soga

Forms

soga f (plural soghe)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin sōca (“rope”), recorded from the 6th century.^[2][3][4][5] The Italian word probably came from the north, where the Latin ⟨-c-⟩ was voiced to ⟨-g-⟩.^[6][7][5] The same word is Old French soue, Occitan soga, Catalan soga, Spanish soga, Portuguese soga and Logudorese soga, and it passed into Basque soka.^[2][4][5]

The origin of sōca is unclear.^[2][3] Meyer-Lübke and several modern dictionaries take it as probably Gaulish,^[5][8][9][7] and Wiktionary reconstructs Gaulish *soukā, from Proto-Indo-European *sew-.^[1] Nocentini, comparing Ancient Greek σωκάριον (sōkárion, “small cord”), another isolated word with an initial ⟨s-⟩ foreign to Greek sound patterns, thinks of a loan from an unidentified Mediterranean language.^[2] DEI suggests a pre-Indo-European word and points to the alternation of ⟨z-⟩ and ⟨s-⟩, typical of substrate words, in the forms of the Abruzzo and Apulia.^[4] Prati and Devoto also call its origin unknown or Mediterranean.^[10][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Italian record is from before 1313, in the sense “leather strap”.^[3][2] In the Inferno Dante writes of a strap worn at the neck, holding a horn: Cércati al collo, e troverai la soga / che ’l tien legato.^[7][11]

Semantic evolution

Before the Italian word, Medieval Latin documents of northern Italy use soga for a rope: at Bologna in 1159, for a bell rope at Imola in 1197, and at Treviso in 1313; later records give sogheta “cord” (Treviso, 1334) and sogarius “rope-maker” (Ferrara, 1401).^[4] The sense “rope” is still common in the northern dialects.^[4][12]

In the literary language soga kept the sense “strap”: Monti and Pascoli use it for the strap of a shield, and D'Annunzio for the chin strap of a helmet.^[7][8] A derivative with the northern suffix -atto, sogatto or soatto, a leather strap, is recorded in 1312.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 6th century – Late Latin sōca “rope” is recorded.^[4][6]
• 756 – Soca appears in the register of Farfa, with reference to Rome.^[4]
• 1159 – Medieval Latin soga “rope” is recorded at Bologna.^[4]
• 1312 – The derivative sogatto “leather strap” is recorded.^[2]
• Before 1313 – Soga “leather strap” is first recorded in Italian.^[3]
• 1401 – Sogarius “rope-maker” is recorded at Ferrara.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (archaic, literary) A leather strap or belt; correggia.^{[3][12][13][8]}
2. (regional, northern Italy) A strong rope.^{[3][12][13][1]}

Word family

• sogatto
• soatto
• sovatto

Related words

• Spanish soga
• Late Latin soca

Usage notes

Soga is also the name of a Bantu language of Uganda, recorded in Italian in 1884.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Battisti, Carlo; Alessio, Giovanni (1950–1957), Dizionario etimologico italiano, 5 vols., Firenze: Barbèra (reprint 1975), p. 3528
5. ^ a b c d Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier
7. ^ a b c d e Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 19, 275
8. ^ a b c Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
9. ^ Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ a b Prati, Angelico (1951), Vocabolario etimologico italiano, Milano: Garzanti, p. 926
11. ^ Tommaseo, Niccolò; Bellini, Bernardo (1861–1879), Dizionario della lingua italiana, 4 vols., Torino: UTET
12. ^ a b c Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
13. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse