anchova

Forms

anchova f (plural anchovas)^[1] Bluteau (1712) writes anchôva with the closed /o/.^[2] The variant enchova (first spelt enxova, 1532) is now the usual name of the bluefish in Brazil, and Houaiss finds it the commoner form among fishermen.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Spanish anchova, the older Spanish form of anchoa.^[3][5][6][1] Houaiss and Corominas take the Spanish word from Catalan anxova (anxove 1383, amploya 1317), and that from Ligurian anciôa, the Genoese name of the fish.^[3][7] The Genoese word comes from Vulgar Latin *apiua, from Latin aphyē (“small fry”), borrowed from Ancient Greek ἀφύη (aphúē, “small fry of various fishes”).^[3][7][1][8] Corominas explains the ⟨iu⟩ of the Vulgar Latin form as an imitation of the Greek /y/, a sound foreign to Latin.^[7]

The REW lists Italian acciuga, Catalan amploia and French anchois beside the Spanish and Portuguese words, but finds the history of the word unexplained: in Spanish ⟨ch⟩ is not the usual outcome of ⟨pi⟩, and the ⟨v⟩ is left unaccounted for.^[9] The Greek word may be a compound meaning “without growth”, or a word of a substrate language.^[1] Vieira reported, without adopting it, Mahn's derivation from Basque antzua (“dry”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Bluteau's dictionary of 1712 is the first record of anchova: a small sea fish as long as a finger, without bones or scales, which Scaliger counted as a kind of herring.^[2][3][5] Under enxova Bluteau described a different fish, a tasty sea fish shaped like a shad.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Morais in 1813 sent anchova to enxova, and Cunha still treats anchova as an 18th-century variant of enchova.^[12][6] Today Houaiss keeps the two apart only partly: anchova is above all the European anchovy, a fish of great value to the European fishing industry, and in Brazil and Portugal also the bluefish, while enchova is chiefly the bluefish.^[3][4][13] In Portugal the name also covers the yellowtail amberjack, called olho-de-boi.^[3]

Timeline

• 1532 – the variant enxova is recorded.^[4]
• 1712 – Bluteau has anchôva and enxôva as two fishes.^[2][11]
• 1813 – Morais refers anchova to enxova.^[12]
• 1871 – Vieira describes the anchovy fishery of the Mediterranean.^[10]
• 1899 – the sense “European anchovy” is dated for enchova.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. The European anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus), a small fish of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, much eaten salted or canned; in Brazil the nearest local fishes are the manjubas.^{[3][14][13][1]}
2. The flesh of this fish, oily and strongly flavoured, eaten as an appetizer.^[15]
3. The bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix); enchova.^[3][13][1]
4. (Portugal) The yellowtail amberjack (Seriola lalandi); olho-de-boi.^[3][13]

Word family

• anchovado
• anchoveta

Related words

• enchova
• Spanish anchoa
• Latin aphye

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. anchova
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. anchova
4. ^ a b c d Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. enchova
5. ^ a b Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. anchova
6. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. enchova
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 254
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. aphye
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 520
10. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 1, 405
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. enxova
12. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 130
13. ^ a b c d Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. anchova
14. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. anchova
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. anchova