Literal translation
to touch the hand
Meaning
to shake hands
Explanation
This expression means to shake hands, a universal gesture of politeness and greeting rendered here in a phrasing specific to Provençal. The verb touca carries the senses of touching, clinking glasses, falling to someone's lot, and man means hand, but also, by figurative extension, side or direction. Touching the hand literally describes the physical contact of a handshake, the social gesture by which people greet one another or seal an agreement, somewhat as clinking glasses, another sense of touca, likewise marks a moment of conviviality through symbolic physical contact between two people. The link between touching the hand and clinking glasses, both expressed by the same verb touca, underlines how Provençal treats physical contact, whether of hand or of glass, as a codified social gesture of mutual acknowledgment. The register is neutral and everyday, used in any situation of formal or friendly greeting, with no particular connotation. The expression has a more vivid, more familiar equivalent in touching the five sardines, which describes the same gesture with an added touch of humour, both phrases coexisting in common use.