Basque <alde>

[Larry Trask]

On Thu, 18 Mar 1999, roslyn frank wrote:

> Part I <alde>, <alda> and  <halda>

> There are several aspects of <alde> in Euskera that are not
> immediately apparent from the discussion above. For example, it is
> commonly used in conjunction with the derivational allative
> suffixing element <-era> (as are other root-stems in Euskera) in its
> directional meaning of "toward."

Actually, <-ra>, I think.

> Hence, <mendi aldera joango gara>
> "We are going toward the mountain" can be converted into a spatially
> understood "noun-like" notion, namely, one that refers to "the place
> that is <mendi-aldera>."  That spatial notion is not directly
> equivalent to "mountain-slope". But it certainly does approach it in
> the sense that you are moving through a space identified as "[the
> part] toward (the) mountain." In many senses the referentiality of
> <mendi-aldera> would correspond, in terms of the spatially grounded
> notion it comprises, what is understood in spatial terms to be "a
> slope"  or "mountain-side" in English.

Yes; as I mentioned earlier, <mendialde> means not only `the mountains'
but also `the place near or toward the mountains'.

It is true that <mendi aldera> commonly means `toward the mountain(s)',
since <aldera> has become a common postposition in the sense of
`toward'.  Roz appears to be suggesting that a reanalysis of <mendi
aldera> as <[mendialde]-ra> has led to the creation of <mendialde> as a
noun meaning `place near or toward the mountain(s)', and I think this is
reasonable.

But I've never heard <mendialde> used to mean specifically `slope',
which in my experience is most commonly expressed as <malda>, <aldapa>
or <aldats>.  However, since the Basque Country is anything but flat,
any journey toward the mountains, assuming you're starting in a valley,
must inevitably take you uphill pretty quickly.  Unless you're following
a valley toward the sea, there aren't many places where you can travel
much more than 100 meters without going uphill.  Croquet is never going
to catch on in the Basque Country. ;-)

[snip]

> For anyone bilingual in Euskera and Spanish, the phonological
> correspondences between <mendi aldera> and "la ladera del monte" are
> striking.  I take no position concerning the role played by <alde/alte>
> as a possible candidate inherited by Euskera and IE from some earlier
> (pre-Rom.) linguistic substrate (substrata).  I only want to indicate
> that things are a bit less clear cut than they might appear at first
> glance.

It is certain that eastern <alte> is the conservative form of the Basque
word, and that common <alde> is secondary, resulting from the medieval
voicing of plosives after /l/.  Compare eastern <altare>, central
<aldare>, `altar', from Latin <altarem> (though here the west also has
<altare> ~ <altara>, possibly by reborrowing from Spanish).  And compare
<altura> `height', borrowed from Spanish <altura>, which has everywhere
this form (except where it's been folk-etymologized to <altuera>), while
*<aldura> is unrecorded.

Since the voicing of plosives after /l/ has never occurred in Castilian
(though it *has* occurred in some Pyrenean varieties of Romance), no
inherited Castilian form in *<ald-> can be cognate with the Basque word.

> Also, I'd mention that Azkue I:28 lists <alda> (BN-baig, L-ain) and
> <halda> (BN, Sal.), the latter with the following definition: "faldsn,
> parte inferior de una casaca, saya, levita o levitsn"/ "pan, basque,
> partie infirieur d'un habit, d'une robe, d'une redingote."

Yes, but I think averyone agrees that <alda> ~ <halda> is borrowed from
medieval Spanish <halda>, the word which appears today in Castilian as
<falda>, and which we discussed a few days ago.  This Basque word is
surely the direct source of Basque <aldape> ~ <aldapa> `slope', with the
common suffix <-pe> `below', and vowel assimilation in the more
widespread variant <aldapa>.

> In Euskera
> one of the meanings of <alde> is "reverse, reverse side", specifically
> Azkue I: 29 includes the following definition:  "anverso, cara de un
> objeto"/"face, endroit d'un objet." From the point of view of sewing, it
> would be the "facing" of the garment or its "inner/under-liner." Not
> exactly the same meaning as  "skirt" but close, particularly if one
> keeps in mind that <falda> (Sp.) has a very similar definition in sewing
> terminology: it's the "(inside) flap, fold." One would need to look more
> closely at the context of the Romance item in Medieval writings, e.g.,
> in Berceo or El conde Lucanor.

My knowledge of sewing terminology is not comprehensive in *any*
language, so I can't usefully comment here, except to point out that
Basque <alte> ~ <alde> clearly cannot be related to Spanish <falda>.

Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK

larryt at cogs.susx.ac.uk