Grape names - memorable meanings

 Meaningful grapes

Some time ago I started to write a blog post about the strange tendency of white grape varieties to start (like ‘vine’, ‘vino’ and ‘variety’) with the letter v. There are Viognier, Vermentino, Viura, Verdicchio, Vidal, Verdejo, Verdelho and others. That post never saw the light of day, but it came to mind when a friend reminded me that Merlot is named after merle, French for 'blackbird'. (They like to eat it.) Indeed, in Occitan, the local language of Merlot’s birthplace, the bird is called merlau.

Many other grape varieties have meaningful names. Some are a bit obscure, such as the Catalan name for Tempranillo: Ull de Llebre, rabbit's eye or hare’s eye. Perhaps it's the shape of the berries, or the bunches. Many others are quite obvious, such as those involving nero (Latin) or mavro (Greek), both meaning black. There are Nero d’Avola from Sicily, Mavro on Cyprus, Mavrud in Bulgaria and Mavrodafni etc from Greece.

But there are many more surprising ones.

French Grape Names

France first. Colombard (largely used for cognac) is from colombe, dove, referring to the skin colour.

Folle Blanche (cognac, armagnac) is 'mad white' because it grows so fast, hence also known as Grand Plant & Enrageat 'enraged'.

Syrah's synonym is Sérine (the name of the family it heads), which is from the Latin sera 'late' (it's late ripening) as in buonasera.

Italian Grapes

Lambrusco = lam brusco where lam is berry (e.g. lampone 'raspberry') plus 'brusque' so 'wild grape'. The minor French grape Fer also means wild, as in ‘feral’.

There are many lambrusco somethings and one, lambrusco salamino is named after guess what, salami, having cylindrical bunches.

Spain

Next, Spain. Monastrell (Mourvèdre in France) is from the Latin monasteriu 'monastery'. Tempranillo is 'early ripening'.

Italy

Then Italy has many. Dolcetto is ‘little sweet’. Nebbiolo (Barolo) is from nebbia 'fog' as the berries grow a thick bloom. Think nebulous.

Pecorino is from pecora 'sheep' like the cheese though I’m not sure whether the connection is proximity, the sheep’s favourite snack or otherwise. Primitivo (aka Tribidrag, Zinfandel) is from the Latin primativus, 'first to ripen'.

Vermentino was originally Fermentino: the young wine is fizzy.

Place Names

Then there are place names. Lots of wines are named after their origin, such as Champagne, Chablis, Sancerre and Madeira. But very few actual grapes are; the only well-known certainty is Chardonnay. 

Prosecco (now renamed Glera to distinguish it from the wine it makes) probably originated there. 

Trebbiano may be from Trebula (now Treglia), from the Trebbia river. Or from any one of the many Italian villages named Trebbo or Trebbio.

Misleading Names

Most place names are misleading though. Auxerrois is not from Auxerre in the Yonne, but refers to the old name for Alsace, Auxois. Montepulciano is not from there but, as the label says, it’s Montepulciano d’Abbruzo. Vino Nobile di Montepulciano is from there but is largely made from Sangiovese, like Chianti. Shiraz has nothing to do with the Persian city; it’s the Australian name for Syrah.

There’s more. Muscat is not from Oman, rather its aroma is suggestive of that from the caudal gland of the musk deer, as in musk(y). There are many Muscat Somethings, and Muscat of Alexandria is not from there while Muscat of Hamburg is not from there!

Roman, Rimini, Rumour and Religion

But the best names are the stuff of legend and religion, and here the Romans and Italians excel. Sangiovese means ‘Jupiter’s blood’, from sanguis Jovis. Rumour has it that the monks at Monte Giove near Rimini made the name up (based on their location) when a visitor asked the name of their wine. 

Sagrantino was sacred wine for the sacristy. Vin Santo is the wine of saints. So not only does the church have the best songs, it has the best wine. It once only lacked women, and that has now been corrected too.

Salut!

