Being a confirmed tee-totaller (unless there are more than 167 hours in the week) it never occurred to me that Champagne is not simply a place name but also the correct name for what is often known as 'bubbly'.
As many will know the rules around the right to call anything 'champagne' has to conform to a series of rules and regulations, these are not important here. However it is worthwhile mentioning that the place name refers to land that is 'flat', ironic for a drink often referred to as 'bubbly'. And while on the subject of words we should also note the alternative use of 'varnish', in the late 19th century used to refer to bad champagne.
Always one to enter a quiz, I have never managed to master the oft-repeated questions regarding champagne bottle sizes. Being a man of words perhaps understanding the origin of the names may be of assistance. As the basis for all of these is the standard bottle, it makes sense to start with the basic term.
Bottle, as we know it, evokes an image of something in glass. Yet glass production means this is a comparatively recent development and early bottles were of leather sealed with pitch. This is the reason we occasionally see pubs named the Leathern Bottle. The word 'bottle' came to English from Old French boteille and of Latin origins in buttis 'a cask' which, albeit on a small scale, a bottle could be said to be. Incidentally, purely as a memory aid, a standard bottle contains 0.75 litres.
Magnum, containing the same as two standard bottles or 1.5 litres, is taken directly from the Latin, the neuter of magnus meaning 'great in size'.
Jeroboam, again doubles the volume at 3 litres, is a name taken from the Bible where Jeroboam was said to be 'a mighty man of valour who made Israel to sin'. His name comes from the Hebrew Yarobh'am, literally 'let the people increase'. (Try and stop them!)
Rehoboam, this equal to 4.5 litres, is another Israelite king mentioned in the Bible. His name comes from the Hebrerw and means 'he who enlarges the people'. (I suppose being king has its benefits.)
Methuselah, this 6 litres, is also named after a Biblical character and one of great age, said to be 969 years old at the time of his death. The origin of his name is disputed, some sources give 'man of the spear' while others translate this as 'his death shall bring judgement'. This latter translation is undoubtedly due to the date of his death being the 11th of Chesvan in the year 1656 Anno Mundi - coincidentally seven days before the start of the Great Flood - he being named as Noah's grandfather.
Salmanazar, 9 litres, was the name of five kings of Assyria (correctly Shalmaneser), although the Biblical theme probably points to the last of his name (727-722BC) and conqueror of the northern part of Israel. Their name is said to mean 'Shulmanu is preeminent', in the area of Mesopotamia during the Bronze Age he the god of the underworld, fertility and war. (With so many diverse strings to his proverbial bow no wonder he was considered preeminent.)
Balthazar, 12 litres, is undoubtedly the Biblical king or Magi associated with the nativity. He is held to be the King of Arabia and the one who brought the gift of myrrh. His name is ultimately from the Babylonian Balat-shar-usur or 'save the life of the king' - oddly symbolic of the future death of the infant Christ. (This rather reminiscent of Sleeping Beauty.)
Nebuchadnezzar, 15 litres, keeps us in Babylon where the native tongue spoke of Nabu-kudurri-usur or 'Nabu, protect my first-born son'. The same question occurred to me and I discovered Nabu, son of the god Marduk, was the deity of wisdom. (Perhaps he should be remembered for a quote such as 'don't drink the whole bottle'.)
Solomon, 18 litres, is another associated with wisdom, althogh his name comes from the Hebrew shelomo meaning 'peaceful' and related to shalom.
Sovereign, 26.25 litres, is a later term and of much later etymology. First seen in English in the 14th century, it comes from Old French soverain and Latin superanus 'chief, principal'. Whomsoever came up with this did not look into the origins of the word as it is not the largest. (And no, not going near that Latin word or its meaning.)
Primat, 27 litres, is another Biblical name although we would know the character better as 'Goliath'. 'Primat' comes from Latin primus 'first', and while 'Goliath' is today a synonym for large size, it actually only refers to a person from Gath, one of the five city states of the Philistines. 'Gath', sometimes as 'Geth', was once a common place name in the Middle East. The origins of the name are not overly clear but, for obvious reasons, we shall opt for the most popularly quoted meaning of 'wine press'. Goliath maybe, but still not the largest.
Melchizedek, 30 litres, is another Biblical figure, this king of Salem and a priest of El Elyon mentioned in Genesis. His name comes from the Hebrew Malki-tzedeq and literally describes 'the king of righteousness'. (Perhaps not the best choice for something which is going to be extremely difficult to pour, never mind drink. Here the volume of liquid alone is going to tip the scales at almost 60 pounds - and the glass bottle will add considerably to this.)
