Date:    Tue, 24 Feb 1998 11:32:23 +0900
<br>From:    Daniel Long  dlong[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]JOHO.OSAKA-SHOIN.AC.JP 
<br>Subject: Re: hurache
<br>
<br>Thanks to Don Lance and Jim Rader for the info about huarache (which I
<br>spelled rong in the subject line).  I had thought this was a pretty
<br>unlikely etymology, but it is written in THE dictionary.  I won't say
<br>which one, but its initials are _American Heritage Dictionary of the
<br>English Language_, 3rd edition on CD-ROM, 1992 Houghton Mifflin.  They
<br>say, "probably from Japanese *warachi* straw sandal".  Their Japanese
<br>sourceword is incorrect as well.  The word is *waraji*.  There are
<br>various historical and geographical variants; none of which are
<br>*warachi*.
<br>To Merriam-Webster's credit, Jim Rader's etymology (though not in such
<br>detail) was in their 10th Collegiate which I had on CD-ROM. . .  I
<br>called myself checking that dictionary before I posted this query, but I
<br>had missed it somehow.  Guess I have to more careful next time.
<br>
<br>Incidentally, I have found that Takeaki Enomoto led the first Japanese
<br>immigrants to Mexico in 1897.  Ten years after the OED English source
<br>(and this isn't even considering how far the word went back in Mexican
<br>Spanish).  Had I known this earlier, this info itself would have pretty
<br>much ruled out the Jap. etymology.
<br>
<br>  Sandals made out of one material or other were worn by Mexican Indians
<br>  before Cortes; a Japanese origin for such a word is wildly
<br>  improbable.
<br>
<br>Again, I appreciate the detailed etymological information that was
<br>sent.  Now I'll have actual evidence to use again this claim.  I think
<br>that coming up with a more plausible  alternative etymology is the best
<br>way to discredit wobbly explanations like this.  However, just because a
<br>thing (a word for it) already existed in a culture is no indication that
<br>those people will not adopt a foreign word.  This kind of "wildly
<br>improbable" thing happens in language all the time.  Japanese had milk
<br>and strawberries for centuries (along with perfectly good names for
<br>them), but that hasn't stopped them from borrowing "miruku" and
<br>"sutooberii".  And then there are all those words that the Anglo-Saxons
<br>borrowed from the Normans for things that they had already had, just
<br>cause those Norman words sounded so chic.  They already had *swine*, but
<br>I'd say they did a pretty wildly improbable thing by adopting *pork*.
<br>
<br>Danny Long
<br>--
<br>Daniel Long, Associate Professor     tel  +81-6-723-8297
<br>Japanese Language Research Center    fax  +81-6-723-8302
<br>Osaka Shoin Women's College         dlong[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]joho.osaka-shoin.ac.jp
<br>4-2-26 Hishiyanishi                 http://www.age.ne.jp/x/oswcjlrc/
<br>Higashi-Osaka-shi, Osaka Japan 577-8550
<br>