pula

pula¹ chaff

Pronunciation

• /ˈpu.la/^[1]

Forms

pula f (plural pule)^[1]

Etymology

The word for chaff is of uncertain origin.^[2][3][4] Nocentini gives a probable explanation, which the TLIO follows: it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *pūla, a word of the family of Latin pulvis (“dust”).^[5][6] The northern bùlla, Friulian pule and Catalan boll belong here, the forms with ⟨b-⟩ showing a voicing of the initial ⟨p-⟩.^[5]

The LEI starts instead from a pre-Romance base with initial ⟨b-⟩ or ⟨p-⟩ and a long vowel, whose Latin descendant is bulla (“bubble”).^[7] Nocentini objects that nothing documents so early a stage, and that the senses of the Italian word and its dialect variants are closer to the family of the Latin word for dust than to that of the bubble.^[5] DEI makes it a deverbal noun from pulire (“to clean”), as do Treccani, Zingarelli, Gabrielli and the GDLI;^{[8][9][10][11][12][2]} DELI finds this hard to accept.^{[8][9][10][11][12][2]} Devoto thought it a Mediterranean word and Devoto–Oli call it pre-Latin, for which DELI sees no evidence.^[13][14][2] Flechia, followed hesitantly by Körting, and Wiktionary derive it from āplūda (“chaff”).^[15][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is the Tuscan translation of Aesop, about 1325, where the threshed grain is cavato dalla pula, taken out of the chaff.^[2][12] The TLIO's first text is the translation of Palladius (first half of the 14th century), which recommends dressing the threshing floor with chaff and olive dregs against mice and ants.^[6][12]

Semantic evolution

The word belongs to central and northern Italy.^[8] In the north the type bulla is recorded from about 1520 and survives across Piedmont, Lombardy, Ticino and Emilia.^[7]

Besides the husks of wheat and other cereals, pula names the light brown meal left by the first husking of rice, used to feed livestock, and the chaff is also used as packing material.^[3][11][9] In Pisa it also meant sawdust or coal dust, and in the Marche mannà a le pule meant to strip someone of everything.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1325 – Pula appears in the Tuscan translation of Aesop.^[2]
• First half of the 14th century – The translation of Palladius uses pula.^[6][8]
• c. 1340 – GRADIT and Zingarelli date the word to 1340.^[3][10]
• c. 1520 – Northern bulla is recorded.^[7]
• 16th century – Spulare “to clear of chaff” is recorded.^[5]

Meanings

Noun

1. chaff: the husks of cereal grains and other seeds separated by threshing, the same as lolla.^[3][4][9]
2. The meal left by the first husking and whitening of rice, used as animal feed.^[3][10][11]

Word family

• spulare
• pulone

pula² the police

Pronunciation

• /ˈpu.la/^[1]

Forms

pula f (invariable)^[1]

Etymology

The slang word for the police is a clipping from Italian pulizia, a popular variant of polizia.^[3][4][1][9] The GDLI explains it as that variant shortened by haplology.^[12] Zingarelli derives it from the standard form with its middle syllables dropped.^[10] Devoto–Oli derive it instead from the slang word French poule.^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

GRADIT's first record is U. Simonetta's novel Lo sbarbato (1961), with the sense “the police”.^[3] Sabatini–Coletti date it to 1965.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Zingarelli labels the word northern slang.^[10] Pratolini has a girl stand guard per avvertirli nel caso spuntasse la pula, to warn the others if the police showed up.^[9] Cremaschi writes of the police shooting at striking young men from Sesto.^[12]

Timeline

• 1961 – Pula appears in U. Simonetta's Lo sbarbato.^[3][14][10]

Meanings

Noun

1. (slang) The police, the cops.^{[3][14][4][1]}