Somo
Cantabria
Substantivised Cantabrian appellative: somo, from the Latin summum ('the highest, the summit'), with regular Hispanic evolution summum → somo. It designates in old Castilian and in rural Cantabrian speech the high part of a terrain —the upper part of a hill or of a height that dominates the surroundings. The toponym is one of the most widespread in the northern Peninsula.
Summum, the neuter of the Latin superlative summus ('the highest'), entered archaic Castilian Romance as somo and specialised as a geographical appellative —'the high, the summit, the dominant'. The form survives in old Castilian ('en somo del monte'), in some rural northern speech and in dozens of toponyms: Somo, Somosierra, Somolinos, Somoza, La Somada, El Somo, Somosaguas. The derived suffix somo + -ada → somada gave in Galician and Leonese toponymy the name of many communal heights. The Cantabrian locality of Somo, south of the Ribamontán al Mar council, sits on a small height over the Bay of Santander, facing the capital. The name describes the position: the high over the marsh. The pilgrim crosses Somo on the last journey before Santander, then boarding the ferry that crosses the bay to the capital —a modern maritime variant of the historic crossing, formerly forded or bypassed by land.
Evolution of the name
- summum Latin before the 6th century
- somo / suso medieval Castilian from the 9th century
- Somo modern Castilian from the 12th century
Glossary
- Somo
- An archaic Castilian word preserved in the northern Peninsula and in toponymy, from the Latin summum ('the highest'). It designates the high part of a terrain, the summit, what visually dominates the surroundings. It produces toponyms like Somo, Somosierra, La Somada, Somoza.
Sources
- Gobierno de Cantabria — Inventario toponímico
- Corominas, J. & Pascual, J.A. — Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico
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Camino del Norte