Goffee : its Etymology
Without going into the dérivation of the Arabie word qàhvàh itself, we may assume it to be fairly well esta- blished that tbe languages of Europe got the name of the beverage about 1600 A. D., either directly from the Arabie form qàhvàh or through the Turkish form qàhvëh. But the various changes of spelling which the word has undergone involve certain phonetic difhcul- ties for which no adéquate explanationseems hitherto to hâve been offered. The question arises why there is sometimes only one/’ or v and sometimes two/’ s, and why in some cases the vowel is pronounced à or â, and in others o.
The real explanation seenas to dépend on thefollow- ing two facts : (a) Some languages, such as English, Dutchand German, hâve strong syllabic accents, while others as French hâve none, and (b) the surd aspirate h is heard clearly in some languages but is hardly au- dible in others. In German, for example, itis strong, in English not so strong, while in French there is no h at ail.
Let us now consider the application of thèse facts to the word qàlwali or qàhvëh in which the final h. may be left out of account.
