Spanish substrate/A

[Rick Mc Callister]

>On Tue, 16 Mar 1999, Rick Mc Callister wrote:

>> >On Thu, 11 Mar 1999, Rick Mc Callister wrote:

>> >> artesa "type of box" 1330 "cajón cuadrilongo de madera que es más
>> >> angosto hacia el fondo" pre-rom.; [c]
>> >> v. vasco artesi "grieta, agujero" [c]

>[snip]

>> In Pequeño Larrouse, I seem to remember accompanying <artesa> a
>> picture of a basket-like contraption with 2 rectangular rims [both rounded
>> off] and no bottom; the upper rim was about twice the size of the lower
>> one. There was no indication of size or use.

>> Now I'm trying imagine how this can relate to a toponym, could it
>> be a box canyon?

>Tell us what a box canyon is. Are there such things in Europe?

	In Spanish, it's called a <cajo/n> [which also means garbage
can/truck, among other things], hence the town of El Cajo/n.
	Box canyons figured in most westerns filmed in Arizona, so if
you've seen John Wayne movies, you've seen plenty of them. They're the
places where the bad guys are usually holed up in. At least in the films,
they're canyons that have only one entrance, which is narrow with steep
walls. They widen out inside and often have a bit of a flood plain where
farming is possible.
	I'd imagine there'd be quite a few of them in parts of southern and
eastern Spain where smaller streams flow down from the plateau.