Mos
PontevedraGalicia
Toponym of uncertain origin. Documented as a monosyllable from the 12th century, with no recoverable earlier forms. Possible roots: pre-Roman hydronym mos-, or a reduced form of a lost compound.
Mos is one of the shortest and most opaque Iberian toponyms. The pre-Roman hydronymic hypothesis rests on European parallels (Meuse, Moselle) over the root mos- 'water, wetland', but Galician preserves several Mos, Moas, Mouros without a clear hydronymic pattern. Another reading posits a reduced form of a lost compound —villa de Mos-X— where the second element was eclipsed by aphesis and only the initial morpheme remained. No scholarly consensus prevails. Cabeza Quiles, in Os nomes da terra, groups Mos among other 'short opaque' toponyms of the northwest whose etymological investigation remains open.
Evolution of the name
- Mos medieval Galician-Portuguese from the 12th century
Glossary
- Aphaeresis
- Loss of one or more phonemes at the beginning of a word.
- Hydronym
- A place name derived from the name of a river, lake or watercourse.
- Hydronymic
- Pertaining to hydronyms (place names from watercourses).
- Pre-Roman
- Prior to the Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula (3rd century BC); applied to toponyms, linguistic roots and populations.
- Onomatologist
- A specialist in onomastics, the linguistic discipline that studies proper names — of persons (anthroponyms), places (toponyms) and institutions.
Sources
- Cabeza Quiles, F. — Os nomes da terra (Vigo: Galaxia, 2008)
- Menéndez Pidal, R. — Toponimia prerrománica hispana
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