Bernaio in Laude XLIV, v. 3, by Jacopone da Todi and toponyms in the historical cartography of Lake Trasimeno

Abstract

Etymological and toponymic studies of ALLI (Linguistic Atlas of Italian Lakes)

 Two essays are presented here, published in important scientific journals, relating to etymological (Giovanni Moretti 1990) and toponymic (Antonio Batinti - Ermanno Gambini 2010*) researches carried out by scholars of the project ALLI al Lago Trasimeno (PG) 

(*) A. BATINTI (University for foreigners of Perugia) & E. GAMBINI (University of Perugia)

“Bernaio in Laude XLIV, v. 3, by Jacopone da Todi and toponyms in the historical cartography of Lake Trasimeno ", in" The Bulletin of the Opera of the Italian Vocabulary", XV, Edizioni dell'Orso, Alessandria, 2010, pp. 299-308.

In the series of papers Perusina Pedatarum dated 1758,  from the historical Archives of Tuoro, Lake Trasimeno (Perugia), we can find numerous micro-toponyms and toponyms which are linked to the waterfront of Lake Trasimeno. These terrains in contact with the shore, the so-called pedate, have long undergone changes in dimension and in exploitation subject to water levels. Topography here still evidences some interesting traces of such historical alterations of the lake’s shoreline. Some layers dating back to decades prior to the latter part of the 16th century  are still readable. At the time, the great fishing systems were abandoned in favour of fixed  constructions called tori. The latter were a leading feature of the fishing economy of the greater part of the Middle Ages down to the Modern Age. From the preliminary surveys there appears to be a correlation between the names of terra firma, the water and the fishing systems. In the analysis of  terms such as bernaio, toro, porto, arella, etc  this study  discusses the issues involved in the different criteria of denomination. The surveys appear to offer  two new aspects which are relevant to the datation and meaning of bernaio.