Canvi lexicosemàntic: salpuscar ‘esquitar’ i variants, un petit enigma

Resum: Aquest article mostra quin degue ser l’origen del verb salpuscar i la variant salbuscar, sinonim de l’actual esquitar o esquitxar . Subratlla les possibilitats que ofereixen els corpus textuals digitals i la necessitat de tenir present l’estudi contrastiu de llengues (especialment d’atendre l’occita) i la historia de la cultura quan es fa semantica i lexicologia diacroniques del catala. Aixi mateix, s’hi apliquen nocions basiques de la semantica cognitiva en l’estudi del canvi linguistic. Paraules clau: semantica i lexicologia diacroniques, etimologia, canvi semantic en catala, salpuscar, semantica cognitiva. Abstract: This article shows what must have been the origin of the Catalan verb salpuscar and its variant salbuscar, synonym of the current verb esquitar o esquitxar (‘to splash’). It highlights the possibilities offered by digital textual corpora and the need to bear in mind the contrastive study of languages (especially when it comes to Occitan) and the cultural history when diachronic semantics and lexicology of Catalan are done. Likewise, basic notions of cognitive semantics are applied in the study of linguistic change. Keywords: diachronic semantics and lexicology, etymology, semantic change in catalan, salpuscar, cognitive semantics.