Zote 'tonto': una nueva propuesta etimológica

Abstract

Sp. zote is labelled in the DCECH as “word of expressive creation” (“voz de creación expresiva”), a tag that was criticized by David Pharies (1984). In this paper we go back to the issue, broadening the perspective with a detailed analysis of the lexemes that can be identified as cognates of the word that concerns us. In the first place, we undertake a semantic examination of the words in order to show that the apparent divergence of meaning actually respond to a recurring conceptual network, whose nucleus expresses an ‘impulse’, verbalized by an onomatopoeia. After identifying the conceptual links between the words originating from this onomatopoeia, we explain the phonetic variation and, by using the comparative grammar – reconstruction method, we establish the Proto-Romance etymon of the family. This research confirms, in fact, the validity of the label of “expressive creation” that Corominas and Pascual had stated for Sp. zote and its cognates.