Names of Grapes To Eat and Drink

Here's a handy alphabetical list of wine grapes and their meanings. See my blog post on grape names

Grape Name Meanings - An Alphabetical Checklist

Champagne - from the Champagne region of France, north, river Loire region, near Paris

Auxerrois - from Alsace (the old name for Alsace)

Colombard - white from colombe, french for dove (white birds)

Fer - French for wild (grape) like feral

Glera - the new name for Prosecco grapes to distinguish them from the style of wine more widespread

Madeira - strong alcohol, Portuguese island in the Atlantic, whose wine was transformed in long hot journeys stored for ages by ship in the olden days, storage conditions to enhance flavour and other qualities, now imitated on the island without the sea journey

Mavro - Greek for black (used in Cyprus)

Merlot - from French for blackbird. Grapes used in France for wine and eating

Monastrell - Spanish wine which came from the monastery (Latin monasteriu for monastery)

Mourvèdre - from the Latin monasteriu meaning monastery

Muscat - musky smelling, sweet, often a dessert wine on the menu 

Nero - Latin for black

Nero d'Avola from Sicily - black Grape, from the Italian island

Prosecco - a town, now the style of wine which originated there but comes from other places too

Sagrantino sacred wine

Sangiovese - Jupiter's blood

Shiraz - Australian name for Syrah

Tempranillo - early ripening (think of time and temps fugit meaning time flies, early grape saves time)

Trebbiano - from Italian villages of similar names or the river

Vin Santo - wine of saints

Please share links to your favourite posts.

 

Learn Ten Easy Words and Names In Spanish From Place Names

Spanish is useful in Spain, South America, Mexico and in the USA where many places names in the south are Spanish and many signs in cities are in both Spanish and English to help communicate with Spanish speaking immigrants. I am going to look at the names Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Cruz, Cerro Gordo and Buena Vista.


The flag of Spain.
Horizongal stripes of red and yellow, a Spanish sandwich of red and yellow, with a cymbol in the middle containing a crown.


The flag of Mexico.
Green, white and red, vertical stripes, with a symbol in the middle containing an eagle.

Spanish is the most popular language learned on Duolingo. It is also one of the easiest if you speak or know English.

A quick way to start learning Spanish is to pick place names you already know or can easily recognize and list their translations. Here are two examples.

Los Angeles
Los Angeles means the angels. Whilst you will not often need to use the words together except in the place name, los, meaning the (plural) is very handy. You could also use Los Angeles to describe people who have been generous or to thank them.

For example, two kind Spanish speaking people walk back the opposite direction to the way they were going when you asked the way to the train station, the bank, your hotel, the toilets.  You wave goodbye and bow slightly and point to them and address them as "Los Angeles".

San Francisco
San Francisco means Saint Francis. Other cities with names: San Antonio.

Santa Cruz means holy cross. Santa Cruz is a city in California.

Cerro Gordo
I read an online newspaper story about Cerro Gordo which means fat hill. The words taken separately, I checked in Google translate, taking each one separately, typing Cerro first, then Gordo below it, read hill fat.

So now we know two words and a grammar rule. Cerro is hill. Gordo is fat. The adjective comes after the noun in Spanish, the same as the French who say Moulin Rouge for red mill (windmill).  You can remember Moulin Rouge to remind yourself to put adjectives after the noun in French. Remember Cerro Gordo to remind yourself to put the adjective after the noun in Spanish.

I find it easier to remember Gordo is Fat than to remember cerro is hill. So let's start with gordo. I recognize gordo as fat from hearing a talk by a Spanish member of a Toastmasters Club in Harrow, England. At Christmas time she gave a speech in which she told us about how the Spaniards spend Christmas. One feature is the lottery. The one at Christmas time has a big prize and is known as the Gordo, El Gordo, the fat one (or big one). El is the.

So now we can remember that the adjective is second, after the noun, and that the word gordo means big or fat.

If you like to learn by sounds: Cerro is hill. Cerro Gordo rhymes. The last adjective is the same. Cerro Gordo.  (The letter c sounds like s. The cerro, hill, has a summit. We row past the hill.

If you like to learn visually: The initial letters C and G look similar. The letter r is in the middle of both words, the third letter. Cerro Gordo.

If you like to learn by repetition, we shall repeat it three times:
cerro - hill
cerro - hill
cerro - hill

Spanish - English
angeles - angels
cerro - hill
cruz - cross
gordo - fat (big)
lo - the (singular)
los - the (plural)
San - Saint
Santa - holy

English - Spanish
angels - angeles
cross - cruz
fat - gordo
hill - cerro
holy - santa
the - los
Saint - san

Names
Spanish - English
Francisco - Francis

What would you find at the top of a hill? Preseumably Buena Vista, good view in Spanish. Many places are called Buena Vista in countries including the USA.

Not to be confused with the Italian Buona Vista, a railway station (MRT-mass rapid transit) in Singapore. The Spanish word for good has an e, is buEna - yes.

