Farangi, faranji, ferenji, farangi?

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omoomo
omoomo

I looked it up on Wikipedia, but am still not sure.
Wikiquote: Farangi or firang is a term for foreigners in Persian, possibly linked to the Franks. The word in Arabic (faranji or ferenji) is similar and the word Farangi also appears in Amharic, Urdu and Hindi in reference to foreigners. It can have a derogatory connotation, and was used by people in British India to refer to the "white foreigners who travel".

Is it correct, that Ethiopians spell it Farangi? (And if this is in fact the right amharic spelling, do they use a big f?) Don't they spell it ferenji?

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msfour
msfour

Amharic uses a different alphabet, so it's all a transliteration anyway.

I've seen it spelled ferenji and maybe faranji. But not with a g.

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naugastyle
naugastyle

Yeah, I don't think it matters. I've seen it with a g, but as ferengi. Also Bahir/Bahar, Gondar/Gonder...don't think there's a firm standard.

My question is, is the Thai "farang" related to all this? Are these all just the locals' pronunciation of the English word "foreign"?

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chriskean1
chriskean1

The Amharic, Thai and other versions of the word are AFAIK all originally derived from the Arabic term for "Frank," which came to mean any European.

CK

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chriskean1
chriskean1

Feringhee

Frank

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msfour
msfour

Some proposed etymology from Wikipedia (who spells it with a g, so I take back my comment about the spelling): http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferengi#Etymology

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omoomo
omoomo

O.k., still confused. My guess would have been ferenji, but... still looking for the correct Amharic version with reliable source. How do the Ethiopians spell it? Did they lend it from Arabic?Somebody here who took a small language course in Ethiopia?

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msfour
msfour

Omoomo, they spell it in Amharic, which has a different alphabet. Are you looking for the letters in Amharic characters?

The whole deal with transliteration is that one person might spell it differently than another person when they shift to a language with different characters.

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omoomo
omoomo

O.k.

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akfak
akfak

Personally, transliterating to English, I would spell it faranji. I could put it in Amharic, but if your computers can't handle amharic characters, you wouldn't see it.

I would also like to add that in Amharic, the word for French is faransi.

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