choupo

Forms

choupo m (plural choupos)^[1] Feijó (1734) gives choupo or chôpo;^[2][1] Wiktionary lists chopo as an alternative form.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *ploppus, an altered form of pōpulus (“poplar”), with the ⟨l⟩ moved into the first syllable.^[3][4][1][5] Houaiss and Cunha write the intermediate form *poplus.^[3][4] Corominas explains the change as a metathesis that took place while the word was still pronounced with the second p closing a syllable, and notes that the form with pl- is already documented in Italy in the 10th and 11th centuries.^[6] The Latin noun was feminine;^[5] Nascentes puts the change to masculine down to its ending.^[5] García de Diego finds the diphthong ⟨ou⟩ unexplained.^[7]

The same Vulgar Latin form is Spanish chopo, Catalan clop, Italian pioppo and Romanian plop; French peuplier is formed with a suffix on the Old French name of the tree.^[8][9] The Spanish word is first recorded in an Aragonese inventory of 1373.^[6]

De Vaan finds no etymology for the Latin word: Ancient Greek πτελέα (pteléa, “elm”) shares its p and l, but no regular correspondence can be set up.^[10] Wiktionary allows that it may come from a substrate language.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 has Choupo, arvore “poplar, a tree”, glossed with Latin populus.^[11] Bluteau (1712) describes a tall tree with a thick trunk, leaves like a vine's, smooth whitish bark on the branches and white wood.^[12]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss's first date, 1768, comes from Machado, and Cunha puts the word in the 18th century; the dictionaries of Barbosa and Bluteau record it earlier.^[3][4][11] Vieira (1871) lists the black poplar, the white poplar or álamo, the aspen (choupo tremedor) and the balsam poplar as kinds of choupo.^[13] Today the word is the common name of the trees of the genus Populus, and in Brazil Aurélio gives it as another name for the white poplar.^[3][14] The collective choupal “poplar grove” is recorded from 1881.^[15]

Timeline

• 1611 – Barbosa's dictionary lists choupo.^[11]
• 1712 – Bluteau describes the tree and suggests a link with chupar.^[12]
• 1734 – Feijó gives choupo or chôpo.^[2]
• 1768 – Houaiss's first date, from Machado.^[3]
• 1871 – Vieira lists the kinds of choupo.^[13]
• 1881 – first record of choupal.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. poplar, any tree of the genus Populus, grown as an ornamental or for its light wood; álamo.^[3][1][16]
2. The white poplar, Populus alba (choupo-branco).^[3][14]

Word family

• choupal

Related words

• Galician choupo
• Spanish chopo

Usage notes

Bluteau (1712) thought the tree was called choupo because its roots suck (chupar) more water from the soil than those of other trees.^[12]

A separate noun choupo is a sea fish of the sea bream family, also called choupa;^[17][18] Michaelis derives it from Latin clupea.^[17][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. choupo
3. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. choupo
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. choupo
5. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 115
6. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 391
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. populus
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6655
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. peuplier
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. pōpulus
11. ^ a b c Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. choupo
12. ^ 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. choupo
13. ^ 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. 2, 217
14. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. choupo
15. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. choupal
16. ^ 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. choupo
17. ^ a b Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. choupo
18. ^ a b 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. choupo