bărbie

Forms

bărbie f (plural bărbii)^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][3] Tiktin, Pușcariu and the DA see it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *barbīlia, first the neuter plural of an unattested *barbīle (“the place where the beard grows”), formed on barba (“beard”) like fēnīle (“hayloft”) and equīle (“horse stable”).^[4][5][6] Ciorănescu accepts this Latin form but adds that the word may have been formed within Romanian.^[3] Candrea–Densusianu, CADE, Scriban and the DEX derive it from barbă instead, as a formation from Romanian barbă + -ie.^[2][7][8] Șăineanu compared fășie from fașă.^[9] DELR gives both views and notes that Aromanian bãrghelj (“double chin”), with /lʹ/, supports a Latin source with /l/; the Aromanian word for “chin” used by the Grămostean Aromanians and at Perivoli in the Pindus lacks the /lʹ/, a loss normal in that dialect.^[2][10]

The Romance languages built similar words on the Latin noun: Italian barbiglio (“wattle”) and Spanish barbilla (“tip of the chin”).^[3][4] The REW notes that the sense “chin” for derivatives of the Latin word is spread over almost all of Italy and the Iberian Peninsula.^[11] The Latin noun goes back to Proto-Italic *farfā; its initial /b/ is explained by assimilation to the /rb/ that follows.^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in Nicolae Milescu's translation of the Septuagint, made between 1665 and 1685.^[2] Tiktin cites Dosoftei's lives of the saints (1683), describing a beardless man who had hair only around the mouth, under the lips and „în vârful bărbiei” “on the tip of the chin”.^[4][6] The sense was the human chin, as it is today.^[4]

Semantic evolution

From the chin the word passed to the fold of fat beneath it: in Vâlcea a lăsa bărbie “to grow a double chin” was said of someone who had grown rich.^[6][13] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 already gives both the chin and this double chin.^[14] By analogy it named the dewlap of cattle, recorded in a manuscript of 1773, and the red wattles of the cock and the hen.^[6][8]

Other transferred senses are the lobe of the ear, the bib tied round a child's neck (at Brașov), the hollow beside the edge of an axe, and several parts of a fishing weir.^[6][13][15] The wooden chin rest of a violin is a modern sense.^[8][16] The phrase dublă bărbie “double chin” was felt as a Gallicism.^[17]

Timeline

• 1665–1685 – first record, in Nicolae Milescu's translation of the Septuagint.^[2]
• 1683 – bărbiei “of the chin” in Dosoftei's lives of the saints.^[4]
• 1773 – the dewlap of oxen, in a manuscript.^[6]
• 1825 – the chin and the double chin in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The chin: the part of the face formed by the projecting lower jaw, below the lower lip;^[8][13][1] bărbie dublă “double chin”.^[8][13][1]
2. The fleshy part hanging under the lower jaw of some animals, the dewlap; in the plural, the red wattles under the beak of a hen or cock.^[8][13]
3. The chin rest: a wooden piece fitted at the base of a violin, on which the player rests the chin.^[8][16]
4. (regional) The earlobe.^[13][18]
5. (technical) The heel of an axe; in fishing, parts of a weir.^[13][19]

Word family

• bărbiță

Related words

• barbă
• bărbier
• Latin barba

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e 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. bărbíe
3. ^ a b c 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. bărbie
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. bărbíe
5. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 15
6. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. bărbie
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 159
8. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 95
9. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 54
10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 191
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 944
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 184
14. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 47
15. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. bărbie
16. ^ a b Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 73
17. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 218
18. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 51
19. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. bărbie