Useful Websites For Travellers
MEXICO
https://www.visitmexico.com/en/
SPAIN
www.spain.info
https://www.spain.info/en/
https://info.info/newsroom/spotlight/spain-tourism-board
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_Christmas_Lottery
LEARN SPANISH
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spanish_language
To learn Spanish for free on the internet
duolingo.com


About the Author
Angela Lansbury, the author, is not related to the actress of the same name, nor another 13 people with the same name on LinkedIn.
Angela Lansbury, the author, is a speaker and a teacher of English and other languages to schools, colleges, Toastmasters International speakers clubs, and businesses.

How to Learn Spanish From American Place Names

Problem
How do I make a list of Spanish place names which translate easily into English?

Answer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_place_names_of_Spanish_origin_in_the_United_States

Some of them are not well known.

The obvious ones which came to my mind were Las Angeles, the Angels, and El Paso, but I was not sure what it meant.

Here's my list:

Spanish Names in the USA
los alamos - (White poplars)
Amarillo - yellow
Buena Vista - good view
Casa Granda - big house
Colorado - red coloured
costa - coast
Del Norte - northern
El Paso - the pass or steps
Esmeralda (County, Nevada) - emerald
Florida - florid / flowery
La Paz (County, Arizona) - peace
Mariposa (County) butterfly
Mateo - Mathew
Mesa (County, Colorado) table
Miguel - Michael
Montana - mountainous
Nevada - covered in snow
Plumas - feathers
Puerto Rico - rich port
Refugio - shelter
Rio Grande - big river
San Juan - Saint John
Santa Cruz - Sacred CrossSan Francisco - St Francis (of Assisi)

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker, teacher of English and other languages.
 I have another post on Costa Rica and pineapples, another on Saints' names, and several more on Spanish and other languages. Please share links to your favourite posts.

Welsh Place Name meanings or translations and emergency words

Problem
It helps you to get around, find your wall past landmarks and to your hotel if you can understand Welsh names and emergency signs.
What do Welsh places names mean? If I knew the meaning, it would be easier to remember them.

Answer
Here's a useful list.
http://acen.co.uk/en/welsh-place-names-2/

In Cardiff a major tourist site is Castle Coch, or Castell Coch, which means red castle. In Welsh the adjective comes second.

Aber is mouth, usually mouth of the river, where it joins the sea, but it could just join another river. The word which follows is often the name of the river. The one which immediately comes to my mind is the place name Aberystwyth.

Welsh - English
aber - mouth
afon - river
bach/fach - small
betwyn - house of prayer
castell - castle
coch - red
coed - wood
llan - church
llyn - lake or pool
pen - top or end
pont - bridge
ty - house (with a hat or circumflex on the Welsh y, like a rooftop)
y - the

So Llandudno, is a church, the church (of St) Tudno.
Llandewi is the church (of saint) David.

English - Welsh
avenue - avenue
hill  - bryn
house - ty (y with a circumflex)
lane - lôn (with a circumflex on the vowel o)
lake or pool - llyn
mouth (of river) - aber
promenade promenâd (a with a circumflex)
road - fford
river - afon
street - stryd
wood - c o e d
y - the

Useful Emergency names
danger - p e r y g l
doctor - meddyg
chemist / pharmacy - f f e r y l l f a / f f e r e l l y d d
fire brigade - frigâd dân
garage - g a r e j
help - helpu
mechanic - me c a n i c
no smoking - dim y s m y g u
nurse - nyrs
police officer - h e d d w a s
school - Ysgol
shop - siop

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, Author and Speaker, teacher of languages. See my previous post on Welsh colours. Please link to your favourite posts.

'To Die' Today - How you can correct common errors, pronunciation for public speaking by Angela Lansbury

How do you speak correct English when you are English? How do you speak correct English when you are not English? 

UK
When I was a child in the UK, many schools, especially private schools, offered extra paid for lessons in elocution. Schools and teachers wanted to earn extra money. Parents wanted their children to sound posh and get better jobs. Doting mothers, like mine, wanted their offspring to win certificates in poetry competitions run by Drama schools which awarded certificates at different levels. 
   In those days every child did a party piece when invited to a birthday party. I wanted to recite a poem without the embarrassment of stammering or stuttering over long, puzzling words.

   Recently I met Toastmaster William Brougham, who came to be General Evaluator at Harrovian Speakers' Club. He took a video of me for YouTube in which I explained grammar rules; a viewer suggested that we should produce another video on pronunciation. Before making that video, I thought I should jot down a few thoughts. Whenever I jot down a few thoughts, they expand until I have an article, sometimes a book. For those people who can't watch videos in silent situations, here are some handy notes on pronunciation.

