Note sulla storia lessicale di caviaro / caviale

Abstract

Italian caviaro / caviale ʻsturgeon roeʼ is a borrowing from Greek χαβιάρι. The Greek term, which dates back to the 9th century, does not derive from Turkish, as has often been assumed so far. The chronology of the historical records clearly shows that, on the contrary, Turkish havyar, which does not appear before the 14th century, is a borrowing from Greek. The merchandise and the term became known in Italy in the 13th/14th centuries in the wake of Black Sea trade. The type caviale appears mainly in Genoese documents, whereas caviaro is tipical for Venetian sources. As far as Tuscan caviale is concerned, it cannot be decided with certainty if it was modelled on Genoese caviale or if it is the result of an independent development. Whatever the case, in the course of the 16th/17th centuries Tuscan caviale made its way as the Italian standard variant. On the basis of the Venetian type caviaro, from the 15th century onwards, the term has spread all over Europe (Sp. caviar, Fr. caviar, Germ. Kaviar, etc.).