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The ordinary-sized words are for everyone, but the big ones are especially for children.



Friday 19 July 2013

Word To Use Today: tana.

Here's a small, ringing word that describes some lovely things.

For a start, not only is Lake Tana in Ethiopia the source of the Blue Nile, but on its islands are kept the treasures of the Ethiopian Church:


Priest going to church.

and in its waters seventy per cent of the fish species are to be found nowhere else in the world.


Barbus tanapelagius. Photo by M Grimm

The River Tana is the longest river in Kenya:

File:Tana River ferry, Hola, Kenya.jpg
Photo by Chking2. This is the River Tana ferry.

- unless, of course, you're talking about the River Tana in Norway, which leads to Tana Fjord and forms part of the border between Norway and Finland.

File:Tana-2012-07-09-10-06-002.jpg
Photo Karl Brodowsky

Then there's the tana, also known as Phaner furcifer:



which is a lemur from, of course, Madacasgar; and as if those weren't riches enough there's also the completely different tana Tupaia tana:



which is a tree shrew you may see if you are lucky enough to be in Sumatra or Borneo.

There we are. Tanas.

All lovely things, and I shall cherish them.

Word To Use Today: tana. The word for the animals comes from the Malay tūpai tana, which means ground squirrel.

1 comment:

  1. How lovely!! I commend to your attention the wonderful writer of thrillers, TANA FRENCH, whose FAITHFUL PLACE is one of the best of recent years...

    ReplyDelete

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