SC - eggplant -- it. _melanzana_ etc.

[Thomas Gloning]

<< While we're on this subject, the standard Italian
word for eggplant is 'melanzana' which seems to be related
to the Greek word for 'black', while in some southern Italian
dialects the word is 'mulingnàn' (not sure if more closely
associated with Sicilian, Napolitano or Barese).  Can any
one suggest an etymology for the latter?  Perhaps Arab? >>

If I am not mistaken, both forms go back to arab. _bading(i)an_ (or its
variants); different sound changes and influences then lead to the
different modern or dialectal forms. Gustav Ineichen wrote three
important pages about the Arab, Greek, Italian, Latin and French word
forms, related to the eggplant. There you find the details and further
references:
- -- Gustav Ineichen: L'autorité de <Moamin>. In: Baldinger, K. (Hg.):
Festschrift Walther von Wartburg zum 80. Geburtstag. Tübingen 1968,
421-430. (About the etymology of "melanzana", see p. 425-428.)

Best,
Thomas