Caminha
Distrito de Viana do CasteloPortugal
Portuguese affective diminutive: caminha, from the Portuguese caminho (Latin caminus, 'road, way') with the suffix -inha. It literally means 'little road, small passage' —a description of the narrow historical passage that the road followed between the range and the Miño river before crossing into Galicia.
Evolution of the name
- caminus late Latin (préstamo céltico) before the 6th century
- caminha medieval Portuguese from the 12th century
Reflections, to the letter
The name is a plain diminutive —caminho with the suffix -inha: little path— and it describes exactly what the pilgrim treads: a narrow neck of land between the Serra d'Arga and the Minho, the forced passage for all Atlantic traffic between Portugal and Galicia. There, where the river opens to the sea, the Coastal pilgrim changes country aboard the ferry to A Guarda: some ten minutes of crossing, two banks, two nations. The 'little path' of the name is still, quite literally, the point you must pass through.
Glossary
- Caminus (Celtic loanword)
- Celtic word for 'road, transitable rural way', incorporated into military Latin after the Gallic Wars (1st century BC) and generalised across all the Romance languages: Castilian camino, Galician camiño, Portuguese caminho, Italian cammino, French chemin. In opposition to the Roman paved via.
- Diminutive
- A derived form indicating smaller size or affection, formed with suffixes such as -illo, -ito, -uelo, -ete. Substantivised plural diminutives abound in toponymy: Hornillos, Boadilla, Calzadilla, Comillas, Pradillos.
Sources
- Machado, J.P. — Dicionário onomástico etimológico da língua portuguesa
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Camino Portugués de la Costa