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Original Articles

The Problem of Balenare

Giovanni AlessioUniversity of Florence
Pages 21-42 | Published online: 04 Dec 2015

  • Vocabolario della Lingua Italiana, R. Accad. d'Italia, Milano 1941, I, p. 360.
  • Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch. 3 Auflage, Heidelberg, 1935. Other abbreviations not on Symposium's list are:
  • AIS—Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz.
  • ALF—Atlas linguistique de la France.
  • CGILat.—Corpus Glossariorum Latinorum.
  • CIM—Corpus Inscriptionum Messapicarum (RIGrlt. VI (1922) ff.)
  • EWuGr—G. Rohlfs, Etymologisches Wörterbuch der unteritalienischen Gräzität, Halle, 1930.
  • FEW—W. von Wartburg: Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bonn, 1928 ff.
  • KZ—Zeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung auf dem Gebiete der idg. Sprachen, (Berlin, Gütersloh), Göttingen, 1852 ff.
  • MIL—Memorie dell'Istituto Lombardo, Milano.
  • LEW—Walde-Hofmann, Lateinisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3te Auflage, Heidelberg, 1930 ff.
  • MRAL—Memorie della R. Accademia dei Lincei.
  • RDR—Revue de dialectologie Romane, Bruxelles, Hamburg, 1909–1914.
  • RE—Pauly-Wissowa, Realencyclopädie der class. Altertum-wissenschaft.
  • RIL—Rendiconti del R. Istituto Lombardo, Milano.
  • RIGrlt.—Rivista indo-greca-italica, Napoli, 1917 ff.
  • ThGrlt.—Thesaurus Graecae Linguae.
  • ThLL—Thesaurus Linguae Latinae.
  • W.u.S.—Wörter und Sachen, Heidelberg 1909 ff.
  • REW 910, under BALLĒNA "dazu it. balenare 'schaukeln' 'blitzen', baleno. 'Blitz', obw. baleina 'Schaukel' ist wenig wahrscheinlich trotz prov. dalfin 'Blitz' [REW] 2544, da der Wahlfisch in den südlichen Meeren kaum bekannt ist; zu [REW] 909 [BALLĀRE] Schuchardt, R[ornania] IV, 1875, p. 253 ist wegen l und wegen des Ausgangs SNA nicht möglich".
  • AIS, II, c. 391-2, pp. 131, 132; 391, p. 143, cf. Serra, Dacoromania, IX, 1929, p. 181. 5 For the material, see REW, 2544; von Wartburg, FEW, III, p. 35; Rohlfs., Sprache und Kultur, p. 27; Zs. Fr. Spr. u. Litt., LI, p. 362; ZRP, LI, 1931, p. 276; LH, 1932, p. 74.
  • Bonvesin de la Riva (†1313).
  • Cfr. VITULUs MARĪNUS φώκη (CGILat., II, 210,18 et al.), biclus φώκη (II, 30,1), from which Italian vecchio marino (REW, 9406); Log. biyu marinu, briku marinu, bitellu marinu, Gallur. viteddu marinu, Campid. vitellu de boi marinu 'seal' Flechia, Mise. Ascoli, Torino, 1901, p. 231, M. L. Wagner, W.u.S., Bhft. IV, 1921, p. 86, n. 1., and cfr. Calvia Folkl. It., II, 1926, p. 194. Other bibliography in the preceding notes.
  • From *MAEĬNUS for MABĪNUS, cfr. in Sardinia *BOVĬNUS, *MŪRĬNUS for -INUS and sim. (Wagner, Glotta, VIII, 1917, pp. 235 f.)
  • Subak, ZRP. XXXIII, 1909, p. 668; Wagner, loc. cit.; Prati, Folkl. It. VIII, p. 123; Rohlfs, ZRP, LII, 1932, p. 74 and cfr. Zs. f. Spr. u. L., LI, p. 362.
  • AIS, II, cc. 391-2-3, p. 133; 391-2, p. 144; cfr. Serra, Dacoromania, IX, 1929, p. 181.
  • The French word may derive equally as well from BELLUS, see REW, 1027.
  • I am not aware that this connection has yet been attempted. Göhri, RDR, IV, 1912, 145, had derived belet from a Celtic *BELOS 'hell, glänzend', an etymon rejected by the REW, 1027a, with this note 'ein gall. *BELOS aus Götternamen wie Belenos zu erschliessen, geht nicht an, da wir die Bedeutung dieser Namen nicht kennen und skr. bhäla, anord. bāl gall. *BĪLOS lauten würde.' But see von Wartburg, FEW, I. p. 322 who refers Linguad. belé ('éclair, éclat de lumière') to *belos, (Belmont) belech 'eclair', (Tarn., H.-Garonne) belet, (Toulouse) belet with several derivatives, see ALF, 438,439. There also exist masculine forms of belette, see ALF, c. 123; FEW, I, p. 319, under bellus. I shall return to this point later on.
  • Cf. Cosent. tripana 'a check against torrents made to turn away the water' Rohlfs, Dizionario dialettale delle tre Calabrie, Halle, Milano, 1932 foil., Ill, p. 109, identical with the Cosent. tripanu 'tripod' (ibid., II, p. 341) > TRIPES.
