Author: Hambardsumian Paul

Armenianow.com
Oct 8, 2004
Too Little Too Late?: Pensions increase, but will it matter?
By Marianna Grigoryan
ArmeniaNow Reporter
As of October 1 pensions have increased in Armenia. By the order of the
Government, the elderly who rely on the monthly stipend for survival will
find it slightly easier to cope. But only slightly.
Pensioners, who have worked 20 or more years, will get an extra 20 drams –
about four cents – for each year of work.
According to Ashot Abrahamyan, head of the social insurance department of
the State Fund for Social Insurance, the average increase is 700-800 drams –
about $1.40-1.60.
This implies that, in the average, a pensioner getting extra 800 drams can
additionally afford half an egg or 200 g of bread a day.
Far from a windfall, the news is nonetheless welcomed for elderly such as
Rima, aged 65, who spends her days from early morning until evening going
about Yerevan selling sweets.
“If the pensions do rise it will be very, very good,” the woman says
happily. “I will calm down a bit, the winter is coming up, cold, hard.”
Rima takes buns and cakes in a box she ties around her neck. She sways, the
box sways, as Rima fights for survival, making about 75 cents to $1 a day.
Rima gets 3,300 drams per month pension, about $6.60
What should I do?” she asks. “I am at a loss: to pay for the electricity or
buy bread with my pension. While the winter is soon to come, and I have no
idea what I’m going to do. There’s nothing we can do. I wish something
changed.”
According to statistics, there are 542,000 pensioners in Armenia, most of
whom live in dire conditions. (The pension age this year in Armenia is 59.5
for women and 63 for men.)
Having worked for decades, many pensioners despite their age have to earn
their living like Rima, selling sunflower seeds, bread, odds and ends to
survive somehow.
Abrahamyan says that, according to the decision, the extra payment is
envisaged only for the pensioners receiving insurance pensions and will have
no impact on the size of general pensions.
“People who have 5 and more years’ working experience receive insurance
pension. However, this law concerns only those pensioners who have 20 or
more years’ working experience,” he says.
To illustrate: The pension of those having 25 years’ working experience has
gone up from 6,500 to 7,000 drams ($13-14) and those having 40 years’
working experience will receive 11,320 drams ($22.50) a month instead of 10,
280 ($20.50).
Abrahamyan says that though the increase may seem negligible, it
significantly affects the budget. As a result, the budget spending is
expected to grow by 300-320 million drams ($600,000-640,000) per month.
“This is already the second pension increase this year. Last time in January
the pensions went up again by 20 drams for each year of the working
experience,” says Abrahamyan.
Pensioner Hakob Petrosian says that the pension increase is ominous.
“The pension increase every time brings about a rise in prices. The prices
of bread, electricity and everything else go up,” he says. “As a result, it
won’t make any difference for the pensioners, the things will only get worse
and worse as nobody cares for us. Whatever happens only we are to look after
ourselves at this age.”
“I know that this change is not essential. What’s the effect of such an
increase?” says Abrahamyan. “Nowadays, 700-800 drams can’t change anything.
But there’s nothing else we could do.”
Abrahamyan says that the increase will be periodical and that the next
supplement is expected in January when the basic pension will increase by
1,000 drams ($2) at once.
“Both in Yerevan and provinces, people get their pension a month later, so,
the pensioners will get their supplements starting from November,” says
Abrahamyan, “and they themselves will see whether the supplements make sense
at all.”

Who is more legitimate?
Editorial
Yerkir/am
October 01, 2004
When speaking about legitimacy in Armenia people usually mean the
specifically legal aspect of the issue. Meanwhile, legitimacy is a
much broader concept which in addition to the legal aspect also has a
dimension of social perception.
For instance, the victory of this or that candidate or party in the
elections can be perfectly legal (no violations are observed during
the elections, there are no complaints, the elections are held
legally).
At the same time the society might not perceive that candidate or
party as legitimate because it does not see in him the necessary
qualities for political activities, ability to make reasonable
judgments and suggestions and does not perceive him as a person with
necessary merits to be involved in politics.
In this case we have illegitimacy in terms of social perception. Many
political forces and leaders become socially illegitimate irrespective
of their political and ideological orientation and positions.
In this respect it would be correct to address not only the issue of
legitimacy of the current authorities (which is a very popular issue
in ourcountry) but also the legitimacy of the opposition.
In other words, we should also think about whether or not the
opposition is legitimate in terms of the social perception of its
activities. Does it have the necessary abilities and potential to
address the problems the state andthe population are facing today?
