Sh. Kaiš 'kajsija'

Abstract

Serbo-Croatian kaiš ‘apricot’ ( Dubrovnik ) is traditionally assumed to derive from Turkish kay(i)si ‘apricot’ which, however, leaves the matter of š in kaiš unattended. ( Serbo-Croatian š does not correspond to Turkish s.) In this paper, I make a case for Romanian cais ‘apricot’ (< Turkish kay(i)si) as the actual source of Serbo-Croatian kaiš; if this is so, the š in kaiš can be explained as deriving regularly from Romanian provided that kaiš, plural kaiši is based on caiși, the plural of cais. Consequently, Serbo-Croatian kaiš would appear to be a borrowing from Romanian, and not Turkish.