  • Cfr. also Abruzz. trosamarina, trusmarina, truzzemarina, Lat. tresmarino, Umbrian (Bevaqua) tresomarino id. Penzig. Flora popolare it., Genova, 1924, I. p. 416. For the association of rosmarīnus with rosa, cf. Pallad., r. r., I, 27: in fruticibus sint rosae, lilia, rosmarīnus, hederae.
  • RDR, IV, 1912, p. 145; cf. von Wartburg, I. c.
  • See also Pliny, N. H., XVIII, 309, 311; Cie., Divinat., II, 70,145 ('cum, viderint delphinos se in portum conjicientes, tempestatem significari putant');, Cf. Prati, Folkl. It., VIII, p. 111.
  • ZRP XXXVIII, 1917, p. 679.
  • A variant form of ballaena and of bal-, cfr. for the phonetics mūraena and mūrēna (CGlLat., II, 374, 7 et al.; μνρήνη III, 256, 57) < μúραινα bal(L)ista, variants that are also reflected in the Romance dialects.
  • Osthoff, Elym. Parerga, I. pp. 329 ff., see Boisacq, Diet. étym. de la langue grecque, 3. edition, Heidelberg, Paris, 1938, p. 1012. Immisch, Gioita, VI, 1915, p. 196 ff., shows that the spelling φλαινα -BĀlaena is false, and that the word both in its meaning of 'butterfly, fire-fly' and of 'whale' is one and the same and derives from φαλλóς (the connection is that of θέαινα: θέoς; λúκαινα: λúκoς; τράγαινα 'sterile goat': τράγoς; ζúγαινα. βoς θήλεια Hes.: ζνγóς; úαινα: ùs, etc., Schwyzer, Griechische Grammatik, München, 1939, I. p. 475). This etymology is also found in Persson, Beitr. z. idg Wortforsch., II., p. 798, and is approved by Briich, Glotta, X, 1920, p. 199, who thinks that φάλλαινα came to Latin by way of Illyria. Alongside of φάλλαινα there is also attested φάλλη in its double meaning of 'whale' and of 'little butterfly that flies around a light', of which φάλλαινα seems a derivative, cfr. φώκαινα and φώκη Whether our farfalla has to do with this φάλλη is a problem I shall touch upon on another occasion; however, cfr. Reggio, Catanzare, farfaggya, farfal'a 'butterfly that flies around a light', Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., I, p. 291, with the same meaning as the Greek word.
  • Rohlfs, EWuGr., 1217; Alessio, RIL, LXXVII, 1942-43, p. 668. The form lampariyari could have been influenced by lampari 'to lighten' or even have derived from this form.
  • Cf. Pieri, Arch. Gl. It. XII, 1890, p. 127; St. Fil. Rom., IX, 1894, p. 723; ZRP XXX, 1906, p. 296; Salvioni, Arch. Gl. It. XVI, 1934, p. 432 ff.
  • Cf. Mesóle, bérola, Vaiteli, billna 'butterfly' REW, 1027; Salvioni, l. c. Reggio Calabria kalabella, kalabeda 'butterfly' (cala, bella!) Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., I, 137, Genovese čabela, 'fire-fly' (clarus). Salvimi, Lampyris, 18, see REW, 1963, etc. For the form cf. Reggio-Emilian bendla, Ferrar. Ant. bèndula 'weasel' < bellula, with dissimilation of l -l, as in the Calabrese pínnula 'pillola' (pill).
  • Cf. Bartoli, Introduzione alla neolinguistica, Geneva, 1925.
  • Cfr. Bertoldi, ZRP, LVII, 1937, p. 142, 169. To Etr. fala, Ligurian opposes balista mons (Lig. falterna 'aristolochia' is a borrowing from the Etruscan, see Alessio St. Etr. XV, 1941, pp. 186, ff.), to alfaternum Ligurian answers with albingaunum (Albenga) from *alba 'height' (see St. tr., XV, 1941, p. 180).
  • The material is gathered by Merlo., MIL, XXIII, pp. 270, 295, n. 146; Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., II, p. 466; Pellegrini, Arch. Gl. It., Suppl. III, 1895, p. 60; Tondi, Glossa. La lingua greca del Salente, Noci, 1935, p. 71. Salvioni, Romania, XXXIX, 1910, p. 443. The etymologies proposed in an effort to explain the prefix der- from DE- RE- (Salvioni, I. c.) or inter- (Zin- garelli, Arch. Gl. It., V, 1899, p. 228, are morphologically or phonetically difficult.
  • Merlo, MIL, XXIII, p. 295, n. 145; Alessio, RIL, LXXVII, 1942-43, p. 667. Hardly from lampa which seems to be a loan word from the French (REW, 4870). From AIS, II, cc. 391, 392, we can add Pugliese (pp. 718, 719) u dərlambə, (p. 727) u ndirlambə and cfr. Camp. (p. 725) lu rillambá, (p. 715) lu zdallambə 'the flash'; Pugliese (p. 749) darlempāre, (p. 738) dirlampāri, (p. 728) ndirlampé (p. 727) dəlambə, (p. 718), dərlambó (p. 719) dərlambá, (p. 717) də dəralmbḗ̢yə, (p. 716) zdərlambᾁ; Luc. (p. 735) dirlambá, (p. 732) stirlambá, (p. 726) dərlambá, Camp. (p. 715) zdəllambíy, (p. 725) rillambá.
