ཀ་ཀོ་ལ

Tibetan

Etymology

Referring to Kakkola (伽古羅), a country on the western coast of the Malaya Peninsula, which the Chinese from the eighth century thought produced both the nutmegs and the round cardamom (Amomum compactum), the latter possibly imported from Java (Donkin, 2003).

Compare Sanskrit तक्कोल (takkola, “a kind of perfume”), कक्कोल (kakkola, “a kind of plant; a perfume”), Pali takkola, Arabic قاقُلَّة (qāqulla, “cardamom”), Javanese kapulaga, also possibly Chinese 豆蔻 (dòukòu, “cardamom”).

Pronunciation

• Old Tibetan: /*ka.ko.la/

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• Old Tibetan:
  • IPA^(key): /*ka.ko.la/ (reconstructed)

Noun

ཀ་ཀོ་ལ • (ka ko la)

1. black cardamom (Amomum subulatum)
2. Chinese cardamom (Lanxangia tsaoko)