chalupa

Forms

chalupa f (plural chalupas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French chaloupe.^[2][3][1] The French word, recorded from 1522, is of uncertain origin.^[2][4][5] Corominas thinks it was probably born in France and is a sister of Old Occitan calup (“a kind of boat”), perhaps a figurative use of a word for “nutshell”, as in chalupe of Poitou.^[2] The “Dictionnaire historique de la langue française” likewise prefers a figurative use of dialect chalope “nutshell”, from Old French eschalope, and finds the Dutch source less likely.^[4] Wiktionary gives the same Old French word.^[1]

The DLE, Moliner and García de Diego derive the French word from Dutch sloep.^[3][6][7] French Wiktionary thinks the Dutch word more probably came from French, because it is recorded much later.^[1] Eguílaz compared an Arabic name of a boat of the Red Sea, and the Academy's dictionaries of 1884 and 1899 derived the word from German Schaluppe.^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is El Victorial of Gutierre Díaz de Games (1431–1449, in a copy of about 1500), where two very light chalupas carry French crossbowmen and archers.^[10][11] The first hit from a contemporary copy is La corónica de Adramón (c. 1492): pasen en naos y chalupas y charruas “let them cross in ships and chalupas and charruas”.^[10] Corominas's own first date is 1587.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a small sailing or rowing boat, often carried aboard a larger ship.^[10] Autoridades (1729) describes it as a long boat larger than a skiff, with two small masts and six or eight oars a side, carried by large ships to land their people.^[12] In the Americas it was in use from 1535, and in 1590 José de Acosta compared the Indians' rafts and canoes with it.^[13][14]

In Mexico chalupa became the light canoe used on the chinampas, and by transfer a small oval maize tortilla with a topping; the Academy took in both senses in 1884.^[9][15] Today American Spanish also uses it for a narrow canoe (Panama to Bolivia), an oversized shoe (Cuba, Peru, Bolivia, Chile) and, in Mexico and Costa Rica, an electrical wall box.^[16] English borrowed the Mexican food name as chalupa.^[1]

Timeline

• 1431–1449 – El Victorial, in a copy of about 1500.^[10][11]
• c. 1492 – La corónica de Adramón.^[10]
• 1522 – the French chaloupe is first recorded.^[2][4]
• 1535 – first record in the Americas, in Santo Domingo.^[13]
• 1587 – Corominas's first record.^[2]
• 1729 – the Diccionario de Autoridades describes the ship's boat.^[12]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary adds the Mexican canoe and tortilla.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. (nautical) A small boat, usually decked, with two masts for sails; a shallop.^[3][1]
2. A launch (lancha) carried aboard a large ship.^[3][1]
3. (Mexico) A canoe of various shapes used on the chinampas.^[3][1]
4. (Mexico, Nicaragua) A small, thick oval maize tortilla with beans, cheese, meat or sauce on top: Pedimos dos chalupas con salsa verde.^[3][16]
5. (Panama, Puerto Rico, Colombia, Chile, Bolivia) A small, narrow canoe.^[16]
6. (Cuba, Peru, Bolivia, Chile) A shoe much too large for the foot.^[16][1]
7. (Mexico, Costa Rica) A box set into a wall to hold electrical wiring and connections.^[16]

Related words

• French chaloupe
• English chalupa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. chalupa
3. ^ 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. chalupa
4. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. chalupa
6. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. chalupa
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. sloep
8. ^ Eguílaz y Yanguas, Leopoldo de (1886), Glosario etimológico de las palabras españolas (castellanas, catalanas, gallegas, mallorquinas, portuguesas, valencianas y bascongadas) de origen oriental, Granada: La Lealtad, p. 396
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 326
10. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. chalupa
11. ^ a b Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. chalupa
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 2, 299
13. ^ a b 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. chalupa
14. ^ Grupo IATEXT, Universidad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, AMERLEX: corpus of americanisms in early texts on the Americas (online database), p. s.v. chalupa
15. ^ Santamaría, Francisco J. (1942), Diccionario general de americanismos, 3 vols., México: Pedro Robredo, p. 458
16. ^ a b c d e Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. chalupa