 (UTC)

There are several ginger flower images at Wikimedia Commons. I chose one, added it to the article, and modified the lede description. Feel free to edit further. Zefr (talk) 16:38, 22 May 2020 (UTC)