The Savannah morning news., 1902-07-07
MEANING OF CALIFORNIA"
Comes From the Old Arabic Word,
'kaIif."
From the Booklover.

From the BOokloVer.
The true meaning of the word Kali
fornia, or California. has never yet, to
the writer's knowledge, been made
public in America The Century
Dictionary of Names" edition 1901,
tells an old yarn about the word oc-
curing in a Spanish book OF romance
of the sixteenth century, published
1910, in allusion to a tabled island
of wealth. OF course, few in America
have ever seen this romance, Las
Sergus de Esplandian," as an original
exists not in America. But my own
travels in Espana, combined with a
smattering of Arabic, enables me to
make perfectly clear the real meaning
of the word California.
We have all heard of the Arabic
word kalif (often incorrectly spelled
calf, F." and two or three other ways.
as "caliph," "khalif," "kaliph," all of
cessor, or chief Kalifat means the
district or province of the chief. cor
responding ION a usually smaller
scale) to our American state" Now
the Iberians have a useful brief way
brought down through ages, of maxi
ing a word stand for two other mean
ings by the simple addition of 'ita" or
"on." Thus: Seniors, woman senorita
little woman Ga miss); senorona,
grand dame (but rarely used, because
rejecting on a woman as putting on
airs"). Or: Cuchara, spoon; cuchar-
lis, little spoon; cucharon, big spoon
So: Kalifat, the province or district
or state, becomes by kalifito, the lit
tie kalifat; kalifon, the grand kali
fat. In this form, kalifon would also
refer to the kalif himself, as meaning
a powerful kalif.
In the old Arabic-Iberian language,
a kalifon meant something grand or
vast, ir allusion to the kalifat of a
chief which was immensely bigger in
extent and wealth and productions than
an ordinary kalifat-a something al
ways aspired after. Travel into any
part of Mexico, and you Will hear ran
cho, ranch: ranchito, little ranch, and
Occasionally ranchon, big ranch. So
kalifoTf was always a sort of grand
prize" a vast treasure, the Arabic
Iberian colorado. The termination
ia" making the word Kalifonia, could
very naturally be affixed, In romance,
to the name of a tabled island of
wealth We have a recent illustration
Of the suffix ia" in South Africa,
where Rhodes had a district named
after him, "Rhodesia." And right at
nome we nave GOtn pIOlOHScu u Eueu-
ia; Arcade to Arcadia, and Emersonia,
referring generally to all things relat-
ing to Emerson, etc.
In referring to kalifs here, l am only
writing of the kalifs of old Moham-
medan Iberia. The word had not the
significance which 1t has at Stambool.
The word Kalifonia will also probably
be found IN the vast stores of Arabic
Espanol tones, at Madrid, Of the fif-
teenth and sixteenth centuries, in ref
erence TO the state or province of a
kalifon (grand kaliO; just as presi-
dencia will be found to mean the dis
trict or Jurisdiction of a presidente; in
tendencla, Of an intendente; Residential,
the domain of a residente. But how
Gid the r. creep in to make Kalifonia
read Kalifornia? Well, there is no
knowing. 1t got in somehow" I
have never seen the original, Las
Sergus de Esplandian" mentioned in
the Century Dictionary of Names"
and do not believe there is anybody in
America who has seen it. but l am
pretty confident the word was spelt
originally as "Kalifonia, and not "Kal-
ifornia" The n" probably slipped in,
as in d Merchandising, during the old
misiones period Of a couple of centu-
ries ago Literally, it has no right
to be there. In the spelling of the word
Bolivia (named after the patriot, Boil
var). an "r' slipped out. and an"r'
substituted and transoosed.
The initial 90" is entirely wrong.
But, as it is easier to do wrong than
right IN this world-especially in spell
ing-the &c" has the vogue. Why. even