banzáu

Asturian

FWOTD – 18 December 2014

Etymology

Cognate with Galician banzado.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /banˈθau/, [bãn̟ˈθau̯]

Noun

banzáu m (plural banzaos)

1. an irrigation canal with water diverted from a river
   • María Esther García López, Toponimia: Valdés, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, page 9:

     […] ; riégase con agua d’un banzáu.

     […] ; it is irrigated with water from an irrigation canal.

2. a dam used to divert water from a river
   • Roberto González-Quevedo González, L’espaciu agrariu en Palacios del Sil, in 2002, Cultures, 11, Academia de la Llingua Asturiana, page 356:

     L’oxetivu del banzáu que se fai nel ríu yía embalsar l’augua (chámase tamién banzáu a la masa d’augua que s’axunta pola mor de la paré de piedra).

     The point of the diversion dam built in a river is to dam the water (the mass of water that collects because of the stone wall is also called banzáu).