berberecho

Galician

Berberechos, croques or carneiros

Alternative forms

• berbecho, berbiricho, birbericho, berbicho

Etymology

Unknown. Perhaps from a substrate language; otherwise from berbecho (“cockle; goatee”), from a local Vulgar Latin *berbēcclus < *berbēciclus, a diminutive of Latin berbēx ("ram", compare Galician carneiro (“warty venus ((Venus verrucosa); cockle”, literally “ram”))). In any case, related to Portuguese berbigão.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [beɾβeˈɾet͡ʃʊ]

Noun

berberecho m (plural berberechos)

1. cockle (Cerastoderma edule)

   Synonyms: carneiro, croque

   • 1853, Xoán Manuel Pintos, A Gaita Gallega, page 158:

     Inda a nai non pon o pé
     por adentro do portelo
     xa chegan os seus miniños
     «a min, a min berberecho» ;
     cisca uns poucos pola eira
     os rapaces van collé-los
     de gatiñas uns con outros
     levantandose e caendo.
     Dimpois tódo-los da casa
     arredor do fol ou cesto
     non se afartan de gandire
     os birbirichiños frescos;
     

     Mother hasn't even
     put her foot ahead the gate
     when her children come asking
     «to me, to me, cockle»;
     she scatters a few by the yards
     the kids try to catch them
     squatting, ones and others
     standing and falling.
     Later, everyone at the house,
     around the bag or basket,
     they don't get tired of devouring
     the fresh little cockles;

References

• “berberecho” in Dicionario de Dicionarios da lingua galega, SLI - ILGA 2006–2013.
• “berberecho” in Tesouro informatizado da lingua galega. Santiago: ILG.
• “berberecho” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.
• “berbeche” in Álvarez, Rosario (coord.): Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués, Santiago de Compostela: Instituto da Lingua Galega.

Spanish

Etymology

From Ancient Greek βέρβερι (bérberi, “pearl oyster”) or perhaps from a substrate language; otherwise from berbecho (“cockle; goatee”), from a local Vulgar Latin *berbēcclus < *berbēciclus, a diminutive of Latin berbēx ("ram", compare Spanish carnero (“warty venus ((Venus verrucosa); cockle”, literally “ram”))). In any case, related to Portuguese berbigão.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /beɾbeˈɾet͡ʃo/ [beɾ.β̞eˈɾe.t͡ʃo]
• Rhymes: -etʃo
• Syllabification: ber‧be‧re‧cho

Noun

berberecho m (plural berberechos)

1. cockle

Descendants

• → Catalan: berberetxo

Further reading

• “berberecho”, in Diccionario de la lengua española, Vigésima tercera edición, Real Academia Española, 2014