ayalga

Asturian

FWOTD – 17 January 2015

Etymology

Inherited from Vulgar Latin *afflatica.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈʝalɡa/, [aˈʝal.ɣ̞a]

Noun

Ayalga and Cuelebre, Asturian mythical characters, by Miguel Angel Omaña Rojas (2009).

ayalga f (plural ayalgues)

1. a hidden treasure
   • 2007, Marta Mori d'Arriba, María Prieto Grande, Xeres y Xuegos de Llingua Oral (pa Educación Secundaria y Bachilleratu), Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, page 123:

     Tres homes diben xuntos al mesmu llugar y na metada’l camín atoparon una ayalga debaxo unes piedres.

     Three men were going to the same place together and in middle of the way found a hidden treasure under some rocks.

2. (Asturian mythology) a nymph who guards underwater treasures
   • 2006, Informe sobre la fala o gallego-asturiano: una perspectiva histórica, social y lingüística, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, page 11:

     Aspeutos como los de les cubiertes vexetales de delles construcciones, la llabranza de les viñes, los llares, la mitoloxía d’ayalgues y xanes y hasta, mesmamente, elementos gastronómicos como’l pote o la empanada vienen siendo usaos n’artículos y publicaciones de dellos estudiosos gallegos como elementos probatorios d’esa pretendida frontera de la galleguidá nel ríu Navia.

     Aspects such as the roofs of some buildings made with plants, farmwork in the vineyard, kitchen hearths, the mythology of ayalgues and xanes and even gastronomic elements such as the olio and empanadas are being used in articles and publications by some Galician scholars as probative elements of this supposed border of Galicianness in the river Navia.