Can it find reasonable and efficient solutions to those problems? We
believe there is no need to think about this for too long – the answer
is obvious. This is probably the reason why there were more people
standing on the stage than in the square during the opposition’s last
demonstration.
This is the result of the opposition losing its social legitimacy. It
is possible that some opposition leaders are trying to transfer their
political activities from the streets to the parliament, an attempt
that faces strong resistance on the part of those who are to blame for
the opposition’s loss of legitimacy.
All the political forces and leaders should think about legitimacy
from the perspective of social perception. Do they have this kind of
legitimacy? This is the question.
It will not be a great revelation to say that legitimacy in terms of
social perception is more important than merely legal legitimacy. This
explains the situation when we have a political elite as a political
category, but this elite has no legitimacy and will hardly ever gain
it.
The society does not perceive it as political elite, or better say it
does not want to accept the latter as elite since the society has a
different interpretation of the term `elite’. Thus, we should
clarifyone thing – is the opposition that insists on the illegitimacy
of the current political authorities more legitimate than the latter?

Reuters
Sept 29 2004
Search and rescue ‘listings’ planned to save lives
29 Sep 2004
Source: AlertNet
By Nick Cater
German rescuers search with their dogs through the rubble of Bam.
File photo by WOLFGANG RATTAY
LONDON (AlertNet) – When a devastating earthquake hit the Iranian
city of Bam last December, some 1,600 would-be rescuers and relief
staff from 46 countries swarmed to the scene. But most arrived long
after survivors had been pulled from the rubble by relatives,
neighbours or local emergency teams.
Ten months on, disaster experts are suggesting a novel way to improve
the effectiveness of initial international disaster response –
classify search and rescue teams by equipment and skills to help get
the right teams in the right places when disaster strikes.
The idea was proposed at a late-September meeting in Singapore of
senior experts from the inter-governmental International Search and
Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG), the first global conference on the
issue of search and rescue (SAR) since the Bam earthquake killed
31,000 people.
While some experts suggest Bam was exceptional, with many Western
countries wanting to be seen to send assistance to politically
sensitive Iran, a review of the disaster by the Pan American Health
Organisation noted that Bam was a reminder that the majority of
international SAR teams are unable to reach the scene fast enough to
make a major difference.
The classification proposal would divide international SAR teams into
three listings based on their level of equipment, skills, experience
and thus suitability for various types and intensity of disaster,
from a single building’s collapse to an earthquake in a modern city
with many trapped alive.
Founded in 1991 in the wake of the Armenian earthquake, INSARAG
operates under the United Nations umbrella to foster information
exchange, higher standards, cooperation and coordination, with its
secretariat provided by the Office for the Coordination of
Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).
As head of the OCHA Emergency Services Branch’s Field Coordination
Support Section, Arjun Katoch leads the secretariat. He said
classification would help vital decision-making and get work started
faster.
LIGHT, MEDIUM, HEAVY
“We aim to classify teams by their capacity – light, medium or heavy
– so after a disaster, the country affected and any experts on the
ground can assess the situation and say what resources are needed so
only the right teams with the required skills and equipment turn up,”
he told AlertNet.
But with the World Conference on Disaster Reduction planned for
January 2005 in the Japanese city of Kobe and a preparatory session
in Geneva in October, SAR teams also face calls for far greater
priority to be given to preparedness, such as extra resources for
national emergency networks and training for local volunteers in
crisis-prone countries.
There are different tasks to be tackled, said Katoch.
“International and local teams are completely different. At no point
does any international team think that it can be a substitute for
local people, who clearly do most of the work, especially in the
first 24 hours. Because of their equipment and skills, international
teams would always focus on more difficult and specialist tasks, such
as those trapped deep under rubble.
“Training of local teams to enhance capacity is already underway
through regional INSARAG meetings and training exercises. We’ve had
recent training in Bogata and Manila. The next events will be in
Kathmandu and Australia. But not all countries can afford the teams
or the training they would like.”
With topics as diverse as satellite imagery, use of dogs and
confined-space medicine, the Singapore conference agenda emphasized
how SAR operations draw on a range of skills and equipment.
One example is the use of the Internet to create a virtual on-site
operations centre, through which all those involved in a disaster –
including governments, local authorities and rescue teams – can share
information and plan their response together.
The INSARAG chairman for its Africa-Europe region, Kjell Larsson,
head of the Swedish Rescue Services Agency’s International
Department, said it was very important that international teams were
complementary to existing efforts, avoided duplication and helped
develop local skills.
“International teams do have a valuable role because they can come
with the kind of specialist equipment and skills not needed every day
but vital in particular situations,” he said.
“Search and rescue teams are interested in training but donors are
rarely willing to sponsor this until after a disaster. There were
lots of initiatives in Turkey after its series of earthquakes. Now
the country has nine main search and rescue groups, each trained by a
different international team.”
And he warned: “Chaos is possible if groups that are not part of
INSARAG deploy even before being asked, and are not coordinated with
the rest of the operation.”
Larsson described classification as a “useful move, as it could allow
those most needed to get priority at arriving airports, for example.
The classification will help specify what is required from among the
elements available, such as search, rescue, medical, management and
communications.”

PRESS RELEASE
Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America
138 East 39th Street
New York, NY 10016
Tel: 212-689-7810
Fax: 212-689-7168
e-mail: [email protected]
Website:
Contact: Iris Papazian
September 27, 2004
Eastern Prelacy’s Pashalian Fund
Announces Grants for Education
The Eastern Prelacy of the Armenian Apostolic Church of America recently
announced the granting of awards totaling $8,000.00 to various Armenian
Schools and educational programs, from the Pashalian Family Education Fund.
Since the inception of the Fund a total of $73,439 has been distributed to
educational institutions.
The 2004 grants, awarded by the Fund’s Board of Trustees which include
Archbishop Oshagan Choloyan, Prelate of the Eastern Prelacy, Ms. Gloria
Tarsy, Dr. George Dermksian, and Mr. Michael Derian, were as follows:
St. Illuminator’s Day School $2,500.00
St. Sarkis Suzanne & Hovsep Hagopian Saturday School 1,500.00
St. Gregory of Datev Institute 2,000.00
Siamanto Academy 1,000.00
Armenian Sisters Academy (Radnor, PA) 1,000.00
“The Pashalian Family Fund is a model example of the good that can be
accomplished by foresighted individuals. Through their benevolence the
Pashalian Family has left a lasting impact on Armenian education in the
United States while perpetuating the memory of their family,” said
Archbishop Oshagan.
The Pashalian Fund was established in the early 1990s, through the
foresight and benevolence of devoted parishioners of St. Illuminator’s
Cathedral, Mr. Levon Pashalian and his wife Margret. Mr. Pashalian was born
in the historic Armenian village of Palou-Havav. He survived the Genocide,
emigrated to the United States, and like many of his fellow villagers opened
a small grocery store on the east side of Manhattan. With a limited command
of English Levon Pashalian built a successful business. He worked long hours
every day of the week and together with his wife raised a family, a son John
Levon, and a daughter, Siroon. True to his Armenian heritage and the
American dream, he provided both children not only with a college education,
but also post-graduate studies. The family faced a tremendous tragedy when
son John was killed in an accident in 1973.
In spite of the tragedy that befell the family, Mr. Pashalian had the
goodness of heart to provide financial support, in the name of his son and
the Pashalian family, for the Armenian Church, Armenian educational and
relief organizations, and needy Armenian students in the United States and
Canada.
The Pashalian Family Education Fund was established with an initial
contribution of $138,000 with the stipulation that the earned proceeds from
the investments be used to “promote and support Armenian language schools”
and their students in the United States and Canada who were in financial
need. According to the stipulations of the Fund, 50% of the earned income
must be distributed to St. Illuminator’s School, Woodside, New York and St.
Sarkis Saturday School, Douglaston, New York. The remaining 50% can be
distributed to other educational institutions at the discretion of the
Trustees.
This year’s grant recipients are:
St. Illuminator’s Day School
St. Illuminator’s Day School, located in Woodside, New York, provides
elementary bilingual education from Nursery through Grade Six. The students
consistently outperform public school students in New York State
Standardized Tests. “We are grateful to the Pashalian Fund for its
continuing support,” said Dr. Herand Markarian, chairman of the Board of
Trustees. “This grant will help us provide scholarship aid for qualified
students whose families cannot afford a private school education.”
St. Sarkis’ Suzanne and Hovsep Hagopian
Armenian Saturday School
The Suzanne and Hovsep Hagopian Armenian Saturday School, Douglaston,
NY, has grown in attendance and educational excellence in recent years
thanks in part to the support they have received from the Pashalian Fund.
