Plant Names From Bulepi: A German Botanist's Contribution to Documentation to Laz

Abstract

   In the present paper I discuss the list of phytonyms (plant names) elicited and recorded in the Laz village of Bulepi and published by the German botanist Karl Heinrich Emil Koch in his travelogue in 1846. The list is arranged as a set of dictionary entries: a Laz phytonym accompanied with a German translation. There are 42 entries; however, the total number of Laz phytonyms is actually 43 because the entry for ‘beans’ evidences two elicited items: Lobia and Hatschi.

Koch’s data should be compared with those of contained in preceding and comteporaneous sources. The preceding sources of Laz lexical specimina are two multilingual compendia, one of the published in the later half of the 18^th century and another in the early 19^th century; they can hardly be considered for comparison for their deficiency and unreliability. As for a glossary of Laz words included in the grammatical sketch of Laz by G. Rosen, Koch’s travel companion, there are a number of coincidences; however, with respect to the occurrence of plant names, Koch’s list is clearly more representative than Rosen’s glossary.

Further studies of the list in point should include comparisons with lexicographic sources having appeared later. It is obvious that, owing to the fact that Koch’s specimina have not been noticed, none of the sources has considered its data; however, such comparisons can demonstrate how reliable individual items are and whether the list includes any specomina not occurring elsewhere. Based on the already conducted comparisons and my preliminary observations of the overwhelming majority of the available lexicographic sources of Laz, it can be stated that Karl Koch’s list of phytonyms, elicited and recorded in the Laz village of Bulepi, is an original, reliable and representative resource and a valuable contribution to documentation of Laz.