If you are a coffee lover, your day will definitely be incomplete without enjoying a cup of coffee. The thick, flavourful aroma from a cup of hot coffee is definitely enough for you to be restless from your seat until you can at least get a sip to ease your craving.
And what’s more, if you are a hodophile (love travelling) and always on your way out to quench your wanderlust, travelling abroad not only offers opportunities to explore myriads of remarkable places and other cultures, but it is certainly a perfect time to try coffee varieties sold at the local cafés.
Nevertheless, language barrier is a major constraint for foreign tourists. Many find it difficult to access for suitable dining sources since not all native can speak English. Even so, there won’t be an issue for those ardent coffee lovers and their counterparts. Apart from becomes phenomenal as the most beloved beverages by the global population, what’s interesting about coffee is that its name is quite easy to understand no matter where you are. Why? Let’s find out more.
The word ‘coffee’, no matter where it is used more or less has the same sound. Strange, isn’t it? Even the term ‘coffee’ in English doesn’t sound much different from the word ‘kopi’ in Malay. This is because the term is derived from the same root word of Classical Arabic, the language you will find in the Quran and other ancient scripts of the previous generation 1500 years ago.
The term coffee is an absorption of the word ‘Qahwah – قهوة’ which means ‘strength’. Meanwhile, the term ‘Qahwah – قهوة’ is derived from ‘qahā – قها’. According to Bernd Nothofer (2009) this term gives the meaning of ‘return of desire and not feeling pain’, in other words it reflects the role of coffee as a high energy drink due to the caffeine content as the stimulant.
The term was later absorbed into other languages around the world. In Malaysia, in general, there are three terms used for Coffee in Malay namely ‘kopi’, ‘kahwa’, and some locations use the word ‘kawa’. What about other countries in the world? Check out these other names for Coffee based on these countries below:
- Afrika : Koffie
- Czech : Káva
- English : Coffee
- Finland : Kahvi
- French : Café
- Germany : Kaffee
- Greece : καφέ
- India : Kŏfī
- Iceland : Kaffi
- Indonesia: Kopi
- Itali : Caffè
- Korea : Keopi
- Turki : Kahve
Sound similar, aren’t they?
What about in your place? Share with us what Coffee calls in your place^^
