Could anyone of you tell me the origin of the word "congee" as "粥" in cantonese?
Many thanks!
origin of the word "congee"
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Kobo-Daishi
Re: origin of the word "congee"
Dear Jordan,
I figured that the word must be an English word, so I looked the word up at the Oxford English Dictionary web site.
Here is a little something about the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) from their site:
“The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.”
It seems that “congee” is an Anglo-Indian word. Here is their entry for the word (hope it shows up since I copied the entry directly from their web site):
conjee, congee SECOND EDITION
1989
Anglo-Ind.
[ad. Tamil kañji; in Telugu and Canarese gañji, Malay lam ka ni, Urdu ganji: of doubtful origin; ‘not Dravidian’ (G. U. Pope). The Eng. form may have been taken through the Portuguese; Garcia 1563 has canje; candgie, canji, cangia are early representations in other European langs.]
The water in which rice has been boiled; used as an article of diet for invalids, and as starch.
1698 FRYER Acc. E. India IV. vi. 200 They have..a great Stone, on which they beat their Cloaths till clean: and if for family-use, starch them with Congee. 1789 SAUNDERS Boutan & Thibet in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 101 The patient is nourished with congee and other liquids. 1800 J. R. FORSTER tr. Paolino's Voy. 70 (Y.) Cagni, boiled rice water, which the Europeans call Cangi. 1831 E. J. TRELAWNY Adv. Younger Son. I. 290 You must not eat! I have ordered the boy to make you some congee. 1833 A. T. CHRISTIE Epid. Cholera 35 note, This [i.e. the resemblance of cholera-stools to rice-water] has given rise to the vulgar term for the secretion in India, viz. ‘Conjee-evacuations’. 1869 E. A. PARKES Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 227 The rice (or conjee) water contains some albuminous matter.
b. conjee-house: a military ‘lock-up’; ‘so called from the traditionary regimen of the inmates’ (Yule).
1835 SIR C. NAPIER in Mawson Records (1851) 101 note (Y.) All men confined for drunkenness should, if possible, be confined by themselves in the Congee-House, till sober. 1859 DICKENS Haunted Ho. III. 18 They sent me to..a ‘congee house’, where I was fed principally on rice-water.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.
I figured that the word must be an English word, so I looked the word up at the Oxford English Dictionary web site.
Here is a little something about the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) from their site:
“The Oxford English Dictionary is the accepted authority on the evolution of the English language over the last millennium. It is an unsurpassed guide to the meaning, history, and pronunciation of over half a million words, both present and past. It traces the usage of words through 2.5 million quotations from a wide range of international English language sources, from classic literature and specialist periodicals to film scripts and cookery books.”
It seems that “congee” is an Anglo-Indian word. Here is their entry for the word (hope it shows up since I copied the entry directly from their web site):
conjee, congee SECOND EDITION
1989
Anglo-Ind.
[ad. Tamil kañji; in Telugu and Canarese gañji, Malay lam ka ni, Urdu ganji: of doubtful origin; ‘not Dravidian’ (G. U. Pope). The Eng. form may have been taken through the Portuguese; Garcia 1563 has canje; candgie, canji, cangia are early representations in other European langs.]
The water in which rice has been boiled; used as an article of diet for invalids, and as starch.
1698 FRYER Acc. E. India IV. vi. 200 They have..a great Stone, on which they beat their Cloaths till clean: and if for family-use, starch them with Congee. 1789 SAUNDERS Boutan & Thibet in Phil. Trans. LXXIX. 101 The patient is nourished with congee and other liquids. 1800 J. R. FORSTER tr. Paolino's Voy. 70 (Y.) Cagni, boiled rice water, which the Europeans call Cangi. 1831 E. J. TRELAWNY Adv. Younger Son. I. 290 You must not eat! I have ordered the boy to make you some congee. 1833 A. T. CHRISTIE Epid. Cholera 35 note, This [i.e. the resemblance of cholera-stools to rice-water] has given rise to the vulgar term for the secretion in India, viz. ‘Conjee-evacuations’. 1869 E. A. PARKES Pract. Hygiene (ed. 3) 227 The rice (or conjee) water contains some albuminous matter.
b. conjee-house: a military ‘lock-up’; ‘so called from the traditionary regimen of the inmates’ (Yule).
1835 SIR C. NAPIER in Mawson Records (1851) 101 note (Y.) All men confined for drunkenness should, if possible, be confined by themselves in the Congee-House, till sober. 1859 DICKENS Haunted Ho. III. 18 They sent me to..a ‘congee house’, where I was fed principally on rice-water.
Kobo-Daishi, PLLA.