  • Cfr. τò ψνϰρoβαφἐς кά διλφινίσαντες 'caput frigidae delphinorum instar immergentes' Lucian. Lexiph. 5 apud ThGrL, II, p. 984.
  • Likewise BADISSŌ, CROTALISSŌ, CYATHISSŌ, MALACISSŌ, MOECHISSŌ, etc.
  • In pre-Byzantine borrowings -izāre and -idiĀre in Southern Italy give the same result -iyare (-išare, etc.) with -z- > -DY- (cfr. Calabrese ayimu < azymus, yuyimə 'giuggioia' (trifle) < *zuzuphum for zizyphum etc.). There is attested in Latin baptidiābe (> Calabrese vattiyari, etc.) for baptizare (> Italian battezzare).
  • Whence Log. allakkanare, etc. REW, 4819, s.v. laccanāre 'dahinwelken' (-cc- < -x-).
  • Cfr. H. Lansberg Die Mundarten Sudlukaniens, Halle, 1939, ZRP, Bhft. XC.
  • Perhaps also Calabrese ferya, Client, fera, Tuscan (Island of Giglio) forone 'delfino' (dolphin) from fera (mar¯na) are derived from an imitation of the Greek, cfr. balaena θηρίoν θαλάσσιoνCGlLat., II, 521, 46; belua marīna кῆτoς III, 318, 27 et al., v. Alessio, RIL, LXXVI, 1942-43, p. 169.
  • Cfr. LEW. I, p. 94 ff. with bibliography. See also Ribezzo, RIGrlt. XVIII, 1934, p. 89, n. 1, who writes 'ballaena reveals... a treatment that is probably Illyro-Iapygian of Medit. Greek φάλλαινα’ and makes the comparison of Messapian βalakva-, Baleθas genitive singulars of the same root; the latter may be even a perfect counterpart of the Mediterranean ϕάλανθoς (but φάλλαινα is an IE, not a Mediterranean, word). Terracini, St. Etr., III, 1929, p. 243, n. 3, 246, seemed disposed to regard ballaena (deus and drensō) as a case of Latin preservation of *bh-, against φάλλαινα (θεóς, θρῆνoς) and added 'there are no reasons to suppose an Illyrian origin for this word except for phonetic considerations'. But see below.
  • In Apulian documents of the 10th Century the place name Balena is attested in the vicinity of Giovinazzo: de loco Balene (a. 971) Codex Dipl. Barensis III, p. 3 passim. This placename is very significant because as seen in the Indices of the Carta d'Italia of the Touring Club Italiano, Milano, 1916, p. 41, this type recurs only twice: Balena (c. 24, Perugia), Rocca Balenera (c. 14, Nizza).
  • Geolinguistica e indoeuropeo, MRAL, VI, IX, 2, (1940) p. 364.
  • RIL, LXXIV, 1940-41, p. 261.
  • Porru seems to give too much weight to the famous passage in Festus 28, 6 (Lindsay) which puts ballaena < φάλλαινα on the same level with burrus < ς and buxus from πúξoς. But Festus was not a linguist and Porru herself is aware that the Messapian for fer(Ō) is ber(ada). Why then insist upon the juxtaposition of voiced and surds in Illyrian? The phenomenon, it is true, does exist in Illyrian, but for what concerns the pre-Illyrian substratum, cfr. βαλóν.oὐρανóν Hes., which really seems an Illyrian form as opposed to Lat. palātium = caelius, Etr. falado 'caelum', cfr. Devoto, St. Etr., XIII, 1939, pp. 311 ff. The possibility that ballēna may have come through the Etruscan (?) must be rejected. On the other hand, there is an Etruscan influence in ORCA 'balena' (whale) < ὄρυγα (acc. of ὄρυξ), Ernout-Meillet, Diet, étyrn., p. 667.
  • Cfr., forexample, Rudiae BAAAKPAMIAIHI CIM, 118, corresponding to Maced. βάλαηρoς Gr. φαλαηρóς 'calvo' (bald). A Calabrian does not hesitate in making the connection between Cal. h'-: It. fi- (from FL-) and on the model of h'uri: fiore, h'atu; fiato he reconstructs h'ata 'volta' Rohlfs, Diz. Cal. II, p. 454, from the It. fiata id. which has another origin (< O.F. fiée = O.It. vicata).
  • The morphological connection is more difficult to perceive than the connection between two phonemes. Calabrian, for example, takes the Italian s(e)taccio and makes of it sitačču, which is more widely diffused than the form sitattsu which is the phonetically correct one (cfr. vrattsu: braccio), when it does not fall into the opposite error of hyper-urbanizing pazzo into pačču (as opposed to puttsu: pozzo) without taking into account that Calabrese can only offer -attsu for the literary language's -accio and -azzo and, naturally, being unaware that pazzo derives from patiē(N)s while braccio derives from bracchium (bracium).
