Chunte
Chunte arabice .i. biruach et est affodillus.
Apparatus:
Chunte f | Chuce f {'n' missed; 't' misread as 'c'} | Cunche j | Cũthe p | Cunite B | Chumbe AC {'nt' or 'nit' misread as 'mb'}
biruach ms. e | biruhac j | birruhac p {first ‘r’ faint} | birnach AC {'u' misread as 'n'} | binarch B {'u' misread as 'n'; 'r' misplaced} | baurach f {perhaps < baruach? and confused with baurach}
affodillus | affodilus A | afodilus B
Translation:
Chunte is Arabic, also biruach, and in Latin it is affodilus {"asphodel"}.
Commentary:
Chunte:
Siggel (1950: 33): ﺧﻨﺘﻰ {/ḫunṯā/ = ﺷﺮﻳﺶ /širīš/ Ornithogalum stachyoides (Lil.). {N.b. Ornithogalum stachyoides Sol. is a synonym of Ornithogalum narbonense L. "Narbonne Star-of-Bethlehem"
[[1]], [[2]]} oder Asphodelus ramosus (Lil.) {i.e. or Asphodelus ramosus} "Branched asphodel” [[3]], [[4]].
ﺧﻨﻰ {/ḫunṯā/ meaning “hermaphroditic” is a derivative of the root √ḫnṯ “be effeminate”, thus the name alludes to the hermaphroditic flowers of the asphodel, e.g. Asphodelus albus Mill. [[5]].
For a different transcription of ﺧﻨﺘﻰ /ḫunṯā/ see Kunte.
biruach:
Cf. Lane (1984: 191): ﺑﺮﻭﺍﻑ {/barwāq/}. "A certain plant also called ﺧﻨﺘﻰ {/ḫunṯā/} [i.e. the asphodel, called by both these names in the present day]. …"
Siggel (1950: 19): ﺑﺮﻭﺍﻑ /barwāq/ e. Asphodelos (Lil.) {i.e. "an Asphodelus species"} [[6]].
A vocalisation closer to Simon’s is attested in Karbstein (2002: 89): “19 Affodill Asphodelus albus Mill. ﺑﺮﻭﻕ ﻫﻮ ﺧﻨﺜﺎ /birwaq huwa ḫunṯā/ - "/birwaq/ is the same as /ḫunṯā/".
WilfGunther 10:55, 6 August 2014 (BST)
See also: Asfodillos
