curcuvica

Sardinian

Alternative forms

corcoriga, coscoriga, croccoriga, corcorija, curcuriga (Logudorese)
curcufrica, curcufica, corcofica, corcoricra, corcovica, corcovicu (Nuorese)
croccoriga, croccorighedda, corcoriga, cruccuiga, cruccuriga (Campidanese)

Etymology

From Vulgar Latin *cucurbicla, from an older *cucurbitula (via syncope of /-ula/ to /-la/ and regular replacement of /tl/ with /kl/, as in vetulus > veclus), from Latin cucurbita (“gourd”) +‎ -ula (diminutive ending). Subsequently /l/ changed to /r/ and underwent variable metathesis or deletion on account of the other /r/ in the word. The /f/ found in certain Nuorese variants is likely due to analogy with fica (“fig”).

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kurkuˈbika/

Noun

curcuvica m (plural cucurvica)

(Nuorese) pumpkin, squash

References

Pittau, Massimo. 1972. Grammatica del sardo-nuorese: Il più conservativo dei parlari neolatini. Bologna: Pàtron. Page 171.
Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) “zucca”, in Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964) “korkoríkra”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg