Malay garam and Latin garum share an etymological relationship
the verdict
REFUTED
the evidence says no
refutedsupported
the weight of evidence
0 sources for · 1 against
AS REPORTEDno primary record reached; this is what the reporting says
Linguistic evidence indicates that the Malay word garam stems from an independent Austronesian root rather than having an etymological connection to the Latin garum.
# Is the Malay "garam" (salt) related to the Latin "garum" (fish sauce)?
Tags: etymology, latin, malay
- Score: 5
- Views: 2091
- Answers: 3
- Answered: yes
- Asked by: March Ho (443 rep)
- Asked: 2019-07-16
- Site: linguistics
## Question
The Malay/Indonesian word for salt garam is surprisingly similar to the Latin word for the Roman fish sauce garum.
Since garum was made from fermented salted fish, is there an etymological connection between the two words?
The book The Fisheries of the Oriental Region claims this to be a "strange coincidence" without providing any further information, and I am unable to find any other sources pertaining to this matter.
## Answers
### Answer by user6726 (score: 7 [ACCEPTED])
The Austronesian Basic Vocabulary Database indicates that the Malay term was originally garam sira 'grain of salt', and sira and similar forms are widely attested for 'salt' at proto-levels in various subgroups (Blust reconstructs *qasiʀa for Proto-Austronesian). I think this makes a Latin origin more than unlikely.
### Answer by Mark Beadles (score: 7)
I don't think this is really a bad question - food terms can be the sort of words that can travel readily betwe