The symbol of Thanksgiving in the United States is its traditional food, a large bird we call the " turkey" . But the turkey is certainly not from Turkey. In fact, its English name is based on one big mistake. We could say it is a case of mistaken identity.
The word " Turkey" has meant " the land of the Turks" since ancient times. The word " turkey" which refers to the bird first appeared in the English language in the mid-1500s.
The misunderstanding over the word happened because of two similar-looking kinds of birds. There is an African bird called the guinea fowl. Portuguese traders brought the guinea fowl to Europe through North Africa.
This foreign bird came to Europe through Turkish lands. So, the English thought of the bird as a " Turkish chicken" . When Europeans came to North America, they saw a bird that looked like the guinea fowl. This bird was native to the North American continent.
Orin Hargraves is a lexicographer, someone who writes dictionaries. Hargraves elucidates what happened. " Some Europeans saw an American turkey, thought that it was the guinea fowl, which at that time was called the ‘ turkey cock' , and so gave it the same name. "
Hundreds of years later, we continue to call this North American bird " turkey" , even though it has no connection at all with the country Turkey, or even with Europe. But English is not the only language with interesting— and even questionable— names for this North American bird.
The Turkish, for their part, call the turkey " hindi" , the Turkish name for India. The mention to India probably comes from the old, wrong idea that the New World was in Eastern Asia. The French call it " dinde" , a name that also connects the bird to India. " D' Inde" means " from India" in the French language. " Turkey:" has similar names in several other languages. So, what do they call this North American bird in India? Well, in the Hindi language, " turkey" is " tarki" .
