huh, daikon (大根) is literally “big root”, that makes total sense but somehow never really occurred to me.
in Cantonese it’s referred to as “white carrot”.
Now I’m wondering if the “rot” in “carrot” is from “root.” The Danish name for the vegetable is yellowroot – is “car” the same as “yellow,” “orange” or “red” in some language English might have nicked it from?
unfortunately carrot is greek. the greek reflex of the root root is rhiza
Alas, my theories dashed on the rocks of knowledge.
