Welcome to the Spices & Spice Terminology Database 1.2 #
This website contains information on spices and spice names. It aims to list, categorize, and introduce spices from a philological point of view, focusing on their origins, history, spread, cultural significance, and linguistic analysis. The website is accompanying a PhD dissertation titled Mapping the Language of Spices: A Corpus-Based, Philological Study on the Words of the Spice Domain. The goal of this project is to gather the available knowledge on spices (and in the future herbs, incense, perfumes, oils, and other aromatics as well), especially in terms of historical data.
Our main hypothesis is that along their diffusion in early global trade, these materials have left a continuous lingusitic trail, which then serves as evidence for their journey even at time-depths where written or archeological evidence is not available.
Some spices around the globe
This interactive map shows the spices currently available on this website. Explore the full map here!
# Species English Chinese Transliteration Arabic Transliteration
1 Pimenta dioica allspice 多香果 duōxiāngguǒ فلفل إفرنجي filfil ifranjī
2 Pimpinella anisum anise 茴芹 huíqín ينسون yansūn
3 Ferula assa-foetida et al. asafoetida 阿魏 wèi حلتیت ḥiltīt
4 Carum carvi caraway 葛縷子 gělǚzi كراويا karāwiyā
5 Elettaria cardamomum cardamom 荳蔻 dòukòu هال hāl
6 Cinnamomum cassia cassia 肉桂 ròuguì سليخة salīkha
7 Capsicum annuum et al. chile 辣椒 làjiāo فلفل حار fulful hārr
8 Cinnamomum verum cinnamon 錫蘭肉桂 xīlánròuguì قرفة qirfa
9 Syzygium aromaticum clove 丁香 dīngxiāng قرنفل qaranful
10 Coriandrum sativum coriander 芫荽 yánsui كزبرة kuzbara
11 Cuminum cyminum cumin 孜然 zīrán كمون kammūn
12 Anethum graveolens dill 蒔蘿 shíluó شبت shibitt
13 Foeniculum vulgare fennel 茴香 huíxiāng شمر shamar
14 Trigonella foenum-graecum fenugreek 胡蘆巴 húlúbā حلبة ḥulba
15 Zingiber officinale ginger 薑 jiāng زنجبيل zanjabīl
16 Piper longum long pepper 蓽撥 bìbō دار فلفل dār filfil
17 Myristica fragrans mace 肉荳蔻皮 ròudòukòupí بسباسة basbāsa
18 Myristica fragrans nutmeg 肉荳蔻 ròudòukòu جوز الطيب jawz al-ṭīb
19 Piper nigrum pepper 胡椒 hújiāo فلفل filfil, fulful
20 Crocus sativus saffron 番紅花 fānhónghuā زعفران zaʿfarān
21 Zanthoxylum spp. Sichuan pepper 花椒 huājiāo فلفل سيتشوان filfil sītshuwān
22 Illicium verum star anise 八角 bājiǎo ينسون نجمي yansūn najmī
23 Curcuma longa turmeric 薑黃 jiānghuáng كركم kurkum
24 Vanilla planifolia vanilla 香草 xiāngcǎo فانيليا fānīliyā
The set of 24 spices included in this website, with scientific names of the source plant, names in English, Chinese, Arabic, and their transliterations.
The Thesis #
Download the thesis here. #
The Data #
You can download the three datasets in csv (comma separated values) format, and open them with any software capable of handling tables or spreadsheets.
Acknowledgements #
The dissertation that serves as a basis for this database was prepared at the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, under the supervision of Prof. Chu-Ren Huang, funded by the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS).
Updates and versioning #
2023-08-09: v 1.2 Uploaded datasets.
2023-07-29: v 1.1 Removed “beta” designation, finalized content.
2022-09-29: v 1.0 Created the website (beta).
How to Cite #
The Thesis #
Parti, G. (2023). Mapping the Language of Spices A Corpus-Based, Philological Study on the Words of the Spice Domain [Ph.D. thesis]. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
The Website #
Parti, G. (n.d.). Home. Spices & Spice Terminology Database 1.2. Retrieved July 24, 2023, https://partigabor.github.io/spice/