Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 11.djvu/428

 352

NOTES AND QUERIES. [io s. XL MAY i, im

other books of reference, as well as in intro- ductions to some of the newer English editions. ALFONZO GARDINER.

Leeds.

Swiss authorities (who surely ought to know) are quite clear (e.g., R. Wolf, ' Bio- graphien zur Kulturgeschichte der Schweiz,' Zurich, vol. i., 1858, p. 372, note 41, and vol. iii., 1860, p. 358, note 3) that this famous work was written by the pastor Johann David Wyss (1743-1818), who is often confused with his far better known son Johann Rudolf Wyss (1781-1830), the famous author of the Swiss National Anthem, " Ruffst du mein Vaterland ? " Both were Bernese. The latter is sometimes called J. R. Wyss the younger, in order to dis- tinguish him from a less-known writer, J. R. Wyss the elder (1763-1845).

W. A. B. COOLIDGE.

Am Sandigenstutz, Grindelwald.

" SERASKIER " : ITS PRONUNCIATION (10 S. xi. 144, 197, 293). I fancy I am past being shocked at the vagaries of pronunciation to which Arabic and Persian words are sub- jected. On the East Coast of Africa the Kiswatuli not only pronounce, but also write, Arabic words in a fashion peculiarly their own. Not only are gutturals dis- carded, but the short middle syllable in Arabic is generally lengthened : for instance, 'askari, a soldier, is pronounced and written askdri ; khabr, news, is habdri ; safar, a journey, is safari. The Turks do not go so far as this ; they mispronounce many Arabic words, but do not alter the spelling. To take an example from MR. PLATT : the Turkish name Mehmed is spelt exactly the same as the Arabic Muhammad, in which there is a strong accent on the second syllable not the first, as stated by MR. PLATT and the only difference is in pro- nunciation. At the same time, I do not think that among the educated classes the difference is so great as MR. PLATT believes it to be. Many years ago I had a good deal of diplomatic business with the Pasha of Basra, a Turkish gentleman of the old school, with whom I drank innumerable cups of coffee and smoked scores of cherry- stemmed chibouques, and I never noticed that he pronounced Arabic and Persian words otherwise than an educated Arab or Persian would. I am sorry I cannot regard Byron as an authority on Turkish pronun- ciation, and I wish that my old correspondent the late Sir J. W. Redhouse were here to give his opinion on the question.

Though I do not consider the Orientalism

of the ' N.E.D.' to be its strongest side, I am surprised to find that in the words medjidie and mudirieh an accent should have been imposed on the last syllable. The Dictionary has apparently taken these words from the French, who spell them medjidie and moudirie. The e does not mean that the letter is stressed, but implies that it forms a separate syllable. The Sultan, 'Abdu-1-Mejid instituted the Order in 1851, and it was called after him, the adjective Mejldly meaning " belonging to Mejld," whence the feminine Mejldiyyeh. Both the second and third syllables are stressed, but certainly not the last. In mudiriyyeh there is the same formation from mudir. There are mudirs in Turkey, but no mudirlyyehs, the jurisdiction of those officials being called a rahiyyeh. There are plenty of mudlrlyyehs in Egypt ; but as the language of that country is Arabic, there is no reason why they should be given a Turkish pronuncia- tion.

Sherbet is not an Arabic word, though it is derived from an Arabic root, sharaba, he drank. I do not know if it was introduced into England from Persia or Turkey, but in the days of old, when Postumus and I used to imbibe on hot days an acidulated liquid of that name, made from a powder purchased from the sweetmeat-sellers in the bazaar, the word was undoubtedly pro- nounced with the accent on the first syllable, and not as Byron's dragoman taught him in Turkey. W. F. PRIDEAUX.

TTJRTON (10 S. xi. 289). Dr. G. W. Marshall's ' Genealogist's Guide ' for 1893 refers to Burke's ' Landed Gentry '; Shaw's ' Staffordshire,' 128, 132 ; ' Visitation of Staffordshire, 1614 and 1663-4,' William Salt Society, 290 ; Erdeswicke's ' Survey of Staffordshire,' 395 ; and Betham's ' Baron- etage,' iv. 368. See also ' D.N.B.' Ivii. 376-7. A. R. BAYLEY.

ASPIRINE (10 S. xi. 290). "Aspirin" is the name of a preparation of acetyl-salicylic acid, patented in 1898 (Brit. pat. 27,088), and introduced by the Farbenfabriken vormals Friedr. Bayer & Co. of Elberfeld. The " new stuff " has no name yet in the patent specification, and the name is no doubt of the patentees' fanciful invention.

L. L. K.

Aspirin is a derivative of salicine, and is used for the same purposes as salicylic acid, namely, the cure of rheumatic and similar pains. The name, invented by the original