¿Etimología romántica o razón fría? Una nota sobre el topónimo Salobreña

The article presents arguments for a Phoenician-Punic etymology of the toponym Salobreña proposing a reconstruction based on phonological, semantic and cultural evidence. It is argued that the original name was based on the expression Ṣalam Baal ‘Face of Baal’ which was an epithet of the goddess Astarte. The toponym is reconstructed as the so-called nisba adjectival form with the meaning ‘[a town] of Ṣalam Baal’. This reconstruction complies with the later Greco-Latin and Arabic versions of the name of the town and with the modern Spanish pronunciation which in part continues the Latinized form but which also shows an effect of reanalysis toward a semantically transparent adjective salobre with the meaning of ‘brackish’. This analysis is supported by historical facts, such as the presence of an early Phoenician-Punic settlement in Salobreña and the cult of Astarte. It also takes into account other factors which increase the probability of the proposed reconstruction, such as the popularity of Semitic toponyms in the nisba-form and a good chance of naming a town in a new colony after the goddess who was a patroness of sailors.