It should be noted how, the method of fermentation being in the bottle, means only the standard bottle and the magnum see champagne produced in the correct way. Furthermore the latter is considered of superior quality, as there is less oxygen in the bottle, and the volume to surface area favours the creation of appropriately sized bubbles. However, there is no hard evidence for this view. Other bottle sizes are generally filled with champagne fermented in standard bottles or magnums.
It seems that exercise, while interesting, will never prove a useful memory aid. However I did find a mnemonic listing the seven most popularly-named bottle sizes and using the initial of each in ascending size order with: "My Judy Really Makes Splendid Belching Noises". Hardly the most memorable mnemonic - except perhaps for Judy.
Note sizes larger than the Jeroboam are rare and some of the larger sizes are not universally acknowledged.
Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Noah. Show all posts
Sunday, 22 January 2017
Sunday, 31 May 2015
Armenian Place Names Explained
Having blogged samples of my books on English place names and also examined the etymologies of the nations of the world and their respective capitals, I began looking elsewhere. This time to Eastern Europe and the nation of Armenia, where the capital contains around a third of the total population of 3 million, and there is only one other settlement with more than one hundred thousand inhabitants. Note that while figures are difficult to prove, it is thought there are more than 5 million Armenians living outside the boundaries of the present nation. We begin with the largest and, as is often the case, the capital city.
Yerevan is not only the capital but can lay claim to one of the oldest continually-inhabited cities on the planet, although it has only been the capital city since 1918 when it became the thirteenth to be nominated as such. Traditionally the city was named after King Yervand IV, the last of his name to rule Armenia and also the last leader of the Orontid Dynasty, which died out around 200BC, and known founder of the city of Yervandashat. More likely is this was named from the Urartian fort of Erebuni, built on the same site as the modern city in 782 BC. This evolved from Erebuni, through Erevani, Erewan, Ervan, Arevan, Revan, Ayravan and Erevan to modern Yerevan. This is recognised in the name of the modern national anthem, Erebuni - Yerevan adopted on September 27th 2004. Little is known about the origin of Erebuni, although writers from the early Christian era in Armenia maintained it came from Noah, whose exclamation meant "It's appeared!" when the ark landed on Mount Ararat. This famed mountain not only dominates the city but is also the symbol of the Armenian nation.
Gyumri has been renamed several times. Founded as Kumaryi it became Alexabdropol under Russian rule from 1837 to 1924, then through Soviet influence the Armenian Leninakan until 1990, when the modern name was adopted. The original name is thought to be a local pronunciation of the Cimmerians who conquered this region around 720 BC. The Cimmerians were of Iranian extraction, possibly known as the Gimirri and hailing from the city of Gamir. The origin of their name is even more uncertain than the history of these people, although the modern Georgian word Gimirri has been used to mean 'hero'. As already stated this is the only other city with a population exceeding six figures and yet that may not be true for much longer if current trends persist. Figures from the 2011 census give this a population of 121,976, a significant reduction from 10 years previously when it numbered 150,917, almost 20%.
Vanadzor is another having several names, Gharakilisa (the Turkic for 'the black church' and a reference to the black stone of the 13th-century church of the Holy Mother of God) under Russian rule, the Soviets knew the place as Kirovakan (after the Bolshevik leader Sergey Kirov), and as the modern name from 1992. The present name comes from the Vanadzor River, itself of unknown origin.
Vagharsapat has evidence of human habitation for at least five thousand years. The first written evidence of the settlement comes from 685 BC when it was known as Kuarlini, although later writings suggest it had been known as Artimed, from the Ancient Greek god Artemis, and later Avan Vardegesi or 'town of Vardges', and got this name from Valashabad and named after King Valash during the Byzantine rule of the 1st century AD. The minor change to the modern form reflects changes in the Armenian language.
Kapan comes directly from the Armenian kapel meaning 'to lock' and describes the topographical feature where the valley is surrounded by mountain chains.
Artashat is of Iranian origin and speaks of 'the joy of Arta', an Iranian religious ideal.
Ijevan was formerly known as Karavansara, each meaning 'inn' in Armenian and Persian, respectively. This is an indication this place was on an important trade route and continues to be so to this day.
Goris was formerly known as Kores and Gorayk, both simply variations of the present name. Several explanations have been offered as to its origins, most often attributed to the Indo-European gor es or 'the rocky place'.
Charentsavan is of recent origins, named in 1967 after Yeghishe Charents, an Armenian poet, writer and activist.
