Olveiroa
A Coruña · La CoruñaGalicia
Toponym of pre-Roman base *Olbeira or *Olveira, a hydronymic root of the Indo-European family *albh- ('clear, white water') also present in Atlantic toponyms like Olbia (Sardinia), Albia (Italy) or Alba (Scotland). The suffix -oa is the Galician continuation of Latin -ola with diminutive or locative value. The medieval form Olveyroa is attested from the 12th century in cartularies of the monastery of San Xusto de Toxosoutos.
The Indo-European root *albh-, 'white, clear, bright', produced in western languages a lexical family related to water, the colour of light and reflective surfaces: Latin albus ('white'), Greek alphós ('matte white'), Celtic alb- (in hydronyms), Germanic alb- (in German toponyms like Elbe). The hydrological variant *olbh- appears in pre-Roman Atlantic hydronyms, where it preferentially names watercourses of clear or whitish tone by transport of calcareous sediments. Olveiroa sits at the confluence of several small tributaries of the river Xallas, whose waters present in summer whitish colouration from dissolved calcium carbonate. The hypothesis of the root *alb-/olb- has been defended by Edelmiro Bascuas and by Gonzalo Navaza with medieval documentary support. The form Olveyroa appears for the first time in 1175, in a donation to the monastery of Toxosoutos.
Evolution of the name
- *albh- / *olbh- pre-Roman Indo-European before the 3rd century BC
- Olveyra / Olveyroa medieval Galician from the 12th century
Glossary
- Attested
- A form or word documented in writing in historical sources; opposed to "reconstructed" (forms proposed by comparative inference but not actually documented).
- 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.
- Hydronym
- A place name derived from the name of a river, lake or watercourse (Carrión, Eo, Sella, Deba, Cueza).
- Hydronymic
- Pertaining to hydronyms (place names from watercourses).
- Hórreo
- A traditional raised granary, set on stone pillars to protect it from rodents and damp. Galician ones are rectangular and of granite with gabled roofs; Asturian ones are square and of wood.
- Paleo-European hydronymy
- Set of names of rivers, streams, springs and watercourses of pre-Roman origin —prior to the full Indo-Europeanisation of western Europe—, grouped by the German linguist Hans Krahe in the 1940s and 1950s under the label of 'old Europe' (Alteuropäisch). In Galicia, the paleo-European hydronymic corpus is one of the densest of the western Romance world, with hundreds of hydronyms in ar-, alb-, tav-, kel-, prior to the Celtic invasions and to Romanisation.
- Pre-Roman
- Prior to the Romanisation of the Iberian peninsula (3rd century BC); applied to toponyms, linguistic roots and populations.
Sources
- Bascuas, E. — Estudios de hidronimia paleoeuropea gallega
- Navaza, G. — Toponimia de Galicia
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