Asturian-American Migration Forum

payel.la: pronounced pah-YEH-tsa, sustantivu (noun). A shallow, long-handled frying pan used for food or as a musical instrument. In West Asturias, the vaqueiros use the keys of an horru or horreo (granary on stilts) to rub against the underside of the pan to accompany the pandeiru (flat drum), the bagpipe or other instruments. Synonyms at skillet, fry pan.

Usage examples:
Que fadia tua mai na l.lariega? Fadia freixuelos ya tostaba guevos na payel.la. [What did your mother used to do in the old kitchen? She used to make crepes and fry eggs on the skillet.]
Garra esa payel.la ya ven p’aco, que vou deprendete you a cocinar, ne! [Grab that skillet and come over here. I’m going to teach you how to cook, hun!]

Idiomatic use:
Pegai reciu, pegai reciu / cula l.lave na payel.la / fasta que salga a beil.lare / la de la saya mariel.la [hit it hard, hit the key hard against the frying pan until the girl with the yellow skirt comes out to dance]

Ambas speaks with 94-year-old Obdulia (Dulia) from Val.le (Vah-tse), in County Valdes (L.luarca/Luarca). A vaqueira, she started playing the flat drum when she was 13 and learned from her sister, who played the payel.la. Listen to her description of the payel.la as of minute 1:35 on this youtube clip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C9Yg6Qr ... re=related

The songs she sings on other clips of Camin de Cantares include ‘La Media Vuelta’ and ‘La Gal.legada’. Incidentally, she also addresses the prejudice by the xaldo population (settled farmers) against the vaqueiros of West Asturias. The vaqueiros, as a social minority, were often banned from village festivities and dances.

Paul, the West Asturian word PAYEL.LA is in fact the same that Spanish PAELLA (from Valencia's Catalan PAELLA), with an original sense of 'pan, stove' (well, a special type of round pan without the long handle).

The original root is Latin PATERE 'to be open-shaped' and PATERA 'cup'. From this to PATENA or PATINA 'bowl, casserole, saucepan', and then to diminutive PATELLA.

From PATELLA:

- Old Spanish PADILLA (no more in use)
- Old French PAIELE
- Modern French POÊLE

Phonetical arguments do difficult a loan from Spanish or Catalan. In the first case, because the modern stove was invented in France at the 16th century, and an indirect borrow from French to Spanish and to Asturian would produce something as *Payela.

A loan from Catalan is difficult too, due to the long distance between Asturies and Valencia.

Then, the most probably is:

A direct Latin derivation PATELLA > PADIELLA > PAYELLA > PAYEL.LA

Or alternatively a French borrow PAIELE > PAYELLA > PAYEL.LA

The name of the probably most known Spanish rice dish (originary from Valencia) is derivated from the utensile used for cook it.

The other Asturian word for 'pan' is SARTÉN (from Latin SARTAGINIS), identical to the Spanish one, but with one difference:

- Spanish LA SARTÉN
- Asturian EL SARTÉN

Wishes

Carlos wrote:Paul, the West Asturian word PAYEL.LA is in fact the same that Spanish PAELLA (from Valencia's Catalan PAELLA), with an original sense of 'pan, stove' (well, a special type of round pan without the long handle).

Thanks, Carlos, I had no idea about the origin of the Asturian word 'payel.la'. Especially that it might be related to the word 'paella', whose relation to French 'poele' now seems quite obvious. Is this also from Corominas?

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Gracias, Carlos, nun sabia que l'orixen de la pal.labra n'asturianu oucidental 'payel.la' tea seique nel frances 'poele', magar que agora peimeque la etimoloxia ia abondo clara. Garraras esto de Corominas?

No, Paul, ni tengo el Corominas en casa ni tiempo para ir a la Facultad de Filología o a la Biblioteca para consultarlo.

Pero tengo una buena colección de diccionarios, entre otros de francés, italiano y latín. Por cierto, se me olvidó citar el término italiano PADELLA: 'oggi vaso di ferro e anche di rame, largo, poco fondo e con lungo manico, per friggere'.

Con una ligera idea de por dónde buscar acabas encontrando casi cualquier cosa.