cai, la/el - street/wharf - calle/muelle

[is]

cai, la: pronounced KUY. Street, roadway or public thoroughfare, usually paved, in a village, town or city. Other words for thoroughfares in Asturian are rua (chiefly West Asturian and Galician-Asturian), carreiro (West Asturian), caleya or calea (usually an unpaved country road).

La cai is also the term referring to the space between the wooden ‘bolos’ in Asturian-type bowling, or a swimming lane in the pool.

cai,el: pronounced KUY. An older word in Asturian for wharf, pier or quay at a seaport or embankment, the solid structure in a harbor used as a landing place for vessels. Probably a loan word from French ‘quai’.

Today, the word ‘el cai’ is often synonymous with the industrial port activities of Xixon or Aviles, or with fisheries in smaller towns like Cuideiru (Cudillero). Only former stevedores or pesquinos (fishermen) will still refer to the port as ‘el cai’.

Usage examples:

Esi paisanu paez que nunca salio de la Cai Uria. [That man seems never to have set foot outside of Uria Street (the main shopping district in Uvieu/Oviedo)]

Au ta la Cai Moros? [Where is Moros Street?]

Na Cai Rosalia de Castro hai una tienda de caxigalines. [There’s a penny shop that sells candy on Rosalia de Castro Street]

D’au vien el nom de la Cai Contracai en Xixon? [Where does the name for the street in Xixon called ‘Contracai’ come from?]

El cai xixones ye’l mayor d’Asturies. [The pier in Xixon is the largest in Asturias]

De mozu, Nolo trabayo nos cais d’Aviles. [When Nolo was young, he worked in the wharf of Aviles]