Origin of the word giraffe

[Jiron]

Retracing the giraffe English loanword to the Somali word for giraffe (gerri).

The English ‘giraffe’ is a loanword from the Italian ‘giraffa’.
The Italian ‘giraffa’ is a loanword from the Arabic ‘zaraafa’.
The Arabic ‘zaraafa’ is a loanword from Ge’ez’s baseword ‘*zr’.
Ge’ez’s baseword *zr is a loanword from another unknown language that presumably called this majestic beast ‘zeri’.
The loanword ‘zeri ‘was palatalised – a sound change process that turns ‘g’ into ‘z’ – from the Somali/Rendille word 'gerri' (giraffe).
Reinisch (1896) explains this in detail. Interesting stuff

 

[Apollo]

Possibly the only Cushitic word in the English language. Cool.

 

[kickz]

Gerenuks also get their name from Somali language

Naming the gerenuk

The word gerenuk is a word from the Somali language, which means "giraffe-necked.” Gerenuks have long necks just like a giraffe, and that's why they are also known as the giraffe-necked

 

[The alchemist]

Giraffes hold water longer than camels.

 

[Mahamed]

is deero Germanic or Somali(Cushitic) word?

 

[Mount23]

Somalis were probably first people to export giraffe to non- Africans

We were first to show Chinese and other Asians