The school is named in honor of its faithful benefactors, the late Suzanne
and Hovsep Hagopian, who believed wholeheartedly in the value of Armenian
education. The support of the Hagopians during their lifetime and after
their death through a generous bequest is another factor in the continuing
challenging and high caliber educational opportunity provided by the school.
St. Gregory of Datev Institute
Now in its 18th year, the St. Gregory of Datev Institute is a weeklong
summer program in a pleasant, nurturing environment where young students
experience worship, learning and fellowship. Promoting healthy minds in
healthy bodies, the Institute provides a faith-based four-year program of
studies for youth ages 13 and older. Many of the teens who complete the
program return for postgraduate studies. The Institute is organized by the
Eastern Prelacy’s Armenian Religious Education Council (AREC). Natalia
Sadaniantz, a third level Datevatzi from Providence, Rhode Island, noted,
“This is my third year at Datev and each year it has been getting better and
better. I have learned so much and this year I am learning Krapar. I love
learning languages and classical forms of languages.”
Siamanto Academy
The Siamanto Academy is designed for high school students who are
graduates of Armenian schools. The Academy offers accredited, college-level
courses in Armenian studies and history, as well as Christian studies.
Organized by the Armenian National Education Committee (ANEC), the Academy
serves as a gateway to higher cultural awareness, preparing students for
effective leadership. The Academy meets every Saturday during the school
year in Woodside, New York. The Siamanto Academy is a prime example of ANEC’s
mission of maintaining the Armenian language and culture in America. ANEC is
a co-sponsorship of the Eastern Prelacy and the Armenian Relief Society.
Armenian Sisters Academy
For more than 35 years the Armenian Sisters Academy in Radnor,
Pennsylvania, has been providing exceptional Armenian American education to
students in the Philadelphia area. The Academy is a fully accredited
Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade school that teaches Armenian language,
culture, and history as part of its core curriculum. More than half of the
Academy’s seventh and eighth grade students are invited to participate in
the Johns Hopkins University Academic Talent Search each year. A
prerequisite of the search is that the students selected score 97% or better
on National Standardized Testing. The Armenian Sisters Academy team was the
winner of this year’s Jeopardy Tournament sponsored by the Armenian National
Education Council (ANEC).
Donations to the Pashalian Fund, which is part of the Eastern Prelacy’s
Endowment Fund, can be made at any time. For information about this Fund
contact the Prelacy at 212-689-7810.

PanArmenian News
Sept 23 2004
OSCE LEADERSHIP HIGHLIGHTS SOONEST SETTLEMENT OF KARABAKH CONFLICT
23.09.2004 18:26
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Armenian Foreign Minister Vardan Oskanian met with
OSCE Chairman-in-Office’s special representative for Nagorno
Karabakh, former Bulgarian Prime Minister Phillip Dimitrov on
September 22. As reported by the RA MFA press service, Ph. Dimitrov
noted that the OSCE leadership attaches great importance to the
soonest resolving of the Karabakh conflict. In his turn, V. Oskanian
acquainted Ph. Dimitrov with the details and logic of the settlement
process in the light of the recent meetings of the Presidents and FMs
of Armenia and Azerbaijan. To note, during the 2-day visit to Yerevan
the special representative is also scheduled to meet with the
Armenian President, NA Speaker and Defense Minister.

Armenian presidential aide accuses European rapporteur of pro-Azeri stance
Hayots Ashkarh, Yerevan
21 Sep 04
An interview with the Armenian president’s advisor Garnik Isagulyan.
[Hayots Ashkarh correspondent] Mr Isagulyan, [rapporteur of the
Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe] Terry Davis’s draft
report on Karabakh has been submitted to the Council of
Europe. According to some officials, it contains statements which
worry both Azerbaijan and Armenia. Do you also think so?
[Garnik Isagulyan] I think there is nothing surprising in the draft
report. The principle according to which the rapporteur on Karabakh
was chosen should be taken into account in the first place. Terry
Davis is an MP from Great Britain, a country which in 1991 recognized
the territorial integrity of Azerbaijan including Karabakh. For this
reason, Great Britain, albeit an influential country, did not become a
member of the OSCE Minsk Group [for the settlement of the Karabakh
conflict] because from the very beginning it adopted a pro-Azerbaijani
position.
A new rapporteur has been appointed recently and again an MP from
Great Britain. I do not think that his approaches will differ greatly
from the approaches of Davis. We should be ready for this. On the
whole, it will be better if our delegation in the Council of Europe
does its best to have a representative of a country that has a neutral
position appointed a rapporteur on the Karabakh issue.
