zanja

See also: zanjá

English

Etymology

From Spanish zanja.

Pronunciation

• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈsɑn.hɘ/

Noun

zanja (plural zanjas)

1. An irrigation canal in Latin America.

Related terms

• zanjero

Spanish

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /ˈθanxa/ [ˈθãŋ.xa]
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /ˈsanxa/ [ˈsãŋ.xa]
• Rhymes: -anxa
• Syllabification: zan‧ja

Etymology 1

Borrowed from Basque zanga, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *sengh- (possibly borrowed via Proto-Celtic [Term?]).

Noun

zanja f (plural zanjas)

1. ditch; trench

   Synonyms: trinchera, cuneta

Etymology 2

Verb

zanja

1. inflection of zanjar:
   1. third-person singular present indicative
   2. second-person singular imperative

References

• Sobre la etimología del vasco zanga y del español zanja, Fernando Fernández Palacios, in Fontes linguae vasconum: Studia et documenta, Navarra:Institución Príncipe de Viana, 1969. Accessible at Fundación Dialnet

Further reading

• “zanja”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), 23rd edition, Royal Spanish Academy, 2014 October 16