Zamora
ZamoraCastilla y León
Disputed etymology. The most widespread reading derives the toponym from the Arabic Šamûra (سمورة), adapted from the pre-Roman indigenous word Sentica or a Vaccaean derivative of the river Duero. The initial Z- preserves the Arabic sibilant š palatalised in medieval Castilian.
Hypotheses about the name of Zamora are several and none has definitively prevailed. The dominant reading in peninsular onomastics today derives the toponym from the Arabic Šamûra, a word the Muslims could have formed on a pre-Roman base now lost (the Vaccaei called the area Sentica, 'archiepiscopal', according to Ptolemy; the Romans also called it Ocellum Duri, 'the eye of the Duero', for its strategic position on the river). The Arabic connection rests on a 13th-century Hispano-Muslim folk etymology: the Chronicle of King Pedro says the name comes from the Arabic azzemur, 'the belted one' or 'the protected city', in reference to the imposing walls of the upper city. The Castilian initial Z- preserves the Arabic sibilant š, palatalised to our modern z [θ] in the 15th century. It belongs to the few peninsular toponyms where Arabic phonetics survives intact nine centuries after the reconquest. The upper city —walled, Romanesque, in ochre stone from the Duero— preserves 23 Romanesque churches in its old quarter, the highest concentration of Romanesque architecture in the world.
Evolution of the name
- Sentica / Ocellum Duri Vaccaean-Roman before the 5th century
- Šamûra (سمورة) Andalusi Arabic 8th — 10th century
- Zamora Leonese / medieval Castilian from the 10th century
Glossary
- Affricate
- A consonant that combines a stop with a fricative in the same articulation. Basque tz, Castilian ch and French tch are affricates. Basque has three distinct sibilant affricates (tz, tx, ts).
- Etymology
- The origin and history of a word and the phonetic and semantic changes it has undergone. An etymology may be confirmed, probable or disputed depending on documentary attestations and linguistic parallels.
- Folk etymology
- Spontaneous reinterpretation of a toponym by speakers who no longer recognise its real origin, assigning it a transparent meaning in the current language. Santillana = "holy + flat" is folk etymology; the real origin is Sanctae Iulianae.
- Onomastics
- The linguistic discipline that studies proper names — of persons, places and institutions. "Onomastic readings" are competing etymological hypotheses about a name.
Sources
- Salvador Plans, A. — Toponimia mayor de Zamora
- Menéndez Pidal, R. — Toponimia prerrománica hispana
- Corriente, F. — Diccionario de arabismos
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Vía de la Plata