A Question about Linguistic Madeiran Patrimony: Saloia/Saloio

Abstract

In the Archipelago of Madeira, “Easter visits” take place from Easter Sunday to the day of Pentecost. To accompany the insignia of the Holy Spirit, go children called “saloias”. In practically all the parishes in which they participate, they are girls. These young girls are dressed by a special way. In the research carried out in all counties, there were cases with boys. This is what we intend to talk about here. Are the masculine and the feminine equivalent? Why the predominance of girls in the visits? Why the shortage of boys? How does the presence of both differ? These are some of the questions that are to be addressed, condensing the problematic in the question of the grammatical gender (masculine/feminine) of the term that triggered a research in the Linguistic Patrimony of the Autonomous Region of Madeira: the use of the term “saloia” for “girl who accompanies the insignia of the Holy Spirit”.

Keywords

Archipelago of Madeira; Visits of the Insignia of the Holy Spirit; Saloias; Saloios; Linguistic Gender.