Proto-Basque: *oɫha
Meaning: 1 forge, foundry 2 (shepherd's) hut 3 cabin, cottage 4 country house
Bizkaian: ola 1
Gipuzkoan: ola 1
High Navarrese: ola 1
Low Navarrese: olha 1
Lapurdian: olha 3, 4
Zuberoan: ólha 2, 3
Roncalese: (Vidángoz) õla 3
Comments: The semantic change was probably 'hearth, forge' (cf. PEC *ɦwVlaq_ē 'hearth') > 'hut with a hearth, heated hut' > 'cabin, cottage', etc. (Cf. English stove ~ Norw. stova ‘cottage, hut; (living-) room’, Swed. stuga ‘cottage, cabin’, Ger. Stube ‘room’ (orig. ‘heated room’), etc.) Ol(h)a is an element in numerous Bsq place names, and in modern Bsq the meaning ‘forge’ has been extended to ‘factory’.