[Passage omitted: Baku might want to change format of Karabakh talks]
[Correspondent] Do you think that within the framework of the Minsk
Group a pro-Armenian settlement is becoming more realistic?
[Isagulyan] I would say not pro-Armenian, but a settlement which stems
from the real situation, in case if Azerbaijan stops insisting on
starting the process from scratch. But Baku understands very well that
the minimum to which the Armenian party will agree is Karabakh’s
independence or even reunification with Armenia. Our society,
political forces, on the whole, should get into the habit of not
paying much attention to different discussions and reports regarding
the Karabakh issue in those international structures which have no
significant role in the settlement process. The Nagornyy Karabakh
Republic is in fact an independent state. As for the discussions that
start from time to time as to whether territories should be returned
or not, what compromises can be made, the Megri problem, and so on, in
reality they are raised in Armenia. There are similar hopes in
Azerbaijan and Turkey that if certain forces come to power in Armenia,
the problem could be resolved in their favour.
[Correspondent] What forces do you mean?
[Isagulyan] It is no secret that the whole ideology and approaches of
the Armenian Pan-National Movement worked in this direction. Their
agreement to the settlement option suggested at the end of 1997 and
[Armenian ex-President] Levon Ter-Petrosyan’s known article are the
links of the same chain. Today in Armenia against the background of
the anti-Karabakh propaganda, one can hear from radical opposition
circles expressions like: let Karabakh itself resolve its
problem. This is inadmissible. Although Karabakh is a fully-fledged
country, it still needs Armenia’s support and it will never be within
Azerbaijan. No country or international structure can make such an
illogical claim to Armenia and Karabakh if our domestic moth does not
destroy us.

THE KOREA HERALD
September 22, 2004, Wednesday
‘Aida’ gets minimalist treatment
By Warren Lee
An upcoming production of “Aida” promises a fresh, new look for the
familiar operatic tale of love and war set in ancient Egypt.
The National Opera of Korea will present the Verdi classic at the
Seoul Arts Center next month in a production led by Dieter Kaegi,
with set and costume design by Bruno Schwengl.
Though Kaegi’s production is admittedly far from cutting-edge, it
does provide Korean audiences a glimpse of what a tried-and-true
classic would look like if it were to adopt a more progressive
approach to opera staging.
“In order for opera to have a future and bring in a new generation of
audiences, you can’t repeat the same thing over and over again,” said
Kaegi, who is artistic director of Opera Ireland in Dublin. “You need
a fresh visual concept, not just reproductions. Reproductions are
boring and they don’t work.”
Korean opera companies usually present only about two dozen or so of
the best known operas in the repertory, mostly by Verdi, Puccini,
Donizetti and other big-name Italian composers. And in staging these
operas, the elements that make up a production – such as set design,
direction, and costumes – usually come together to produce the most
realistic, and perhaps too literal, a depiction of the time and
setting in which the stories take place.
Productions of “Aida,” for example, tend toward recreating ancient
Egypt with sets that feature life-sized pyramids and a veritable army
of jewel-clad extras. But such lavish settings often detract from the
music and the story at hand, which paints the tragic struggle of a
slave woman torn between her love for a man and her native country.
“I think a lot of people have the wrong idea of what this opera is
about,” Kaegi says. “‘Aida’ is not about outdoor amphitheaters and
the Triumphal March scene,” he said, alluding to an “Aida” staged
last year at Jamsil Olympic Stadium which featured a 100-meter stage
and a procession of live elephants and camels that circled the
audience on the running track. “The plot gets lost in large
productions. If it’s too sumptuous, the story gets lost.”
He added: “Of course, ‘Aida’ has to be very visually strong, with
lots of striking images.”
Schwengl’s set design leaves much more to the imagination. Aside from
a lone centerpiece that changes with each scene, the stage remains
mostly empty and spacious, flanked by a large pyramid split in half.
In the third act, which takes place along the moonlit banks of the
Nile River, an islet is represented by the half-exposed face of a
large, Sphinx-like statue emerging above the water line, while a
large, white disc hovers only several meters off the ground in the
background.
The uncluttered set design, Kaegi explained, allows the audience to
focus more attention to the intimate, complex dynamics that color the
love between Aida and Radames. “We try to make the conflicts between
the characters more evident.”
While this version of “Aida” is not a radical departure from others,
it will nonetheless serve as a way for local audiences to dip their
toes into more unorthodox stagings of popular works. Delivering
something new and fresh is vital for the future artistic and
financial well-being of opera, said the National Opera’s artistic
director, Jung Eun-suk.
