This base type is 'spread as a place name and appellative across a large area in western Mediterranean languages' (FEW 2, 51, under kala). Originally, it seems to have been a pre-Indo-European terrain description which meant 'sheltered site'. This explains the term cala 'bay' in Italian (e.g., Sicilian) and Ibero-Romanic (cf. FEW ibid.). In VerbaAlpina’s research area, this base also has its source in the name of the Val Calanca, a lateral valley of the Misox/Misocco.