  • The same vacillation that we see in bal(L)ēna, confirmed by the Romance reflexes, also appears in the Gr. βαλ(λ)άντιoν 'borsa' (purse). I would not exclude the possibility that this word may have the same root as ϕαλλóς Lat. follis, 'leather bag, bellows' folliculus 'little pouch, small leather purse' 'ball blown up with air, balloon', German Ball 'palla' cfr. Georgiev, Vorgriech. Sprachwissenschaft, Sofia, 1941, p. 80) and as for b-βαλλάντιoν could also be Illyrian thus indirectly confirming the existence of a Messapian ballōn - 'whale'. Starting from an IE *bhel- 'to inflate', by means of a primary suffix -no-, we get Greek ϕαλλóς 'penis' (*bhḷno-): O.Irish ball m. 'membram', OHG ballo, balla 'palla' (*bhol-n-), Latin follis (*bhlnis or *bholnis), etc. See LEW, I. p. 524. A Messapian ballō may very well be based on IE *bhol-n-on with a from o. The Reggio dialect words baddu, badu, bayu, fayu 'walnut or fruit stone; the larger walnut or fruit stone which the children use when they play, to throw at smaller nuts arranged on the ground in line or in triangular pyramids', fallu, faddu 'a playing ball' are direct or indirect derivations (cfr. Low Lat. bailuin 'pila' Du Cange; Fr. balle 'small round ball used in play' from the Germanie, see REW, p. 908, with f (< v) < b. It is hardly possible to think of an Osean *fal- lo- (*bhəl-no-?) in this connection, or of a Messapian survival *ballo-, and a derivation from the Gr. ψάλoς 'crest of the helmet' (Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., I, p. 287) is simply fantastic.
  • Even more convincing, however, is the comparison of ϕαλλóς 'penis'with the corresponding Balkan ί id. cfr. Thracian τριβαλλoί (balliō, Pers. n.), etc. see LEW, I. p. 524. Let us add that the connection of βαλλάντιoν with an Illyrian language is indicated by the characteristic suffix in -ant-, which in Illyrian seems to be a residual form from the substratum. I shall return to this point soon, in a more appropriate place; meanwhile consult my observations on ἀλλᾱς-ᾱντoς further on in this article.
  • For this see Alessio, ATTI Ist. Ven., C., 1940-41, p. 443 and n. 2.
  • Cfr. Pauly-Wissowa, RE, IV, p. 2504; A. Wimmer, Aris t. Tierkunde, I. p. 76. The difficulty to which Meyer-Lübke has alluded is therefore not a real one. Rohlfs, ZRP. LII (1932), p. 74, had already resolved it with the following words: "Dieser Einwand ist nicht stichhaltig. Es kommt nicht darauf an, ob das Tier der Bevölkerung von Angesicht bekannt ist. Es genugt, wenn es im Volksglauben und in der Mythologie eine Rolle spielt. Auch das Meerkalb (vitulus marinus) ist im Mittelmeer unbekannt, und doch finden wir im Sardischen ikru marinu 'Wetterleuchten'." If ballo is of Illyrian origin, it could not have meant any but a Mediterranean cetacean.
  • Cfr. Arist., Fr. 509 R. in Polluce, IX, 80. Ribezzo's explanation, La Lingua degli antichi Messapii, Napoli, 1907, p. 94, of tares as 'sea' or 'dolphin' has no basis whatever. See Battisti, RIL, LXXI (1938), p. 583 ff.
  • Metalaga-Vialardi, Vocab. eng. -it., Milano, 1943, I. p. 86.
  • Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., I, p. 273; II, p. 103.
  • Piere, ZRP, XXVIII (1904), p. 164.
  • Arch. Gl. It., XIII (1892-94), p. 316.
  • Boerio, Diz. venez., 243.
  • Arch. Gl. It., XII (1890-92), p. 333.
  • Berneker, Etym, Wb. p. 238. For p from f cfr. Serbo-cr. cipal 'mullet fish' (cefalo).
  • Wagner, Das ländliche Leben Sardiniens im Spiegel der Sprache, Heidelberg, 1921 (W.W.S., Bhft. IV), p. 39.
  • Rohlfs. Diz. Cal., II, p. 336.
  • ALF, c. 438, pp. 772, 783, 791, 792.
  • Bielli, Vocab. abr., Casalbordino, 1930, p. 374.
  • Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., I, p. 273; II, pp. 103, 336. The semantic passage to 'traditore' (traitor) is explained as follows by Marzano, Diz. etim. d. dial, cal., Laureana di Borrello, 1928, p. 439: '...from the dolphin's instinct which permits him to lead the tunas to where they are caught while he can avoid or escape the nets' and he adds 'at least so the common people think'. I am not personally certain of the existence of such a belief, but it is beyond question that the parallel Cosent. form trafanu 'a cunning and deceitful man, flatterer' (cfr. Tarant, trafana 'slut, shrew' De Vincentiis, Vocab. del dialetto tarant., Taranto, 1872, p. 203) and the Regg. ndérfyu 'a pimp' may be explained respectively as borrowings from the Prov. trefan 'treulos' and from the Span, trefe 'falsch' from the Hebr. Terēfy 'schlecht, ungerecht' REW, 8662. The connection with delfino is probably secondary and due to phonetic similarity.
  • Lausberg, o.c., p. 239. For the metaphor, cfr. Lat. Sūcula ('capestan; pressoir') machinae genus...foratae...ut uber scrofae, Festus 390,10; Calabr. scrofina 'upper crossbar of the press on which the screw turns' Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., II, p. 254, and see my note on rānula, in Arch. Gl. It. XXXIV (1942), pp. 31 ff., with bibliography. We don't really know whether the passage 'in delphinio testaceo in vetutissimis Rutiliani (= Rutigliano, prov. of Bari) sepulcris invento' Paglia in Cod. Vatic. Manut. 5241, p. 614 bis, refers to the same word.
