Més sobre l'origen del cat. Inxa, inxar, i cast. Hincha

Abstract

Catalan inxa rancour, ill-feeling was explained as a borrowing from Castilian hincha rancour, ill-feeling a word normally considered a derivative of hinchar (INFLARE). The author in an article of 1991 defended the thesis that inxa and inxar to incite (a dog), to irritate, to provoke are most likely words of expressive creation, formed on an exhortative interjection insa! used to urge a dog to attack. Doubt was cast on this hypothesis in a recent publication. The present study takes up once more the complicated problem of inxa, with its various semantic components, from a new perspective, and with some revisions. An attempt is made to prove: a) that the hypothesis which considers inxa rancour a Castilianism is untenable, and b) that the thesis which explains inxa as a word of expressive creation is defensible and provides us with an overall satisfactory solution. Moreover, it is shown that the theory that derives the secondary meanings of inxa, splinter, sliver, a kind of cion, receives support from available data. On the other hand, inxa meaning reed of a wind instrument with the variant form guinxa presuppose an onomatopeic basis in imitative sound inss / ginss. The article also deals with the history of Castilian hincha. Efforts are made to prove that old Spanish incha hatred, known only from one example from the second half of the 13th century, was very likely also an expressive creation, formed on an exhortative in ca, in parallel with the Catalan inxa from nsa!, while the Spanish hincha rancour, ill-feeling, which makes its appearance in the 16th century, is explained as a derivation from hinchar to swell (INFLARE), though with some degree of semantic influence from henchir to fill (IMPLERE).