   Start by noticing the silliest errors and most memorable misunderstandings. When you are asked when you are going to the hospital for a check-up, and you want to tell family, friends or colleagues, 'I'm going today', don't shock everybody by saying, 'I'm going to die!' 

Australian & Others
Improving Vowels
Problem with A and I
A and I need to be sounded differently. Lots of people make an A sound like an I. 
For example, here are pairs of words which have different meanings: 
Day. Die.
Way. Why.
Make sure you are not saying the second when you mean the first. 

If you are the Grammarian at a Toastmasters International speakers' club, note any pronunciation which could be improved.
   When you are asked to evaluate a speech, speak to the person you are evaluating, before the meeting starts and ask what they would like you to notice. If they don't ask about pronunciation, offer to make suggestions. So long as they agree, smile, nod, or even shrug, if you are asked to 'Read out the objectives', you can add, "'Susan/John' asked me to comment on the pronunciation of words and make helpful suggestions for improvement".  That way you appear not to be criticizing, but following their request for help. 

Problem with A and OI
Bay. Boy. (We drove around the boy. Should be 'we drove around the bay'.)
Ray. Roy. (I gave the book to Roy. Should be I gave the book to 'Roy'.) 
Say. Soy. Be careful what you soy. Should be 'Be careful what you say'.)
The listener who hears constant mispronunciations has listen hard to work out which word you mean. 

   Our upper class accents sound as if we are speaking copying courtiers from the time of the Vikings. 

Swedish

A Swedish speaker has perfect, clear upper class vowels like the Queen's Speech. 

French & the UK

A French au pair girl told me she could not understand the chatter on tube trains and in bars, but she could understand HM The Queen. 

Speed and Spaces
   When the queen delivers a speech, she also speaks very slowly. She leaves a gap between each word.
   Not like everyday gabble. (We're gonna 'ave an en' to innit!) 
   If you are a teacher, you often speak to children. If you are a pupil, you want the teacher and class to hear your question.
   If you are a public speaker, your audience includes one person in seven hard of hearing. (I found that statistic in a fundraising leaflet).  If you are retired and speak to local groups of retirees, many more will be hard of hearing and will be helped if you speak loudly, slowly, and clearly.
   If you make a living speaking to businesses, many of them have foreign staff or hold international conferences.

Yiddish - OY VEH!
   The Yiddish expression Oy veh hints that oy is a common sound in Europe, where the Yiddish language combines the local language such as German with Russian and Hebrew. I have also heard a speaker from central Europe, the Czeck Republic, using this intonation.

Australia
   Australians use an oy for an A. If you have trouble understanding Australians, it may help to note which words are likely to sound differently.

Some native English speakers also over-use oy. Here's another example, this time where the mispronounced word has no meaning. 
      What time of doy? (Should be 'What time of day'.)

Solution 1
Find out if you have a problem
   If you use English as a second language, and even if you don't, read aloud a few sentences of your speech. You can make a recording with your smart phone. If you don'g have one - ask somebody else at a big meeting. Ask a friend of acquaintances to tell you if you need to change any pronunciation.  (If you have a problem speaking another language, it's a great conversation opener to ask for help and make a friend.)

   Sometimes you don't know what you are doing wrong. Sometimes you're told but you can't hear the difference. Sometimes you keep trying but you don't know how to make the second sound.

   Can you hear the difference? Use the internet, your own computer, at a school or library, or airport lounge or other public place. Go to a dictionary which has the symbol you can click on to hear the word said aloud.  

Check the position of your lips. Look in the mirror.
Try saying 'boy', pursing your lips as if shouting angrily, or blowing up a balloon.
then say 'bay'. Open your mouth wide, as if the dentist has asked you to open your mouth, and smile.

PHONETIC SPELLINGS 
   Phone means sound, as in the word telephone (distant sound).
   Why is English not phonetic? (Meaning, why do the sounds not always match the spelling?) One reason is that the traditional spelling has been preserved in the dictionary, but speakers have changed the most popular pronunciation. 
   Watch out for words which are not pronounced the way they are written. Just as some people drop the s from yes and say yeah, many words have lost the last letter or an earlier letter because over the centuries the lazier or quicker or easier to say pronunciation has become standard.