“I think we are past the point where we have to present ‘La
Traviata,’ ‘La Boheme,’ or ‘Aida’ in historical settings. The
audience can tell what the whole production is going to be like with
just one glimpse at the set, and I find that troublesome,” she said.
“Europe has always experimented with their operas, even if they are
classics. I think this is a way to make something familiar more
modern to Korean opera goers.”
“Aida’s” cast will include Armenian soprano Hasmik Papian, American
Adina Aaron, and Korean Lee Hwa-young who will alternate in the title
role with tenors Gegam Grigorian, Kim Nam-doo, and Ha Suk-bae singing
the part of Radames.
Italian conductor Riccardo Frizza will lead the Korean Symphony
Orchestra, the National Opera Chorus of Korea, and Euijeongbu City
Choir.
“Aida” will run Oct. 7-11 at the Seoul Arts Center Opera House,
located near the Nambu Bus Terminal Station, Subway Line No. 3, Exit
5. Weekday performances start at 7:30 p.m. Weekend performances start
at 4 p.m. Tickets start at 30,000 won and can be purchased at
1588-7890. For more information, call (02) 586-5282 or visit

PanArmenian News
Sept 22 2004
KARABAKH SETTLEMENT SHOULD BE BASED ON IRREFUTABLE FACT OF EXISTENCE
OF NAGORNO KARABAKH REPUBLIC, ARMENIAN PRESIDENT CONSIDERS
22.09.2004 13:23
/PanARMENIAN.Net/ Preservation of peace in our complex region is a
vitally important task, Armenian President Robert Kocharian stated at
the sitting ceremony on the occasion the 13-th anniversary of
independence of Armenia last evening. In his words, comprehensive
cooperation between all countries of the region is an effective means
to that end. R. Kocharian noted that in the Nagorno Karabakh issue
Armenia keeps its adherence to the principle of peaceful settlement
of the problem, which should be based on the objective reality formed
in the course of the collapse of the USSR, namely “the irrefutable
fact of the existence of the Nagorno-Karabakh Republic.”
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress

Le Figaro, France
21 septembre 2004
Concours de chant de Toulouse
Les hommes n’ont pas remporté de premier prix au 45e Concours de
chant de Toulouse. Pour les femmes, la mezzo géorgienne de 20 ans
Ketevan Kemoklidze s’est imposée en tête. Le 2e prix ex aequo est
allé à la basse canadienne de 23 ans Robert MPomakov et à la soprano
chinoise de 30 ans Na Shen ; le 3e prix ex aequo au baryton argentin
de 27 ans Armando Noguera et à la soprano arménienne de 24 ans Liana
Alexanyan.

Exotisme alimentaire
par Jacques CAPELOVICI
Le Figaro, France
17 septembre 2004
Il n’est pas sans intérêt de noter que le nom de la pêche (fruit)
remonte au latin malum persicum signifiant littéralement « pomme de
Perse », le terme « pomme » étant pris dans le sens générique de
fruit. Le « r » de Perse est absent du français pêche, de l’anglais
peach et de l’italien pesca ; mais on le retrouve dans l’allemand
Pfirsich, le néerlandais perzik et le russe persik, d’origine latine,
ce qui donne à penser que, malgré la proximité de la Perse, ce fruit
a été probablement introduit en Russie par une autre voie.
Non moins exotique est le nom de notre abricot, qui remonte à
l’adjectif latin praecoquum qualifiant un fruit précoce, en
l’occurrence originaire de Chine, que les Grecs nommaient armeniaka,
fruit d’Arménie. Les Arabes le réintroduisirent dans l’Occident sous
le nom d’al-barqoûq, enrichi de l’article défini, qui a donné
naissance à l’espagnol albaricoque, au portugais albricoque, à
l’italien albicocco et, bien entendu, au français abricot, d’où
viennent l’anglais apricot, l’allemand Aprikose et le néerlandais
abrikoos. Rencontre inattendue : le russe abrikos est homophone du
mot néerlandais. Dans toutes ces langues, le « a » initial remonte à
l’article arabe al amputé de sa consonne.
Enfin, il faut se rendre en Israël pour y trouver l’origine de notre
échalote, qui vient du port d’Ascalon. Les exemples de ce genre sont
assez nombreux pour nous éclairer sur les voyages qu’accomplirent
certains produits alimentaires avant d’aboutir dans nos assiettes.