What is the language that has most foreign words? Its English!
Did you know that English isn’t completely English at all? Surprised? Yes, unlike “swaragalu” in Kannada or “aksharamala” in Hindi, even the word “alphabet” in English comes from Greek (A = Alpha and B = Beta). Out of curiosity, I asked my dad how many words in English have it roots from Kannada.
He was glad about my interest and talked to me about “Etymology – understanding words origins”. He suggested that I take help of online dictionaries like Cambridge and Wiktionary. Based on his suggestions I did some research and I found the following:
English Word Kannnada Word Description
Avaram Avarekai A type of green legume/seed Congee Ganji Porridge made with water and rice;
Cutcherry Kutchery Any administrative office
Mongoose Mungusi Popular snake eating animal
Teak Tegu A tree known for its strength
Dhole Thola Kind of Asian Dog / Wolf
Trubuchet Tribhuja Large catapult used in olden day wars
Wootz steel Ukku A kind of molten steel
Canarese Canara Belonging to Canara region (Ankola, Sirsi, ....................... ................. Bhatkal, Honnavar, Karwar, Mangalore, etc)
Some of the above Kannada words are found in other regional languages like Malayalam, Sanskrit, Tamil, and Telugu and in such cases, etymologists have mentioned them too.
Friends, if you know other words in English that has a root in Kannada, please feel free to share with me.
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