[Buddha-l] Alburquerque

[Richard P. Hayes]

Joanna says of the etymology of the name Alburquerque in Spain: "It
really meant al-burqa-ki It was based on a mansion where someone kept a
gigantic harem and they all wore burqas."

While that is without any doubt the correct etymology, amateur
etymologists persist in deriving the name from the Latin "albus
quercus" (white oak). Some say this Latin phrase was transcribed into
Arabic, where it became "abu al-qurq" (land of the cork oak). 

As a Sanskritist, I am committed to the hypothesis that every word in
every language in the world is a corruption of some Sanskrit word, so I
am inclined to endorse the view of Varanasi pandits who derive
"albuquerque" from the Sanskrit "alpa-karkii" (nominative singular of
"alpa-karkin", meaning owner of a small white horse). For various
reasons I prefer this nirukti to that of the Pune pandits, who say it
comes from "alpa-kalka", meaning either a tiny turd or a miniature ball
of ear wax. As for the etymology of "Mexico", I am torn between those
who derive it from "mokshakara" (liberator) and "megha-shekhara" (head
in the clouds).

Of all etymologies, my favorite of all time is one I read in a book
dedicated to proving that Indian Buddhists were the first people to
populate the Americas. The entire argument of the book was based on the
etymologies of various Inuktitut, Tsalagi, Ohwejagehka, Lakota, Nakota,
Dakota, Nahuatl and Quechua words that were obviously too similar to
Sanskrit words to be coincidental. Alas, the only one I can now recall
is the etymology of Guatamala, which clearly comes of gautama-aalaya,
abode of Gautama. If you do not now believe that the Buddha was a
Central American (why else would he call his religion the middle way?),
you are clearly incapable of being persuaded by rational argumentation.

-- 
Dh. Dayamati
Albuquerque, New Mexico