<zam-, English regional (south-western) form of sam-prefix + zawed, English regional (south-western) form of sodadj.Compare sam-soddenn.
Meaning & use
English regional (Devon). Now rare.
1743–
Of food or a meal: spoiled by overcooking; overdone. Also occasionally: undercooked; = sam-soddenn.
Quot. 1743 apparently explains the word as a noun, but no other evidence for use as a noun has been found.
1743
Zamzod, Devoniensibus est vocabulum satis notum. Iis designat..Cibum nimiâ coctione corruptum... Nam proprie significat Carnem semicoctam. [Translation: Zamzod is a word well known to the inhabitants of Devon. For them it means food spoilt by over-cooking. For it actually means half-cooked meat.]
E. Lye, Junius's Etymologicum Anglicanum
a1794
His met was zam-zaw'd and a bowl'd to jouds [i.e. rags].
M. Palmer, Dialogue in Devonshire Dialect (1837) 12
1825
Zamzod, zamzodden, any thing heated for a long time in a low heat so as to be in part spoiled, is said to be zamzodden.
J. Jennings, Observations Dialects W. England 85
1880
Supper won't be a minute afore it's in, and if it's put back now 'twill all be samsawed and not worth eatin'.
L. Parr, Adam & Evevol. I. vii. 188
1892
I bant agwaine [i.e. am not going] tü ayte this mayte..; tidden 'a'f cüked, 'tez beastly zamzawd trade.
S. Hewett, Peasant Speech of Devon 152
1930
As the supper was liable to be zamzawed, i.e. dried up, if kept longer in the oven, it was decided to begin under another Chairman.
H. Williamson, Village Book 66
1998
I well recall my mother telling us to..get home on time for dinner or ‘twill be zamzawed’.
Western Morning News (Plymouth) (Nexis) 22 June 10
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.
Vowels
iːfleece
ihappy
ɪkit
ɛdress
atrap, bath
ɑːstart, palm, bath
ɒlot
ɔːthought, force
ʌstrut
ʊfoot
uːgoose
əletter
əːnurse
ɪənear
ɛːsquare
ʊəcure
eɪface
ʌɪpride
aʊmouth
əʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ãgratin
ɒ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.
Vowels
ifleece, happy
ɪkit
ɛdress
ætrap, bath
ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
ɑrstart
ɔcloth, thought
ɔrnorth, force
ʊfoot
ugoose
əstrut, comma
ərnurse, letter
ɪ(ə)rnear
ɛ(ə)rsquare
ʊ(ə)rcure
eɪface
aɪpride
aʊmouth
oʊgoat
ɔɪvoice
ɑ̃gratin
æ̃salon
ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)
Other symbols
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.
Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.
Consonants
b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values