bogar

Forms

bogar (first-person singular present bogo, first-person singular preterite bogué, past participle bogado)^[1]

Etymology

According to the DCECH it is inherited from Latin vocō (“to call”), perhaps through Catalan vogar: the verb would first have named the call of the overseer who made the oarsmen pull together and hard.^[2][3][4] The etymology was suggested by De Gregorio and demonstrated by Spitzer;^[5][6] Corominas supports it with Sicilian vucari (“to row”), used in Sicily and the Lipari Islands with the voiceless consonant of the Latin verb, and with voca, the command to row hard.^[2] The DECat and Nocentini accept it too.^[5][6] The Latin verb is a denominal verb from the stem of vōx (“voice”).^[1]

The verb is common to the western Mediterranean languages: Italian vogare (Medieval Latin of Genoa, 1214), Old Occitan vogar, the Catalan verb (c. 1330, Muntaner) and Portuguese vogar; French voguer (1337) was taken from Occitan or Italian.^[2][7][5] Spanish usually has ⟨b-⟩ in the Middle Ages, Nebrija included, and Corominas thinks it possible that Castilian took the verb from Catalan.^[2] Prat Sabater discusses it among the Catalanisms.^[8]

Diez derived it from German wogen (“to surge, fluctuate”).^[2] Corominas, following Gamillscheg, objects that this German form is no older than the 16th century and that a Mediterranean nautical word is unlikely to come from High German.^[2] The Academy's dictionaries of 1899 and 1917 and García de Diego still gave the German etymology.^[9][10][11] Wiktionary prefers a Germanic origin through Old French, from Old Saxon wagōn (“to float, move as waves”), and calls the Latin one less likely.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCECH's first record is the form vogava in the Lucano of Alfonso X, then the Cancionero de Baena and manuscript P of the Libro de Alexandre, of the early 15th century, where the king gives many oarsmen pora bogar aína, “to row swiftly”.^[2][12] Corominas notes that the other manuscript has andar in that verse, so the verb may belong to the Aragonese copyist and not to the 13th-century poem.^[2] In the sense “row”, Nebrija (c. 1495) defines bogar as the opposite of ciar, to back water.^[13]

Semantic evolution

Corominas thinks that bogar first meant to row hard and in unison, as distinct from the general remar;^[14][15] Catalan applies the verb to other strong swinging movements, such as ringing bells.^[2] The old transitive use, bogar las fustas “to row the galleys”, is found in Santillana and Cervantes, and the Quijote has the galley orders bogar a cuarteles, rowing in turns.^[2][14][15] Covarrubias (1611) explained the word by the sound of the oars in the water, and Autoridades repeated him.^[16][14]

Later senses are regional: in Chile, to skim the dross off molten metal; in the Dominican Republic and Colombia, to drink something down greedily; in Argentina and Uruguay, to intercede or to work for a cause.^[17][4][18]

Timeline

• 1214 – Italian vogare in the Medieval Latin of Genoa.^[7][2]
• Early 15th century – bogar in the Cancionero de Baena and manuscript P of the Libro de Alexandre.^[2][3]
• Mid-15th century – the derivative boga “rowing”, in the Cancionero de Stúñiga.^[2][3]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija: bogar, the opposite of ciar.^[13]
• 1509 – first record in the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[19]
• 1539 – bogavante, the first oarsman of a galley.^[2][3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives the word from the sound of the oars.^[16]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from German.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. (nautical, intransitive) To row (remar).^[4][1]
2. (Chile, mining, transitive) To skim the dross off molten metal.^[4][17]
3. (obsolete, transitive) To propel a boat by rowing.^[4]
4. (Dominican Republic, Colombia) To drink something down greedily, without stopping.^[17][18]
5. (Argentina, Uruguay) To intercede for someone, or work hard for a cause.^[17]

Word family

• boga

Related words

• voz
• Italian vogare

Usage notes

Bogar a pareles is to row with two oars to each bench, one on each side.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 611
3. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. bogar
4. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. bogar
5. ^ a b c Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 9, 334
6. ^ a b Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. vogare
7. ^ a b Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli, p. s.v. vogare
8. ^ Prat Sabater, Marta (2003), Préstamos del catalán en el léxico español, doctoral thesis, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, p. 318
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 145
10. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 260
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. bogar
12. ^ Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. bogar
13. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 304
14. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 1, 637
15. ^ a b Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. s.v. bogar
16. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 325
17. ^ a b c d Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. bogar
18. ^ a b Malaret, Augusto (1946), Diccionario de americanismos, 3rd ed., Buenos Aires: Emecé, p. 151
19. ^ Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. bogar