soplar

Forms

soplar (first-person singular present soplo, first-person singular preterite soplé, past participle soplado)^[1] A form with ⟨f⟩, sofle, occurs in the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (1200–1250).^[2] The regular Old Spanish form sollar is found in Calila, the Aragonese manuscript of the Alexandre, the Leonese Purgatorio de San Patricio and in Nebrija.^[3]

Etymology

It continues inherited from Latin sufflō (“to blow on, puff up”),^[3][4][1] formed sub- (“under”) + flō (“to blow”).^[5][1] The change of the Latin /f/ to /p/ is irregular.^[3][1] Corominas notes that Spanish shares it with Portuguese and several Italian dialects, and traces it to a Vulgar Latin blending of the derivatives of the simple verb with two derivatives of pleō (“to fill”), which made forms with ⟨suffl-⟩ and ⟨suppl-⟩ alternate in other Romance words too.^[3] Gómez de Silva and Bénaben start from a Vulgar Latin *supplāre;^[6][7] Wiktionary calls the word probably semi-learned and gives that Vulgar Latin form as an alternative.^[1]

The regular outcome of Latin -ffl- is seen in Old Spanish sollar, which survives in resollar and in Asturian asollar (“to blow on the fire”) of Colunga.^[3][8] The form with /p/ is shared by Portuguese soprar, by Venetian supiar in northern Italy and by Sardinian suppare.^[3][9][1] Most other Romance languages kept the /f/: French souffler, Italian soffiare and Romanian sufla, while the imitative Catalan bufar took its place.^[3][9]

De Vaan tentatively derives the simple verb from *bʰleh₁- (“to blow”).^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the verb from the middle of the 13th century, in the Libro de Alexandre and Calila e Dimna, where a mouth is put to a reed por soplar, “to blow”.^[3][11] He thinks it was in use even earlier, because an anonymous Sevillian botanist of about 1100 gives a plant name explained as “instruments for blowing the fire”.^[3] In Alfonso X's Lapidario (c. 1250) metal is put in the fire and blown on assi como los orebzes, “as goldsmiths do”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

In the 13th century Alfonso X's Partidas explain the Greek word catechizar as meaning soplar, done when someone is brought to the church door to be baptised.^[11] Nebrija gave it the Latin equivalents flo and sufflo.^[12]

Covarrubias in 1611 already recorded the figurative senses: in the board game alquerque soplar meant to take an opponent's piece that could have captured and did not, and soplar a la oreja was to tip someone off in secret, the source of soplón “informer”.^[13] By 1884 the Academy also gave “to steal”, “to inspire” and the same move in draughts.^[14] The DLE now also has “to prompt”, “to inform on”, “to slap” and, reflexive, “to eat or drink a lot”; in Panama, Peru and Puerto Rico soplar means to blow one's nose.^[4][15]

Timeline

• c. 1250 – the Libro de Alexandre, Calila e Dimna and Alfonso X's Lapidario use the verb.^[3][11]
• 1250–1279 – the Lapidario also has the old form sollar.^[16]
• 1256–1263 – the Primera Partida glosses catechizar as soplar.^[11]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives soplar and also sollar como fuelles.^[12][3]
• 1611 – Covarrubias records soplar a la oreja “to tip off” and the board-game sense.^[13]
• 1739 – Autoridades defines blowing with the mouth, with a quotation from Cervantes.^[17]
• 1884 – the Academy gives the etymology from Latin sufflare.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, also transitive) To blow: to send out air forcefully through the mouth with the lips pushed forward: Sopló las velas de la tarta.^[4][1]
2. (intransitive) To work a bellows (fuelle) or a similar device so that it gives out its air.^[4]
3. (intransitive) Of the wind (viento): to blow, to be felt.^[4]
4. (transitive) To blow something away; to fan a fire.^[4]
5. (transitive) To blow molten glass (vidrio) into shape.^[4]
6. (transitive) To steal something without being seen.^[4]
7. (transitive) To inspire or suggest ideas.^[4][1]
8. (transitive) In draughts and similar games, to take the opponent's piece that failed to capture.^[4][13]
9. (transitive) To prompt someone, to whisper what they should say: Su compañero le sopló la respuesta.^[4][1]
10. (transitive) To inform on someone, to snitch.^[4][1]
11. (transitive, colloquial) To give someone a slap or blow.^[4]
12. (Panama, Peru, Puerto Rico) To blow one's nose.^[4][15]
13. (reflexive, colloquial) To eat or drink a great deal.^[4]

Word family

• soplete
• soplido
• soplamocos
• soplagaitas
• soplahojas
• soplo
• soplón
• soplador

Related words

• resoplar
• soplado
• sopladura
• inflar
• Latin sufflō
• Portuguese soprar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Diccionario del Español Medieval electrónico (DEMel), data publication 2026 (CC BY-SA), Universität Rostock, p. s.v. soplar
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 305
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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. soplar
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. soplar
7. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. soplar
8. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6457
9. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. sufflāre
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ 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. soplar
12. ^ a b Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 418
13. ^ a b c Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1308
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 989
15. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. soplar
16. ^ Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. soplar
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 156