  • ZRP, XXX (1906), p. 38.
  • RIL, XLIV, pp. 769, 773.
  • Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., II, p. 447.
  • Arch. Rom., VII (1923), p. 246.
  • Salvioni, RIL, XLVIII, p. 655.
  • For other forms, see REW, 2544; FEW, III, p. 35.
  • Von Wartburg, I. c., reconstructs *dulphīnus.
  • Ernout-Meillet, Diet. étym. de la langue latine, Paris, 1932, pp. 157, 532, 666.
  • REW, 2841; Jellinek, Geschichte der got. Sprache, Berlin, 1926, p. 181.
  • Cfr. Olivieri, Lingua Nostra, IV (1942), p. 10; Alessio, Japigia, XIII (1942), p. 182.
  • Schuchardt, Der Vokalismus des Vulgärlateins, Leipzig, 1866 ff. I, p. 214.
  • Meyer-Lübke, Rom. Gramm., I. 487, cfr. also Salvioni, RIL, XLIV, p. 773; Guarnerio, XLVIII, p. 655; von Wartburg, Arch. Rom., VII (1923), p. 246, who writes 'on a beaucoup écrit sur ce g enigmatique...mais les explications proposées n'ont rien de convaincant'.
  • This paraetymological rapprochement is possible for the forms of the Iberian peninsula which have go- as a secondary form from ga-.
  • Reconstructed on the oblique cases along with delphis Avien., Arat. 700 et al. In the glosses delfinus δελϕîνoς (CGI Lat., III, pp. 89, 38 et al.).
  • Boisacq, op.cit., p. 174 ff.
  • Cfr. Gr. βέλoς: δέλλω<*gṷel-nō etc.
  • Cfr. Lat. porcopiscis REW, 6664, from which OF porpeis, pourpois, Norm, purpé 'delfino' and with transposition Calabrian pišip(u)orku 'monacato tomentoso' Rohlfs, op. cit., II, 150 (cfr. porcopiscis Styria (Anglo-Saxon) CGI Lat., V, pp. 382, 26) porcus marinus of Pliny, Fr. marsouin (from Danish-Swedish marswîn 'sea pig' Mod Gr. γoυρoυ-νóψαρoν 'porco marino' (Brighenti), Irish mucc mora, Cornish morhoch 'Meerschwein'. The marsovino is a cetacean of the dolphin species, also known as a 'black dolphin' or 'focena (phocaena communis)'.
  • If vulgellus for vulvellus is not the result of a traditional manuscript error, we may see it in a kind of popular dissimilation as seen in Italian volgere from volvere. In vulva for vulba, on the other hand, there may be an assimilation. The word cannot be Italic since we would have had *bolfo- (from *gṷolbho-), and this reading is more difficult.
  • Ernout-Meillet, o.e., p. 1024, translate 'marsouin(?)' and no etymology of the word is given.
  • Starting from the stem that gave the Lat. Turgeō 'to be swollen, blown up, to become swollen', turgidus 'swollen, blown up, swelled', etc. Walde-Pokorny, Vergi. Wb., I, p. 711, it is possible to arrive at an Illyro-Messap. *turz-i¯(N) in which z represents the IE palatal *ǵ as in the satəm languages. The question as to whether the Illyrians may have belonged to the centum or to the satəm group is a controversial one, but in support of the second hypothesis (upheld among others by Jokl, Mayer, Georgiev, Devoto) we have the forms attested by Δίξερoς, name of a river near Pola, recorded by Licofrone 1026, to be compared with Illyrian -διζα, διζoς 'castle', andizētes ’Aνδιζήτoι, name of a tribe of Pannonia, the inhabitants of διζα 'a stronghold' (from the IE *dheǵh-, cfr. O.Ind. dēhi 'rampart, entrenchment', Gk τειχoς 'wall, bastion', Lat. Pingō, etc.) and from Bersumno, Burzumon, Birsiminium, names of Dalmatian places, referred by Ribezzo to a *berz- 'height' 'castle' (from IE *bherǵh-, cfr. Ger. Burg, etc.), which also appeared to Devoto, Illiri e Tirreni (Pannonia, 1938), to be among the most certain forms. Morphologically the reconstructed form *turziōn- can be compared to ballō, Lat. Capitō (and capitō 'name of a fish, large eel' REW, 1638) 'which has a large head', Ēdō 'glutton', praedō 'plunderer, thief', etc., Gk γάστρων 'corpulent person', γνάθων 'one who has large jaws' etc., πóρδων 'spetizzatore', πóρθων 'one who has a large member', etc., or more precisely to the type μαλαкίων, etc. (Chantraine, La formation des noms en grec ancien, Paris, 1933, p. 165); it would therefore have a meaning almost equivalent to 'inflated, blown up like a ball', like ballō (cfr. Germ. Ball, Lat. follis) or like our pesce palla, and cfr. physēter (μαλαкίων from ϕυσάω 'to blow, to swell'; cfr. ϕúσαλoς 'un cetaceo', also 'rospo' (a toad)), name of a cetacean in Plin., N.H., IX, 4,12, in which case however the name can have another explanation ('in Gallico oceano PH. ingentis columnae modo se attollens altiorque navium velis diluviem quandam eructans'). Naturally *turziōn which is an oral borrowing like ballēna, *delpīnissō, was rendered in Latin by tursiō, in which word the s is approximately equivalent to z (whose exact value we do not know) just as Gk. ζ is represented by massa < μáζa, sōna (later also zōna) < ζώνη sētus < ZZῆφoς, issō < -ίζω etc., and cfr. the medieval place-names Bersummo from *berz-, Disum from *dīz-.