Ararat is a town and province of Armenia, all clearly named after one of the world's most famous peaks. It is also known as Masis, derived from the Armenian King Amasya; as Agri Dagi, the Ottoman Turkish name meaning 'heavy mountain'; as Ciyaye Agiri or 'fiery mountain', a reminder this is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1840; and as Kuh-e-Nuh, the Persian for 'Noah's mountain' and named from the Islamic viewpoint. The most common of Ararat comes from the ancient kingdom of Urartu, itself of Assyrian origin and thought to refer to a region where several kingdoms or tribes were resident for it means simply 'lands'. The Urartians themselves, first records date from some 3,300 years ago, called the place Khaldini after their god Khaldi.
Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.
Yerevan is not only the capital but can lay claim to one of the oldest continually-inhabited cities on the planet, although it has only been the capital city since 1918 when it became the thirteenth to be nominated as such. Traditionally the city was named after King Yervand IV, the last of his name to rule Armenia and also the last leader of the Orontid Dynasty, which died out around 200BC, and known founder of the city of Yervandashat. More likely is this was named from the Urartian fort of Erebuni, built on the same site as the modern city in 782 BC. This evolved from Erebuni, through Erevani, Erewan, Ervan, Arevan, Revan, Ayravan and Erevan to modern Yerevan. This is recognised in the name of the modern national anthem, Erebuni - Yerevan adopted on September 27th 2004. Little is known about the origin of Erebuni, although writers from the early Christian era in Armenia maintained it came from Noah, whose exclamation meant "It's appeared!" when the ark landed on Mount Ararat. This famed mountain not only dominates the city but is also the symbol of the Armenian nation.
Gyumri has been renamed several times. Founded as Kumaryi it became Alexabdropol under Russian rule from 1837 to 1924, then through Soviet influence the Armenian Leninakan until 1990, when the modern name was adopted. The original name is thought to be a local pronunciation of the Cimmerians who conquered this region around 720 BC. The Cimmerians were of Iranian extraction, possibly known as the Gimirri and hailing from the city of Gamir. The origin of their name is even more uncertain than the history of these people, although the modern Georgian word Gimirri has been used to mean 'hero'. As already stated this is the only other city with a population exceeding six figures and yet that may not be true for much longer if current trends persist. Figures from the 2011 census give this a population of 121,976, a significant reduction from 10 years previously when it numbered 150,917, almost 20%.
Vanadzor is another having several names, Gharakilisa (the Turkic for 'the black church' and a reference to the black stone of the 13th-century church of the Holy Mother of God) under Russian rule, the Soviets knew the place as Kirovakan (after the Bolshevik leader Sergey Kirov), and as the modern name from 1992. The present name comes from the Vanadzor River, itself of unknown origin.
Vagharsapat has evidence of human habitation for at least five thousand years. The first written evidence of the settlement comes from 685 BC when it was known as Kuarlini, although later writings suggest it had been known as Artimed, from the Ancient Greek god Artemis, and later Avan Vardegesi or 'town of Vardges', and got this name from Valashabad and named after King Valash during the Byzantine rule of the 1st century AD. The minor change to the modern form reflects changes in the Armenian language.
Kapan comes directly from the Armenian kapel meaning 'to lock' and describes the topographical feature where the valley is surrounded by mountain chains.
Artashat is of Iranian origin and speaks of 'the joy of Arta', an Iranian religious ideal.
Ijevan was formerly known as Karavansara, each meaning 'inn' in Armenian and Persian, respectively. This is an indication this place was on an important trade route and continues to be so to this day.
Goris was formerly known as Kores and Gorayk, both simply variations of the present name. Several explanations have been offered as to its origins, most often attributed to the Indo-European gor es or 'the rocky place'.
Charentsavan is of recent origins, named in 1967 after Yeghishe Charents, an Armenian poet, writer and activist.
Ararat is a town and province of Armenia, all clearly named after one of the world's most famous peaks. It is also known as Masis, derived from the Armenian King Amasya; as Agri Dagi, the Ottoman Turkish name meaning 'heavy mountain'; as Ciyaye Agiri or 'fiery mountain', a reminder this is a dormant volcano which last erupted in 1840; and as Kuh-e-Nuh, the Persian for 'Noah's mountain' and named from the Islamic viewpoint. The most common of Ararat comes from the ancient kingdom of Urartu, itself of Assyrian origin and thought to refer to a region where several kingdoms or tribes were resident for it means simply 'lands'. The Urartians themselves, first records date from some 3,300 years ago, called the place Khaldini after their god Khaldi.
Note the spellings of the places are English as the piece is written in English.
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