allodola

Forms

allodola f (plural allodole)^[1] The popular form is lodola.^[2][3][4] Old Italian also had aloda and alodola.^[5] Old northern forms in the TLIO include Old Italian lolder and Old Italian loldera.^[6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *alaudula (“little lark”), a diminutive of Latin alauda (“lark”).^{[1][7][8][4][9]} The form without the suffix survives in Old Italian aloda, used by Rinaldo d'Aquino in the 13th century: early in the century according to DELI, at its end according to the LEI.^[5][2][9] In the form lodola the initial /a/ was taken for part of the article, so that ⟨l’allodola⟩ was heard as ⟨la lodola⟩.^[5][3] Sabatini–Coletti also notes the popular reduction of the diphthong /au/.^[3]

Ancient writers say that the Latin word was Gaulish: Pliny says that the crested lark, once called galerita, had a Gaulish name that was also given to a legion, and Varro already noted its Celtic origin.^[10][2][11] Wiktionary reconstructs it as Gaulish *alauda, literally “tuft”, and compares Proto-Germanic *laiwazikǭ (“lark”), perhaps from a shared substratum.^[1] The Latin word replaced the older name, which survives only in southern Italian dialects, as in Sicilian gaddarita.^[9][10]

The plain word is continued by Old French aloe (c. 1170, Chrétien de Troyes), Old Occitan alauza, Catalan alosa and Old Spanish aloa.^[9][2][12] Diminutives were more successful, as in French alouette and Occitan lauzeta.^[9][5] Spanish alondra took its ending from calandra.^[2][13] Meyer-Lübke observed that the word does not reach far south in Italy, or in the Iberian Peninsula far beyond the old Gaulish area.^[12] In Lombardy and Emilia forms with an imitative prefix appear, such as Brescian serloda.^[9][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The TLIO's earliest record of the word is in the Milanese poems of Bonvesin de la Riva in the 13th century.^[6] DELI dates the forms alodola to 1310 (Aldobrandino da Siena) and allodola and lodola to 1341–1342 (Boccaccio), all naming the lark, a small brownish bird with a pointed beak and a long hind claw.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Dante has a diminutive in the Paradiso (before 1321), which DELI gives as lodoletta and the LEI and Prati as allodetta.^[5][9][14] Boccaccio's Ameto describes larks “imitating human lutes” as they rise singing into the sky (L'allodole imitanti l'umane cetere, col loro canto gaio cominciarono a riprendere il cielo).^[15] In the 19th century Tommaseo found lodola the more common form.^[15]

Larks were hunted with decoys and with a small turning mirror, which gave the phrase specchietto per le allodole, a lure for the gullible.^[4][16] In the dialects the word and its derivatives name several species of lark and even fish, such as a Venetian nodola.^[9][12] Lodolaio, a small falcon that hunts larks, is recorded in 1831.^[2]

Timeline

• 13th century – Rinaldo d'Aquino uses aloda.^[5][2]
• 13th century – Bonvesin de la Riva has the word in Milanese.^[6]
• 1310 – Aldobrandino da Siena has alodola.^[5]
• Before 1321 – Dante uses a diminutive in the Paradiso.^[5][14]
• 1341–1342 – Boccaccio uses allodola and lodola.^[5][7]
• 1831 – Lodolaio “hobby falcon” is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. skylark (Alauda arvensis), a small brownish migratory bird with a long hind claw, known for its song in flight.^{[7][8][16][1]}
2. (zoology) The common name of various birds of the lark family, Alaudidae.^[7][4]
3. (figurative) In specchietto per le allodole: a lure or bait that attracts the naive but offers nothing real.^[16][17][18]

Word family

• lodolaio
• allodoletta

Related words

• lodola
• Latin alauda
• French alouette

Usage notes

Allodola and lodola are both standard;^[4][15] Tommaseo already noted that lodola was the more common in his time.^[4][15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
4. ^ a b c d e f Duro, Aldo (ed.) (1986–1994), Vocabolario della lingua italiana, Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana; online ed. treccani.it/vocabolario (2008 copy)
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
6. ^ a b c Tesoro della Lingua Italiana delle Origini (1997–), Opera del Vocabolario Italiano, CNR, Firenze; tlio.ovi.cnr.it
7. ^ a b c d De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
8. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
9. ^ a b c d e f g h Pfister, Max; Schweickard, Wolfgang; Prifti, Elton (eds.) (1979–), Lessico Etimologico Italiano, Wiesbaden: Reichert; online at lei-digitale.it, p. 1, 1451
10. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
12. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
14. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 41
15. ^ a b c d Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
16. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
17. ^ Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
18. ^ Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli