# Zapata (Spanish)



## Tracer

Supposedly, the Spanish word ZAPATO (which means "shoe") is derived from the Turkish word ZAPATA.

1. What does Turkish ZAPATA mean in English?  

2.  How did a Turkish word get to far-distance Spain?

Thanks.


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## shafaq

1- As far as I know there is no word sounds like ZAPATA in any Turkic dialects.
It may be derived by Arabic ZABT=to hold/hand on/control or  ZABBAT(A)=holder/regulator one/controller one/arrester. 

2- In contrary;  Turkish language is infected by the "ZAPATA" via the movie titled "Viva Zapata!"


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## macrotis

There's a Turkish word *sabo* meaning (Turkish Language Association-TDK),
1. _wooden shoe usually__ worn__ in many European countries_,
2. _a kind of sandals with leather stripe_,
but it's from French *sabot* "wooden shoe." Apparently, your word is from the same word too (so is *sabotage*).


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## Outsider

This previous discussion should be of interest.


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## J.F. de TROYES

shafaq said:


> 1- As far as I know there is no word sounds like ZAPATA in any Turkic dialects.
> It may be derived by Arabic ZABT=to hold/hand on/control or ZABBAT(A)=holder/regulator one/controller one/arrester.


 
 A French dictionary suggests an etymological hypothesis by deriving the word _*savate*_ from a Turkish _*çapata*_. Does this word really exist?



Tracer said:


> Supposedly, the Spanish word ZAPATO (which means "shoe") is derived from the Turkish word ZAPATA.
> Thanks.


 
_*zapato*_ undoubtedly belongs to the same family as _*ciabott*a _( Italian ), _*çapato*_ ( Portuguese ) and_* savate*_ ( French ) , what means an old slipper.
 These words could be related to the Arabic, _*sabbaaT*_, a slipper. That's possible, but there's no evidence and etymology is full of pitfalls


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## jazyk

Sapato in Portuguese. A word never starts with a ç in Portuguese.


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## Aoyama

I also thought about the word *savate* (and savetier) in French, there is also a similar word in Romanian.
The word has nothing to do with *sabot *, which means a wooden clog (or shoe), but the etymology is different.
*Savate* also means (this meaning being special to French) a kind of martial art, in which you use (only) your legs and feet to fight.
It became popular from around 1860.
This being said, the TLF (here : http://atilf.atilf.fr/dendien/scripts/tlfiv5/affart.exe?19;s=1253415270;?b=0;*) records "chavate" as a Normand word from 1200 ..., that is quite some time before Turkish words entered French. The word is frequently attested in the 17th century.
Original meaning was "shoe", then "old, worn out shoe", then "slipper", then "beggar, poor man" ...
* the link doesn't appear, you should check at TLFi.


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## Arrius

*sapato* has also entered the Bantu languages with the meaning *shoe* via the Portuguese of Mozambique and Angola.


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## ancalimon

I never heard of that word or something similar in Turkish.  Only "zabıta" which means constabulary. So I guess that is false information.


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## Outsider

jazyk said:


> Sapato in Portuguese. A word never starts with a ç in Portuguese.


It was spelled with a _ç_ in ancient Portuguese, though.


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## ancalimon

Outsider said:


> It was spelled with a _ç_ in ancient Portuguese, though.



In that case, "ÇAPUT" means "a piece of old, worn out cloth" in Turkish.  "ÇAPUTLUK" means an old cloth worn on the legs by woman.

ÇAP: a wild animal hitting the ground with its front feet  ,  to gallop the horse

I think its some kind of "echoic word" (is this what they are called in etymology?)

ÇAP - ŞAP  is the sound in which the toe hits the shoe-sandal when one is walking.  For example http://www.seslisozluk.com/?word=şıpıdık

Also take a look at the word "ÇARIK":  http://www.seslisozluk.com/?word=çarık


The only other word that comes to my mind is BUT (leg)  ...  Maybe   PATO < BACAQ (leg) or BUT (leg)

But "BUT" (pronounced as "boot") means leg in Turkic while a ZAPATO is worn on the "foot".


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## Arrius

*I think its some kind of "echoic word"* (is this what they are called in etymology?) *ancalimon*
*onomatopoeic *or* imitative of the sound.
*


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## J.F. de TROYES

jazyk said:


> Sapato in Portuguese. A word never starts with a ç in Portuguese.


 


Outsider said:


> It was spelled with a _ç_ in ancient Portuguese, though.


 
Thanks to you both. I don't know anything about the Portuguese spelling ; so I suppose the dictionary where I read this word gives the ancient form.


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## Angelo di fuoco

ancalimon said:


> In that case, "ÇAPUT" means "a piece of old, worn out cloth" in Turkish.  "ÇAPUTLUK" means an old cloth worn on the legs by woman.



Without questioning your explanation, I'd like you to take note that "ç" is pronounced /s/ in Portuguese, not /t͡ʃ/.


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## Outsider

But it used to be pronounced /ts/ in medieval Portuguese (and Spanish).


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## artion

J.[I said:
			
		

> *zapato*[/I] undoubtedly belongs to the same family as _*ciabott*a _( Italian ), _*çapato*_ ( Portuguese ) and_* savate*_ ( French ) , what means an old slipper.
> These words could be related to the Arabic, _*sabbaaT*_, a slipper. That's possible, but there's no evidence and etymology is full of pitfalls


 
Slipper! The key-word.
If we assume that the root of the above words is -va(t)- then we can safely go to the Anc. Gr. em-vas (εμβάς, Aristophanes, Nephelae 858, Sphekes  103 etc) meaning *slipper*. The root va(t/d) is the same as in βαδίζω (walk), βαίνω (go, walk), βήμα (step) etc,  possibly related to the words meaning foot (πους, πόδι, (>podium), fuss etc). 
The prefix em- in Gr. means "in, inside", i.e. embas = "step-in".

But the european prefix za-, sa- etc need some explanation.


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## Aoyama

Once again, the Trésor de la Langue Française does NOT list any arabic or turkish origin in the etymology of "savate" :
*Prononc. et Orth.:* [savat]. Att. ds _Ac._ dep. 1694. *Étymol. et Hist. A. 1. a) *_Ca_ 1200 _*chavate*_ « vieille chaussure » (_Aiol_, éd. J. Normand et G. Raynaud, 2766); (...) *b)* 1748 _traîner la savate_ « vivre misérablement » (...) *2. a)* 1508 terme de dédain (...) ( Tous ces beaulx escumeurs de mer, Qui ne vallent pas deux *savates*); *b)* 1640 fig. _*savatte*_ « personne maladroite » (OUDIN _Curiositez_); *3. a)* 1808 _se battre à coups de savatte_ « se battre à coups de pied » (HAUTEL); *b) *1828-29 « forme de lutte » (VIDOCQ, _Mém._, t. 1, p. 206); 1828-29 (ID., _ibid._, t. 3, p. 374: la *savate*); *4.* 1842 « chaussure neuve ou vieille dont le quartier est rabattu ».
This being said, true enough, the Spanish dictionary claims that "zapato" comes from Turkish "zabata" (which could show some similarities with the Arabo-semitic triliteral root ZBT) :
http://buscon.rae.es/draeI/SrvltConsulta?TIPO_BUS=3&LEMA=zapato
but bear in mind that first appearance of the word in French is "*ch*avate" (around 1200), that could explain the *cia-* in Italian and the *ça*- in old Portuguese.


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## Outsider

artion said:


> But the european prefix za-, sa- etc need some explanation.


There's no solid reason to think it is a prefix.


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## Aoyama

> There's no solid reason to think it is a prefix.


Absolutely (it is not)


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## hungryplanets00

Hello all. 

I was recently looking for information regarding this topic in the Oxford English Dictionary. I looked in the entry for "Sabaton", which is an obsolete word in English that seems to have died out around the 19th century. In any case, the word derives from the root in question in this thread. Here's what the OED says:

"<Provençal sabató (modern Provençal sabatoun shoe), augmentative of sabata = French savate, Spanish zapata boot (also zapato shoe), Portuguese sapata, Italian ciabatta shoe. Compare medieval Latin sabbatum.

*The ultimate origin of the Romanic word is obscure. It exists in Arabic (sabbāt, çabbāt, etc., Dozy II. 626), in Berber (sappāt, Dozy II. 626), and in Basque (zapata), but is probably in all these a loan-word from Spanish.*"

Hopefully that helps a little. (By the way, sabaton means: "A broad-toed armed foot-covering worn by warriors in armour.")


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## Favara

It also exists in Catalan (_sabata_, /sa'bata/), but it was spelled with a Ç in old Catalan; that would mean the old pronunciation was /tsa'bata/.

The old crown of Aragon (mainly Catalan-speaking) had territories in Greece and even managed to have some short-lived possessions in Turkey, so maybe the word reached Western Europe through it. I'm just speculating, of course.


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## Jim Whitefield

Since Zapatau is one word in basque for Saturday , why would know one link the various root words like like sabaton, sabata,sabbaat, ect to the Sabbath or Shabbat which is used to refer to the day of rest in so many languages,
instead a shoe which makes little sense?


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