Silent Letters
B in the word doubt is silent. The word is pronounced 'dowt'

PLACE NAMES 
   Edinburgh 'Edinbr'
   Leicester 'Lester'

CONSONANTS - WORD ENDING
G - pronounce G at the end of the word
Nothing (not 'nothin').
Sitting (no 'sit in')

How to improve:

Chinese
CONSONANT CONFUSION
Problem:
L and R
   Speakers from oriental countries such as Hong Kong and Thailand often have trouble hearing or saying both consonants. Sometimes they try too hard and over correct making more errors.
The old joke goes that the pilot of your plane wishes you 'a pleasant fright' instead of a pleasant flight. I thought this was a joke. Then I heard airline staff say it.

   Sometimes people misunderstand and ask you to repeat a sentence. Other times, they listen but misunderstand.
   At a Toastmasters meeting I sat through a speech in which the speaker said he worked for the Loyal bank of Scotland. I assumed that, because of the banking crisis, they had wanted to change their name to reassure customers. Or maybe they had split into two branches, one called the Royal Bank, another called the loyal bank. While I was musing on the merits of changing a company name, I missed two or three sentences of the five minute speech. Then I started listening again and heard the speaker make another change to a word in the same sentence. I realised I had been slow to guess it should have been 'Royal' Bank. 

   Some workers are told by colleagues and bosses or customers that they need to improve their pronunciation. They are not upset if you tell them the correct pronunciation. On the contrary, they are very keen to get help. Especially if it's free! 
   A course on pronunciation is sometimes given at centre such as London's City Lit. The courses are often good value given the hours of lessons, but learning one sound each week takes a lot of time. If you need to give a speech at a wedding, you may have a year to prepare. But when giving a funeral speech, doing a job interview, or a presentation in a new job, or answering the phone, you don't have a year to prepare. So, everybody, please take time, when asked, or offer to help, if you are one step ahead of your friend in pronunciation. Watch out for these:

Chinese
T and TH and S and SH
Problem saying 'th'
TH is hard to pronounce for people who speak Mandarin or Cantonese, such as Singaporeans.
I often sit through speeches and am puzzled. I remember the first time a woman said, 'I have tree children.' I assumed 'tree children' was a popular Chinese translation of a word such as tomboy, kids who climb and are sporty. Then she said, 'Two of them are at secondary school, the tird is ...' The turd is!

Ah - she means three and third!

Solution to th
   You can practise a sentence with alternating t and th. Make up your own. For example: The three children climb threes. 
   T - tongue tapping behind top teeth.
   Th - think about poking out your tongue and pulling it back through your teeth stroking under your top teeth. Say teeth, teeth, teeth, moving your tongue from tapping behind to almost gently biting your tongue while breathing out.

S and Sh
   She sells sea shells on the sea shore

   Do email me and tell me your problems or solutions. I and everybody else would be most grateful. And send me or tell me funny mispronunciations and misunderstandings. I would love to hear them.

SUMMARY OF TIPS
Problems to notice: 

• Ay and oi. 
• Missing G or T. 
• L and R
• S and SH.
• T and TH.

Solutions

• Read a newspaper aloud to identify problems. Underline difficult words.
• Check how words sound using online dictionaries.
• Practise tongue twisters.
• Look in the mirror at how you are placing your tongue and opening your mouth.
• Join a Toastmasters Club and ask your evaluator for help with your pronunciation.
• Read a speech aloud. Underline words or highlight letters. Ask a friend to listen and advise.
• Come to my UK club harrovians.org.uk . (I am president until June 31 2013. Then 'Past P'.)
• Go as a guest to any great club such as HOD (Thursdays, 2nd and 4th most months).  I am a member and committee member. Check google Toastmasters International/ Find a club.
• If short of time, go to toastmasters clubs when overseas on business or holiday. I visit several clubs in Singapore.  It has many clubs so you are near one most evenings and weekends.
• Harrovians meets Mondays, usually first third and fifth Mondays (except months with bank holidays), door open at 7 pm. Speeches start at 7.30 prompt. Meeting ends 9.30 prompt. 
• Members receive a magazine and a mentor helps you write and rehearse speeches. Membership is about £79 a year plus £20 for two manuals on speeches and leadership.
• harrovians.org.uk toastmasters.org 
• More about toastmasters
• Go to a pronunciation class or private English tutor.           For grammar rules see YouTube Angela Lansbury author speech grammar / Kensington 25
• For a friendly chat, or one hour lesson in person or skype, my email is on my websites featuring the names: anna london 8 (gmail). No spaces. 

Angela Lansbury is the author of fifteen books including: Quick Quotations For Successful Speeches; Wedding Speeches And Toasts; Poetry Workshop Workbook; Angela's Animals (A-Z of comic poetry plus facts); How To Get Out Of The Mess You're In. See Lulu.com
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Copyright Angela Lansbury April 24 2013