An in-depth analysis of the oriental terms contained in 13th- and 14th-century travel accounts may contribute to assessing the familiarity of medieval Western travellers with the languages of the Asian peoples they came into contact with. It may also enhance the understanding of the composition process of their texts. Furthermore, such an investigation may provide important information about the circulation and integration of Far-Eastern words into Latin and the vernacular languages of late-medieval Europe. The first step of this research involves correctly identifying the oriental source words. The second phase consists in evaluating the degree of approximation with which Asian terms were reproduced by Western authors. The third level of analysis concerns the semantic component, and aims at verifying whether foreign forms are accompanied by translations and, if so, whether these translations are correct. The travel accounts by Marco Polo and Odoric of Pordenone offer a wide variety of oriental terms. They not only give us invaluable information about Mongol China, where several cultures and languages interacted, but also provide us with very useful details on the various peoples these travellers encountered in the Middle East, in Central and South Asia on their way to and from Cathay.
