Karmem
Karmez arabice grana tinctorum apud Dyascoridem vocatur coccus infectivus.
Apparatus:
Karmeʒ AC jp | Karmes e | Karmen f | Karmẽ B
grana | granuʒ f
tinctorum apud Dyascoridem vocatur coccus om. j
{tinctorum} ms. p adds an attempt to write ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qirmiz/ in Arabic script
coccus AC | cocus f | coquus B p | coqus e
Translation:
Karmez is Arabic for Latin grana tinctorum {lit. “dyers’ grains”}, which is called coccus infectivus {“scale insect used for dyeing”} in Dyascorides.
Commentary:
Karmeʒ:
Cf. Wehr (1976): ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qirmiz/ kermes (the dried bodies of the female kermes insect, coccus ilicis, which yield a red dyestuff). ﻗﺮﻣﺰﻯ /qirmizī/ “crimson, carmine; scarlet”.
Siggel (1950: 59) ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qirmiz/ Karmoisinfarbe v. d. Larve d. Coccus baphica auf d. Quercus ilex {i.e. “carmine colour from the larva of {the scale insect} C. baphica on Q. ilex” {or ‘the kermes oak’}}.
The forms in witnesses B and f are the result of misreadings of Karmeʒ, where “ʒ” is misinterpreted as “sideways m” rather than the “elongated z” it is supposed to be and therefore the form was expanded to *Karmem, which in turn was abbreviated to Karmẽ, which was reexpanded by another copyist to Karmen.
In the related entries Grana tinctorum and Cocchus infectivus the word is transcribed karmes.
As so often a closer vocalisation to Simon’s is found in Andalusi Arabic, e.g. in the Glossarium Latino-Arabicum (1900: 75): coccus vel ciccineus ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qarmaz/ [[1]].
The Vocabulista glossary, ed. Schiaparelli (1871: 160): ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qarmaz/ Cogcinum [[2]]; (1871: 296) COGCINUM ﻗﺮﻣﺰ /qarmaz/; ﻗﺮﻣﺰﻯ /qarmazī/ [[3]].
Pedro de Alcalá 1883: 263: grana color {"scarlet"} cármeç [[4]].
For further Andalusi witnesses see Corriente (1997: 425), s.v. *(QRMZ).
The etymology of this word is somewhat unclear, but see Corriente op.cit. who sees it as “from Iranian origin, cf. F. {= Farsi} kerm e azi ‘dyeing worm’”; {cf. Steingass kirm “worm”}.
Old Spanish carmez (in Leonese documents of the 10th c. A.D.) is an obvious loan from Andalusi Arabic, but at the same time forms with “e” vocalisation like (al)quermes point to the existence of non-Iberian Arabic /qirmiz/, cf. Corominas (1980: I.876-7) s.v. CARMESÍ. The distribution history of this word in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as the etymological history of those forms that exist in most European languages, reflects a rather complicated loan situation. {Cf. Corominas, op.cit.)
English carmine and crimson are ultimately derived from /qarmaz, qirmiz/; also kermes, the name for the pregnant female of the insect Coccus ilicis that was formerly supposed to be a berry. Cf. the name “kermes oak”, i.e. Quercus coccifera L., {cf. Onions (1966: 503 s.v.).
WilfGunther (talk) 12:25, 14 April 2016 (BST)
For further information see also Cocchus infectivus, Grana tinctorum, Kokkos
