Atalaia
Camino Portugués · Camino Portugués de la Costa
Distrito de SantarémPortugal
Here Camino Portugués and Camino Portugués de la Costa converge. It is one of the points where the pilgrim shares the way with those arriving by another route.
From the Arabic aṭ-ṭalâʿiya 'the watchtower, the lookout post': it designated in al-Andalus the raised towers for watching borders or roads. Preserved intact in dozens of Iberian toponyms.
Evolution of the name
- aṭ-ṭalâʿiya Andalusi Arabic 8th — 12th century
- Atalaia Portuguese from the 13th century
Reflections, to the letter
Climb the promontory the tower once occupied. From the top, on clear days, you see the full meander of the Tagus between Santarém and Golegã — the panorama that in the 9th century justified the Muslim watchman planting an aṭ-ṭalâʿiya here, 'watchtower'. The word entered Castilian as a common noun (atalaya = lookout, vantage point) without almost anyone now remembering its Arabic origin.
Glossary
- Arabism
- A word or place name in Castilian, Portuguese or Catalan borrowed from Andalusian Arabic. The Peninsula preserves thousands: aceite, azúcar, almohada, alcázar, azulejo, ojalá, atalaya, Atalaia.
- Solar consonant
- In Arabic, a consonant that assimilates the article al- to its sound. ṭ- is a solar consonant: al + ṭalâʿiya → aṭ-ṭalâʿiya → atalaya. The letters z, s, r, n, l, d, t, among others, assimilate; the labials and velars do not.
Sources
- Machado, J.P. — Dicionário Onomástico Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa
- Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
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Camino Portugués