avea

Forms

avea (third-person singular present are, past participle avut, third-person subjunctive aibă) second conjugation^[1] The present is irregular: am, ai, are, avem, aveți, au; the subjunctive third person is să aibă.^[2][3] Old texts also have a first person aib, a subjunctive să aivă and a gerund aibând; regional speech has the subjunctive să aibe.^[3][4] As an auxiliary the verb has short forms: am, ai, a, am, ați, au in the compound perfect and aș, ai, ar, am, ați, ar in the conditional.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin habeō (“to have, hold”), a verb found in all the Romance languages.^[5][6][3][1] Wiktionary traces the Latin verb to a Proto-Italic form and, more doubtfully, to Proto-Indo-European *gʰh₁bʰ- (“to grab, take”).^[1]

The verb survives south of the Danube: Aromanian am (infinitive aveare), Megleno-Romanian am (infinitive veari) and Istro-Romanian am.^[5][6][7] Its Romance cognates include Dalmatian avar, Italian avere, Occitan aver, French avoir and Spanish haber.^[5][8]

The /v/ of the infinitive is not the Latin /b/: Candrea and Densusianu explain it as a glide that arose between the vowels of forms such as the perfect habuī, giving avui and avut.^[9] Tiktin explains the short present forms by analogy: the first person singular ⟨am⟩ took the shape of the first person plural, and the third person ⟨au⟩ that of the third person plural.^[4] DELR adds that the auxiliary forms of the conditional more probably come from the imperfect of vrea.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, a psalter of about 1500.^[6] Tiktin's first record is Neacșu's letter of 1521, which already has the forms are and au.^[4] MDA2 gives the Codicele Voronețean of about 1563–1583.^[3] Its sense there is “to possess”.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The basic sense is possession; out of it grew the senses “to contain, consist of”, “to hold, wear”, “to suffer from” (an illness) and “to feel” (hunger, fear).^[2][5] With an abstract noun it forms verbal phrases such as a avea nădejde “to hope” and a avea bucurie “to rejoice”.^[2] Followed by an infinitive, a subjunctive or a supine it expresses obligation, a sense that DER notes wavers between the future and what must be done.^[5][2] Impersonally, in n-are cine, it means “there is nobody”.^[5][2]

The verb became a grammatical tool: an auxiliary of the compound perfect (am venit), of the conditional (aș veni) and of a popular future (am să vin).^[2][6] In Aromanian and Megleno-Romanian it also forms the pluperfect and other compound tenses.^[6] DER considers two senses, “to possess a woman” and “to obtain”, to be Gallicisms.^[5]

Several old derivatives are recorded early: avuție “wealth” about 1500, avut “rich” in 1560–1561 and avere “property, wealth” in 1581.^[6] From Romanian, Transylvanian Saxon took the word for “wealth”.^[5]

Timeline

• c. 1500 – first record, in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki; avuție “wealth” in the same text.^[6]
• 1521 – the forms are and au in Neacșu's letter.^[4]
• 1560–1561 – avut “rich” in Coresi's Gospel book.^[6]
• c. 1563–1583 – the Codicele Voronețean, MDA2's first record.^[3]
• 1581 – avere “property, wealth” in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură.^[6]
• 1817 – avutor “owner”.^[6]
• 1840 – înavuți “to make rich”.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. To own, possess, hold: Are o casă la țară. “He has a house in the country.”^[2][3]
2. To get, receive, obtain.^[2]
3. To have something at one's disposal or enjoy the services of someone: Avem un medic bun.^[2]
4. To be made up of, contain, be provided with: Casa are trei camere.^[2]
5. To hold or wear something: Avea o pălărie neagră.^[2]
6. To measure, weigh or be of an age: Am treizeci de ani. “I am thirty.”^[2][4]
7. To feel a sensation or feeling; to suffer from an illness: a avea foame “to be hungry”.^[2]
8. (with an infinitive, subjunctive or supine) To have to; in the negative, to need only or to be unable to: Are de scris o scrisoare.^[2]
9. (impersonal, in the negative) There is (nobody, nothing): N-are cine să-l ajute.^[2][5]
10. (auxiliary) Forms the compound perfect (a venit), the conditional (ar veni) and, with a subjunctive, a colloquial future (am să plec).^[2][1]

Word family

• avere
• avut
• avuție
• înavuți
• neavere

Related words

• Aromanian am
• Latin habeō

Usage notes

Common phrases include ce ai? “what is the matter with you?”, n-are nimic “he is fine; it does not matter” and n-ai decât! “do as you like!”.^[2] DEX also records a se avea bine cu cineva “to be on good terms with someone”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 80
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 145
4. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. avea
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. avea
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. avea
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 11
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3958
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București