  • Cfr. LEW, I, 781; Alessio, RIL, LXXVII (1943-44), p. 66 ff.
  • Alessio, Atti Ist. Ven., C (1940-41), pp. 435 ff. The same image recurs in Port. (> It.) caracora 'type of boat' from the Malese kurakura 'turtle'.
  • Bertoldi, Riv. Fil. Class., XIII (1935), pp. 61 ff. To this series we should like to add also ālium (allium) 'garlic', given the epithet of calabbicus, which is to be found in the glosses for ālius agrestis (CGl. Lat. III 553, 6), all the more since it is from this region that the form ὄλλη. λαϰανoν. 'Iταλoί Hes., seems to come and also the Dor. άλλᾱς -ᾱντoς, àλλάντιoν 'sausage (seasoned with garlic)', cf. LEW. I, p. 30 with bibl. The suffix in -ANT- recalls that of βαλλάντιoν 'purse', which we have attributed above to Illyrian. For brīsa, from the Thracophrygian τà βρúτ∊α, βρúτια. 'remains of pressed grapes and olives', cf. LEW I, p. 116.
  • La toponomastica pugliese in un volume di G. Colella, (Rinascenza Salentina, X, fase. 4, Lecce, 1942), p. 7; Nuove ricerche per il CIM., Roma, 1944, p. 86 ff.; cfr. Alessio, St. Etr., XVIII (1944), pp. 134 ff.
  • Alessio, RIL, LXXVI (1942-43), p. 173 ff. In another work I will show that b¯stia too for bestia, of Osean phonology, has its epicentre in Southern Italy.
  • Meyer-Lubke, REW, 8269; Einführung2, p. 125. The problem to be studied here is which of the Provençal forms of Greek influence can be traced back to the Greek of Magna Grecia rather than to that of Marseilles; cfr. Alessio, Le origini del francese, Firenze, 1946, p. 44 ff.
  • The dolphin 'often follows ships, it was believed, in order to announce the coming of storms' Zingarelli, Vocab., s. v.,; 'when (the dolphin, graffino) appears frolicking above the waters it is held to be an omen of rain or a storm to come' De Vincentiis, Vocab. del dial, tarantino, Taranto, 1872, p. 94.
  • Bestie e fantasmi in forma di meteore, Folkl. It., VIII, pp. 105 ff., espec. 106, 111 ff.
  • Cfr. what I have said above in regard to Cal. traffinu: trafanu.
  • Cfr. W.u.S. III (1911), p. 189. Prati recalls the Mil. ven in ca balena 'to be well under the influence of wine, to reel, waver', (Banfi, Voc. Mil.), which we have already related to ballēna, cf. RDR. IV 1912, p. 197.
  • Italia Dial., VII (1931), pp. 33–50, cf. p. 36 f.
  • The dolphin is the symbol of speed, cfr. Diz. Marina Accad., p. 217.
  • It is to be noted, too, that 'the dolphin has a skin which is extremely smooth, shiny, brilliant, a dark green on top and whitish underneath'.
  • The gender of baleno, however, could also be due to the word pesce in the O.It. expression pesce baleno 'whale' (cfr. Cors, pešubaleno 'rainbow' Arch. Rom., IV (1920), p. 418, N. 2) as in the Calabr. (pisi) spatu alongside of pišaspata, pišispata 'swordfish' Rohlfs, Diz. Cal., II, pp. 150, 281 and cfr. Cors, pešalfinu 'dolphin' RIL XLIX, 722, Cal. piše traffinu, piša traffinu 'a cunning, crafty, deceitful person' Rohlfs, II, pp. 150, 336. Alongside of arcobaleno (rainbow) the form arcobaleno is also very widespread in the dialects, AIS, II, 371: Arch. Rom., XV (1931), p. 349, and we have also seen balena for baleno.
  • Alongside of the classical symphytum (in the glosses also simpitum, simpetum), cf. Alessio, RIL, LXXIV (1940-41), p. 650; LXXVI (1942-43), pp. 184, 358.
  • Alessio, RIL, LXXVII (1943-44), pp. 34, 81, 692.
  • The terms sbaglio 'mistake, error, oversight, blunder, fault, misunderstanding' and sbagliare 'to err, to mistake, to miss, to fail' belong together with abbaglio 'error, confusion, trouble' 'mistake, oversight', prendere abbaglio 'to make a mistake'.
  • Cf. REW, 1119.
  • Cfr. Meyer-Lübke, Rom. Gramm., II, 504 f., where reference is made to bruciore which may be constructed from brucio a deverbative of bruciare (to burn), based on calore. For the Latin, Cfr. Arch. Lat. lex., VIII, 313–319.
