"turkey bird" Why are turkey birds called (turkeys) even though they come from north america ?turkey birds came first from america to the middle east, then middle eastern merchants brought turkey bird

osama said

"turkey bird"

Why are turkey birds called (turkeys) even though they come from north america ?

turkey birds came first from america to the middle east, then middle eastern merchants brought turkey birds to England. Therefore, the English people called them (turkeys bird) as the Arabian and middle eastern people were called: the turkeys (because that area was part of the Ottoman Empire)

Note: in Egypt we call it (الديك الرومي) which mean: the Roman cock (in the past we called the European and American people ,in general, the Romans)"

Aug 14, 2019 9:49 PM

Comments · 5

If you don't mind, I've corrected your English.

Why are turkey birds called "turkeys" even though, they come from South America?

Turkey birds first came from South America (I felt like it would've been better to specify.) to the middle east. Then, middle eastern merchants brought turkey birds to England. Therefore, the English people called them "turkey birds" as the Arabian and middle eastern people were called, "the turkeys". (Since that area was part of the Ottoman Empire.)

Note: In Egypt we called it (الديك الرومي) which means "the Roman cock". (In the past, we called the European and American people, in general, "the Romans".)

August 15, 2019

I personally think it's the language which has changed. I've never heard anyone say the general noun after the name. For example, we call peacocks, peacocks. Even though, they aren't native to us, we don't call them "peacock birds".

However, now that I'm thinking about it, it could be a regional thing. Maybe the English in other parts of the world do say the general noun after the name. However, I know that U.S (American) English and Canadian English do not say it like that.

August 15, 2019

Turkeys are native to North America. There are theories that the name comes from the traders who were exporting/importing them to Europe.

August 15, 2019

The word روم (Room) in Arabic refers to the Eastern Roman (Byzantine) Empire. Arabs used to believe that turkeys came from there.

There’s another word for turkeys in Arabic: ديك حبش (Deek Habash). Habash refers to Habasha, i.e. Abyssinia (modern-day Ethiopia). Because some Arabs believed that’s where turkeys came from.

In fact, turkeys have many different geographic names based on where people thought they came from: <a href="https://senselist.com/2006/11/17/21-geographically-confused-names-for-the-turkey/" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: 100%; -webkit-tap-highlight-color: transparent;">https://senselist.com/2006/11/17/21-geographically-confused-names-for-the-turkey/</a>;

August 14, 2019