Farang

Farang ( fa, فرنگ) is a Persian (and Southeast Asian) word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic tribe) and later came to refer to White Europeans in general. The word "Farang" is a cognate and originates from Old French: "".

During the crusades, Frankish control was extended further in the Middle East. Unlike previous Franks, these Franks were almost all Christian as opposed to older Franks who were mixed groups of different religions.

Over time, the word began to be used more generically. In 12th century, the term Frank became associated with all of Western Europeans (including the French, Italians, and the Flemish) in the Muslim world. The term ''Frangistan'' ( fa, فرنگستان) was used by Thai and Muslims and was also used frequently by Persians. Muslim traders referred to all European traders as Farang and it entered much of the languages of South Asia and Southeast Asia as a term.

Name

The word ''farang'' is from Persian word ''farang'' () or ''farangī'' (), refers to Franks, the major Germanic tribe ruling Western Europe. ''Frangistan'' ( fa, فرنگستان) was a term used by Muslims and Persians in particular, during the Middle Ages and later periods, to refer to Western or Latin Europe. According to Rashid od-Din Fazl ol-Lāh-e Hamadāni, Arabic word ''Afranj'' comes from the Persian ''farang''. This seems unlikely though, considering that the Arabic 'al-Faranj' or 'Afranj' has been attested since the 9th century, in the works of al-Jahiz and Ya'qubi, a century before 'Farang' was first used in an anonymous late 10th century Persian geography book, suggesting that the Persian 'Farang' is a loan from Arabic. By the 11th cetury, Arabic texts were increasingly using the term 'Faransa' or 'al-Faransiyah', already attested in the work of Said al-Andalusi in the mid 11th century.

In the languages of Ethiopia and Eritrea, ''faranj'' or ''ferenj'' in most contexts still means distant foreigner (generally used to describe Europeans or European descendant/white people), in certain contexts within the Ethiopian and Eritrean diaspora, the term ''faranj'' or ''ferenj'' has taken on a slightly alternative meaning that closely resembles the term Westerner or Westernized people even though it still mostly applies to European descendants/White People, it can be applied to African Americans and other Westernized People of Color. During the Muslim Mughal Empire when the Europeans arrived in South Asia, the Persian word Farang was used to refer to foreigners of European descent. The words also added to local languages such as Hindi as ''firangi'' (Devanāgarī: फिरंगी) and Bengali as ''firingi'' (ফিরিঙ্গি). The word was pronounced ''paranki'' (പറങ്കി) in Malayalam, ''parangiar'' in Tamil, entered Khmer as '' barang'', and Malay as ''ferenggi''. From there the term spread into China as ''folangji'' (佛郎機), which was used to refer to the Portuguese and their breech-loading swivel guns when they first arrived in China.

Other uses

South Asia

In Bangladesh and West Bengal, the modern meaning of ''firingi'' (ফিরিঙ্গি) refers to Anglo-Bengalis or Bengalis with European ancestry. Most ''firingi''s tend to be Bengali Christians. Descendants of ''firingi''s which married local Bengali women may also be referred to as ''Kalo Firingi''s (Black firingis) or ''Matio Firingis'' (Earth-coloured firingis). Following the Portuguese settlement in Chittagong, the Portuguese fort and naval base came to be known as Firingi Bandar or the Foreigner's Port. There are also places such as Firingi Bazaar which exist in older parts of Dhaka and Chittagong. The descendants of these Portuguese traders in Chittagong continue to be referred to as ''Firingi''s. The Indian biographical film '' Antony Firingee'' was very popular in the mid 20th century and was based on Anthony Firingee - a Bengali folk singer of Portuguese origin. There is also a river in the Sundarbans called Firingi River.

In the Maldives ''faranji'' was the term used to refer to foreigners of European origin, especially the French. Until recently the lane next to the Bastion in the northern shore of Malé was called Faranji Kalō Gōlhi.

Southeast Asia

The '' Royal Institute Dictionary 2011'', the official dictionary of Thai words, defines the word as "a person of white race". The term is also blended into everyday terms meaning "of/from the white race" such as: ''man farang'' ( th, มันฝรั่ง; "''farang'' yam") meaning potato, ''no mai farang'' ( th, หน่อไม้ฝรั่ง; "''farang'' shoot") meaning asparagus, and ''achan farang'' ( th, อาจารย์ฝรั่ง; "''farang'' professor") which is the nickname of the influential figure in Thai art history, Italian art professor Silpa Bhirasri.

Edmund Roberts, US envoy in 1833, defined the term as "Frank (or European)". Black people are called ''farang dam'' ( th, ฝรั่งดำ; 'black farang') to distinguish them from whites. This began during the Vietnam War, when the United States military maintained bases in Thailand. The practice continues in present-day Bangkok.

''Farang'' is also the Thai word for the guava fruit, introduced by Portuguese traders over 400 years ago.

''Farang khi nok'' (), also used in Lao, is slang commonly used as an insult to a person of white race, equivalent to white trash, as ''khi'' means feces and ''nok'' means bird, referring to the white color of bird-droppings.

Varieties of food/produce that were introduced by Europeans are often called ''farang'' varieties. Hence, potatoes are ''man farang'' ( th, มันฝรั่ง), whereas ''man'' ( th, มัน) alone can be any tuber; culantro is called ''phak chi farang'' ( th, ผักชีฝรั่ง, literally farang cilantro/ coriander); and chewing gum is ''mak farang'' ( th, หมากฝรั่ง). ''Mak'' ( th, หมาก) is Thai for arecanut; chewing ''mak'' together with betel leaves ''(baiphlu)'' was a Thai custom.

In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called ''mak sida'' ( th, หมากสีดา), ''mak'' being a prefix for fruit names. Thus ''bak sida'' ( th, บักสีดา), ''bak'' being a prefix when calling males, refers jokingly to a Westerner, by analogy to the Thai language where ''farang'' can mean both guava and Westerner.

See also

References

Further reading

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* Kitiarsa, P. (2011). An ambiguous intimacy: Farang as Siamese occidentalism. In R. V. Harrison & P. A. Jackson (Eds.), The ambiguous allure of the West: Traces of the colonial in Thailand (pp. 57–74). Hong Kong Univ. Press; Silkworm Books.

External links

Farang in the Concise Oxford Dictionary

German language bi-monthly magazine, published by ''Der Farang'', Pattaya, Thailand

{{ethnic slurs

Ethno-cultural designations
Thai words and phrases
Exonyms
Persian words and phrases