  • Romania, XXVII (1898), p. 210 f., wherein are cited the following dialectal forms: Bologn., Bresc., Ferrar., Moden., Bergam., Mirand., Romagn., Venez., Cors, of the type barbagliare 'often with a literary tinge', and where for r > l we have ingiulia, avolio (learned word), ciliegia. Cannello also uses varius as a point of departure, Arch. Gl. It., III (1874), 302.
  • Diet, étym., 1013 f. We have seen that the REW, 1027a rejects Göhri's hypothesis (cfr. also Prati, O. C., 107) that the Albig. belet may derive from a Celt. *belos because from a form corresponding to bhāla-m in O.Ind. we should get *bīlos in Gallic from IE *bhēlo-, and we have seen that the identity of belenos is uncertain, and further we have seen the new explanation of belet connected with the Fr. belette. Meyer-Lübke is right if we start from *bhelo-, but we do not wish to exclude the possibility of another form *bhelo- having existed with a short vowel, while the Greek forms require *bhəlo.- For the identification of belenos with apollo, cf. Meyer, Einfluss der vorchristlichen Kulte auf die Toponomastik Frankreichs, Sitzungsber. Akad. Wien, phil.-hist. Kl., CLXXV (1914), pp. 8,27, 59 ff.; Bertoldi, Bibi. Arch. Rom., IV (1921), p. 98, in regard to the name of the plant belenion and the parallel herba apollinis, Fr. herbe de Sainte Apolline, It. erba di Santa Polonia. From the Bέλ∊νоѕ of Herodian (cfr. Holder, Altcelt. Spr., I, p. 371) and from numerous place-names, such as Beaune (Costa d'Oro) = Beleno-castro on the Merovingian coins, we deduce beyond a doubt that the first vowel is short. The name of the Goddess belisama also is connected with Belenos; and from Belisama the place-names Bellěme (Orne) = Belismo (X Century), etc., Mayer, op.cit., pp. 74 ff. According to Bertoldi, ZRPh. LVII (1937), p. 139, the word belsa'campus'of Vergil the Grammarian, IV, 20, 21, originally 'clairière' (from clarus), cfr. Cosent. limpədinə f. 'radura (nel bosco)' 'clearing in the woods' < limpidus Rohlfs, Diz. cal. I, p. 414, words which confirm the meaning of Gall. *belo- 'clair, brilliant', would go back to a Gall. *belisa. Therefore, it is not possible to raise objections of a phonetic nature with regard to the etymon belet 'éclair'; at most, we might be surprised by the diminutive form of an adjective *belos for which we have no evidence at all.
  • Thomas, Romania, XXIX (1900), p. 425.
  • The Gallic etymon is rejected by Meyer-Lübke who also holds as quite unlikely a blend of a Goth, bāla with the Lat. badius 'baio (di cavalli)' (reddish-brown) proposed by Gamillscheg, Etym. Wörterbuch der franz. Sprache, Heidelberg, 1928, p. 69. It has not been established phonetically that bailie can derive from bai < badius (Spitzer, ZRPh., XLVI (1926), p. 583), and there would be difficulties with regard to its meaning.
  • Solmsen, KZ, XXXIV (1895), p. 72 ff., who connects it with O. Bulg. bělŭ 'bianco' (white).
  • Cfr. Schwyzer, Gr. Gr., I, p. 68, n. 3, who recalls the Macedonian ('Aλέξανδρος) Bάλας king of Syria.
  • Cfr. Fr. riche mase, and fem. for rie (Prov. rie), etc., V.Lat. socrus reconstructed on the feminine socra (originally socrus fem.), Meyer-Lübke, Einführung, p. 134, etc. It is also possible that bailie may have applied originally to female animals whose color was lighter than that of the male of the species. Similar remodelling is anything but rare, cfr. also South It. cattivu 'vedovo' (widower) reconstructed on the feminine cattiva (Lat. captiva 'female prisoner', cfr. captiva penatibus uxor, in the Lex Sulpicia, IV Century) Rohlfs, Romanica Helvetica, IV, p. 65; Fr. veuf reconstructed on veuve (vidua), but O.Fr. also masculine, because of the particular social status of the widow, cfr. G. Paris, Romania XV (1886), p. 440.
  • Which come from the verb and not from the adjective.
  • As far as I know this adjective is not attested, but the question should be studied in the manuscripts whether some badius could not be corrected to balius or whether a form balius might not eventually be found in manuscripts, which was corrected to badius in the critical editions. Since both of these adjectives referred particularly to the coat of a horse, it was easy to confuse one with the other. Even the form *balius as a dialectal form of badius (cfr. person. badius in Osean territory, badusius in Umbrian territory; Ernout-Meillet, op. cit., p. 95) might be possible (cfr. lacbuma < δάκρνµa, olēbe: ODOR, etc.) and for France, cfr. Gilles < Aegidius (which is not in popular use).
  • And, vice versa, cfr. ῥoύσιos < russus, russeus, gilbus γíλβος, σπoδιaῖos (CGI. Lat., II, 33, 54), κίτ < citbinus (citbus), βάδιος < badius, Epir. γκάλιπνος σημαóνει πρóβοτον κιτρινóτριϰον < galbinus, etc. Consider in addition our old and recent borrowings from French, giallo, (O.Fr. jalne > Calabr. ǧálinu), bleu, ponsò, etc.
