Appunti sulla storia lessicale di caffè

Abstract

Until the 16th century, the European words for ‘coffeeʼ reflect exclusively the Arabic and Turkish type qahwa / kahve. The first Italian – and at the same time the earliest European – record appears in 1579 (cava) in the Viaggio da Creta in Egitto ed al Sinai of Filippo Pigafetta. From the 17th century onwards, the type It. caffè, Fr. café, Germ. Kaffee, Engl. coffee, which today is predominant all over Europe, begins to make its way. Phonetically, the genesis of the voiceless variants in Western Europe is possible on the basis of both the Turkish and the Arabic model.