סִגָּלוֹן (sigalon) — jacaranda tree
Etymology
The jacaranda tree (Jacaranda mimosifolia) arrived in Mandate-era Palestine in the late 1920s and early 1930s, planted primarily along Tel Aviv's Rothschild Boulevard. Its spectacular purple blossoms made a strong impression on the city's residents and poets, but it had no Hebrew name — it was known only by its foreign names, יָקָרַנְדָּה (English pronunciation) or גָ׳קָרַנְדָּה (German pronunciation).
The foreign name itself is indigenous to Brazil: in Tupi-Guarani languages, jacaranda means "fragrant." It was documented in English as early as 1753 and was formalized as the scientific genus name by French botanist Antoine-Laurent de Jussieu in 1789.
Several Hebrew names for the jacaranda were proposed before סִגָּלוֹן took hold. Poet Yehuda Karni wrote about the tree obsessively in his Haaretz column from 1941 onward and proposed calling it שִׁילְהָב (shilhav, "flame"). After the death of poet Shaul Tchernichovsky in October 1943, Karni proposed naming the tree שָׁאוּל (Shaul) or שְׁאוּלָה in his memory; linguist Arieh Smiatzki modified this to שָׁאוּל for grammatical reasons. None of these names stuck.
The name that did stick was coined by naturalists Efraim and Hana Reuveni in an article in Yediot Tel-Aviv (the municipality's bulletin) in May 1943 — a few months before Tchernichovsky's death. Discussing the need to give Hebrew names to Tel Aviv's ornamental trees, they wrote: "[The jacaranda is] well known to Tel Aviv residents through its large clusters of purple flowers. For the color of its flowers we have named it: sigalon." The name is built from סָגֹל (sagol, "purple/violet") with the -on suffix, a common Hebrew botanical and zoological formation.
The name took years to become universal, but it eventually prevailed. The Hebrew Language Committee (Va'ad ha-Lashon) had included the jacaranda in its 1946 list of botanical names for plants of the Land of Israel, deciding to retain the foreign name יָקָרַנְדָּה — but popular usage favored Reuveni's Hebrew coinage, and it ultimately won out.
Key Quotes
"הידוע יפה לתושבי תל-אביב באשכולות הגדולים של פרחיו הסגליים. על הגון של פרחיו קראנו לו: סגלון" — Efraim and Hana Reuveni, Yediot Tel-Aviv, May 1943
"יִהְיוּ אֲשֶׁר יִהְיוּ, – כֻּלָּם סוֹפָם... כַּעֲרֵמוֹת פִּרְחֵי-לִילַךְ הַיָּקָרַנְדָה" — Shaul Tchernichovsky, "Shirat ha-Yakaranda," 1934
"עם בוא האביב החדש הואילי לפרוח ביתר הידור והעלי בכל עלה כחול את זכרו של שאול שלך" — Yehuda Karni, proposing the tree be named after Tchernichovsky, 1943
Timeline
- Late 1920s–early 1930s: Jacaranda trees planted in Tel Aviv, known only by foreign names
- 1931: Tchernichovsky settles in Tel Aviv; fascinated by the tree
- 1934: Tchernichovsky writes "Shirat ha-Yakaranda"
- 1941: Yehuda Karni begins writing annually about the tree; proposes calling it שִׁילְהָב
- May 1943: Reuveni couple proposes סִגָּלוֹן in Yediot Tel-Aviv
- October 1943: Tchernichovsky dies; Karni proposes naming the jacaranda after him
- 1946: Hebrew Language Committee plant-name list retains יָקָרַנְדָּה; but סִגָּלוֹן gains popular currency
- Subsequent decades: סִגָּלוֹן becomes the standard Hebrew name
Related Words
- סָגֹל — "purple, violet" (the color word from which the name is formed)
- צֶאֱלוֹן — the Hebrew name for the flamboyant/royal poinciana tree, coined in the same era
- שִׁילְהָב — Karni's competing proposal for the flamboyant (the name that did not prevail)
- יָקָרַנְדָּה — the international botanical name for the same tree