  • Lazzari, I nomi di alcuni fenomeni atmosferici nei dialetti dell'Italia, Pisa, 1919, p. 27.
  • These words are not entirely clear and we do not know for example what their connection may be with allucinare (Lat. āllūcināri 'to speak, act vainly, to fancy'), which is a learned word. The consonant gradations of the type abballuginare/balugginare/appaliginare recall very closely those that appear in the Iberian word balux (> Sp. balue) and ballūx 'gold-dust', alongside of the forms palaga and palacurna 'gold-nugget', mentioned by Pliny, N. H., XXXIII, 77. A *bal(L)ugo, -inis would be morphologically possible, if we go back to a form bal(L)ūca (alongside of bal(L) ūx, as in the cases of aerügö formed on aer&uumlca 'verdigris' and astāgō astacus (ἂστακος), cfr. Alessio, St. Etr., XVIII (1944), p. 145, n. 225. Pointing to balüx Migliorini, St. It. Fil. Class., VIII (1930), p. 42, n. 3, had wondered whether 'the It al. baluginare is also derived from it'. Cfr. also Prov. beluga' étincelle' (Levy), already connected with the Piedm. zbelüa id., O.Fr. berlue also 'trouble visuel qui fait percevoir des objets imaginaires, etc.', cfr. REW, 1127, s. v. *bislūca ('morphologisch nicht ganz klar').
  • Vocab. Accad., I. p. 355, s.v. baluginare.
  • For the connection of balista with the Alp. series of place-names bal, balasco, balur, etc. cf. Bertoldi, BSL. XXXII, pp. 140, 160, 167. Battisti, St. Etr. XVII (1943), pp. 253 ff. has recently collected a rich bibliography on *pala/bala. For palla 'white broom plant' (glosse) = OFr. balai 'broom-plant', = Gr. άσπάλαθος 'thorny broom plant' cf. Alessio, RIL, LXXIV (1940-41), p. 737 ff.; for balüx originally 'ciottolo' (pebble-stone), cf. St. Etr. XVIII (1944), p. 144 f. A Celt. *bal- 'bianco' is excluded, cfr. Hofmann, LEW, I, p. 560; the Celtic word for 'white' is vindo-s. For the existence of a *balius in the territory of Gallia it would be suggestive to cite the proper noun baliario nomen aurigae CIL. XIII 2598 (apud Haeduos), but it is an uncertain reading, cfr. ThLL., s. v. The family-name balius, on the other hand, CIL. III 8064, 3 is documented from a tegula found in Dacia, a homophone of the Gr. Bάδιος, Lat. balius, the name of Achilles' horse (Homer); Claud., carm. min. 46, 9. Albanian has bale horse with a white forehead', baláš, baláš adj. 'redheaded; reddish-brown (of horses, oxen); that has white and black hair, spotted, dapplegray; a horse with white spots on the forehead' Angelo Leotti, Dizion. Albanese-italiano, Roma, 1937, p. 30, but Meyer, Etym. Wb. Alb. Spr., 25, connects bal'as, bal'os with the Serbian bjelas 'Schimmel' (Slavic bělu 'bianco'). According to Gamillscheg, I.e., it is from the Germanic, which must have taken it from a Balkan language, that the Latin bala-anis found in Procop., Bell. Goth. I, 18: τοũτον (ῐππον) "Eλληνες, μέν φαλιóς Bάρβαροι, is derived. Also cfr. Ennod., carm, II, 1366 tito de equo badi, et baiane. The Rum. bǎlan 'blond', cal bǎlan 'cavallo bianco; Schimmel' would derive from this; cf. Capidan, Dacorom. II (1922), 519; Mod. Gr. too has μπάλιος, which cannot be a continuation of the O. Gr. βαλιòς but is certainly a borrowing from a Balkan language, which took place after the passage of b- to v- (cfr. μπαλαíνα from the It. balena). The problem is rather complex, but two points at least are clear, one, that βαλιóς in Greek is a borrowing which came from the North (Macedonia), corresponding to the indigenous form ϕαλιóς, and secondly, that V. Lat. must have known a form balius directly or indirectly connected with the preceding one, or that it is a question of a loan from the Greek (perhaps the same Balius, the name of Achilles' horse, which became a common name), or of a loan from a Balkan language (cfr. the Dac. Balius), which, from the area of diffusion of the modern reflexes, more likely came by way of the Venetian than the Messapian (since such a type is lacking in Southern Italy). The existence of the form badius, a root which Latin has in common with Celtic, cfr. Irish buide 'yellow', must have contributed to the fortune of balius.
  • In order to justify the meaning of the forms abbagliare, barbaglio etc. from *balius, the same arguments hold that were advanced to explain the same words from the Latin varius, corresponding in meaning to the Gk. βαλιóς (for sbaglio, svarione id.). Intense light produces a darkening effect on the eyes, obscures the vision and finally gives the very rapid alternating impression of light followed by darkness. When this impression is synthesized, it renders clearly the idea of βαλιóς, varius 'spotted with white and black.'
  • For the diffusion of the type, cf. von Wartburg, FEW, I. p. 202, s. v. badius. We read of an attempt to connect bailie with (barbaglio, etc. in Littré, Diet, langue franc., s.v. baillet, in which it is shown how difficult it is to justify -II- starting from a form bai.

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