From: benlizro@ihug.co.nz
On 2/09/2025 1:36 a.m., DDeden wrote:
>
> Ross Clark posted:
>
>> On 25/08/2025 8:08 a.m., DDeden wrote:
>>>
>>> Camphor, a white crystalline tree resin, from PMP qapuR : lime from burnt
coral/shell, for betel chewing, also a white crystalline powder, used around
SEA but not at Vanatua where kava2 usage originated (kava <~ qapuR?).
>>>
>>> https://groups.io/g/1WorldofWords/message/630
>>>
>>> Camphor sounds similar to camp, kampong, kampf, xyuambuatl; perhaps
derived from use of calcium for cement or ceramic?
>>> Was powdered limestone mixed with mud or manure in house (mortar, brick,
adobe?) construction?
>>>
>>> QapuR distinct from kapu = taboo
>>>
>>> Camphor was burnt at Batu Caves, M'sia during Thaipusam Indian festival
which I attended.
>>>
>>
>> Camphor sounds to me like a product of medieval technology, hence not
>> likely to be of any great antiquity in Austronesian cultures or
>> languages. Blust has a PAN *dakeS for the camphor laurel (Cinnamomum
>> spp.), but attested only in Formosan languages.
>> Otherwise nothing.
>>
>> OED traces English "camphor" and the other European words through Arabic
>> kāfūr, and kāpūr in Old Persian, Hindi and Malay. They also cite a
>> Sanskrit karpūram, but don't say how early that form is (they never do),
>> or whether there is any evidence whether it's a local formation or a
>> borrowing. I would see the Malay word as a straight borrowing from India
>> or Persia, particularly given the long vowels in both syllables.
>> My 1960s Eng-Indo dictionary doesn't even give a word for camphor. (It's
>> not as common a household product as it used to be.) However, Winstedt
>> says it's Malay kapor Barus. I don't know what "Barus" is supposed to
>> mean there, but "kapor" is defnitely lime or lime-kiln. So clearly
>> somebody saw a resemblance with that other white crystalline substance.
>>
>> PAN *qapuR, PMP *kapuR for lime (calcium carbonate), made by burning
>> shell or coral limestone, used in betel-chewing, have reflexes all
>> through AN as far as the Solomons. And, as you say, that's where the
>> betel stops and kava begins. I don't think the name of Piper methysticum
>> is related to the lime words. Proto-Oceanic *kawa is based on
>> Polynesian, southern Vanuatu and a scattering of other cognate forms.
>> (In most of Vanuatu it's called *maloqu.) John Lynch's conclusion was
>> that it was a metathetic variant of *wakaR 'root'.
>>
>> The word *qapuR is still around in Vanuatu, often with adjacent senses
>> such as "ashes" or "dust". Lime itself had other uses -- notably for
>> bleaching hair (or even a head-covering when out fishing -- Buck, Samoan
>> Material Culture) -- so the making of it never disappeared. In Fijian
>> and Polynesian it's called *lase -- originally the coral rock from which
>> it's derived.
>
> That is interesting.
>
> I'd think Persian & Indian traders got kapur name from SEAsia, from powder
via heat or maceration.
>
>
> "All the plant parts of camphor tree have the distinctive, easy-to-recognise
camphoraceous odor." One could get medicinal benefit without complex methods
of distillation just by heating foliage, bark & woodchips, in sunlight, later
near fire, so
probably very ancient. I would guess originally it was chewed into a pulp and
spit into a bowl, similarly to how kava was chewed(?). A still can be made
with bamboo & clay pots, perhaps leaving a crystalline powder on the
receptacle.
>
> Taiwan was rich in camphor laurels until industrial extraction.
>
> "The finest camphor came from Malaya, Borneo and Sumatra, but long-distance
trade took it to societies at the geographical poles of demand - China and the
medieval West already in late Antiquity (ca. 6th century A.D.). In India it
was in use at an even
much earlier period."
>
> Barus: a west Sumatran port where camphor was traded.
>
> Pure Barus camphor is a natural, crystalline substance that sublimes
(evaporates without leaving a residue).
>
> Origin of the Name
> Kapur Barus:
> This term comes from the Malay word "kapur," meaning "chalk," referring to
its white color.
> Barus:
> This was an ancient port on the western coast of Sumatra where foreign
traders would purchase this camphor, leading to the name "kapur Barus" or
"chalk of Barus".
> Historical Significance
> Trade:
> Barus was a significant trading hub for this valuable commodity in ancient
times, linking Southeast Asian production with Indian and Middle Eastern
markets.
> Medicine and Rituals:
> In India and Southeast Asia, pure Barus camphor has long been used in Hindu
religious rituals, as an Ayurvedic medicine, and as a fumigant.
> Characteristics
> Natural Product:
> Barus camphor is extracted from camphor trees found in regions like Sumatra.
> Sublimation:
> When pure, it is a volatile compound that sublimes, meaning it turns
directly from a solid to a gas without melting.
>
Hm. OK, this makes sense now. I can believe Austronesian is the source
of the word (leaving the Sanskrit form and the long vowels as probably
explainable).
Even found a nice article on it in good old _Hobson-Jobson_, where they
say there are three types of camphor:
a. Borneo and Sumatra (from Dryobalanops aromatica)
b. China and Japan (from Cinnamomum camphora)
c. China (ngai camphor) (from Blumea balsamifera)
And that the relative prices of these on the Canton market (1886) are in
the ratio: a. 80 b. 1 c. 10.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)
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