Quilla, branque, estrave... Nautical Terms of Nordic Origin

Abstract

Loanwords of Nordic origin, especially terms for shipbuilding and navigation, entered French via Norman in the 11th century. Via French this nautical vocabulary was borrowed to the other Romance languages, Spanish among others. The technical terms denote parts of a ship, masts, sails and rigging as well as equipment and all kind of instruments used on board. This paper deals with words related to de hull of the vessel: the keel, the stem and the brandr, ‘curved gunwale’, form the outside of the hull, and carling, bitts and wrong, in old English, are found inside the hull. The terms analyzed appear in Spanish texts from the 16th and 17th century and onwards, mostly in books about ship construction and navigation written after the discovery of the New World.

Keywords: ship hull, nordic loanwords, romance languages, Spanish