Folangji

Farang () is a Persian word that originally referred to the Franks (the major Germanic people) and later came to refer to Western or Latin Europeans in general. The word is borrowed from Old French or Latin , which are also the source of Modern English ''France, French''.

The Western European and Eastern worlds came into prolonged contact with each other during the crusades and the establishment of the Crusader states. Many crusaders spoke (Old) French and were from the territory of modern France; while others came from other regions, such as modern Italy or England. In any case, the period predated the idea of the nation state in Europe. ''Frank'' or its equivalent term were used by both Medieval Greeks and Easterners to refer to any crusader or Latin Christian. From the 12th century onwards, it was the standard term for Western Christians in the Eastern world.

Through trading networks, the Persian term ''farang'' and related words such as '' Frangistan'' () were spread to languages of South Asia and Southeast Asia.

Origin and geographic spread

Arabic

The Persian word '' farang'' () or ''farangī'' (), refers to Franks, the major Germanic tribe ruling Western Europe. '' Frangistan'' () was a term used by Easterners from the Muslim world and Persians in particular, during the Middle Ages and later periods, to refer to Western or Latin Europe. According to Rashid-al-Din Hamadani word "Afranj" comes from the Persian "Farang". This seems unlikely though, considering that the Arabic "Afranj" (also "Faranj" or "Ifranj") has been attested since the 9th century in the works of al-Jahiz (c. 776–868/869), over 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 century, Arabic texts were increasingly using the term "Faransa" or "al-Faransiyah" for France, already attested in the work of Said al-Andalusi in the mid-11th century.

Ethiopia and Eritrea

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.

South, Southeast and East Asia

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/Urdu as ''firangi'' (Devanāgarī: फिरंगी and Urdu فرنگی) and Bengali as ''firingi'' (ফিরিঙ্গি). The word was pronounced ''paranki'' (പറങ്കി) in Malayalam, ''parangiar'' in Tamil, Sinhala, 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.

Regional evolution

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 who 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 Telugu ''phirangi'' (ఫిరంగి) means cannon, due to cannons being an import.

In Sinhala ''parangi'' (පරංගි) was used to refer to the Portuguese people. The poem ''Parangi Hatana'' describes the Battle of Gannoruwa.

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

Edmund Roberts, US envoy to Cochin-China, Siam, and Muscat in the early 1830s, defined the term as " Frank (or European)". Black people are called ''farang dam'' (; '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.

In modern Thailand, the '' Royal Institute Dictionary 1999'', 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". For example, varieties of food/produce that were introduced by Europeans are often called ''farang'' varieties. Hence, potatoes are ''man farang'' (), whereas ''man'' () alone can be any tuber; ''no mai farang'' (; "''farang'' shoot") means asparagus; culantro is called ''phak chi farang'' (, literally farang cilantro/coriander); and chewing gum is ''mak farang'' (). ''Mak'' () is Thai for areca nut; chewing ''mak'' together with betel leaves ''(bai phlu)'' was a Thai custom. A non-food example is ''achan farang'' (; "''farang'' professor") which is the nickname of an influential figure in Thai art history, Italian art professor Silpa Bhirasri.

''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.

In the Isan Lao dialect, the guava is called ''mak sida'' (), ''mak'' being a prefix for fruit names. Thus ''bak sida'' (), ''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

Negar Habibi, “Farangi,” ''Khamseen: Islamic Art History Online'', published 2 November 2021.
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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