ba

Etymology

It is borrowed from Bulgarian ба (ba), a particle that also spread to Serbo-Croatian ba, Polish ba, Ukrainian ба (ba) and Russian ба (ba).^[1] MDA2 and DEX name several Slavic languages as the source: Bulgarian, Serbian, Polish and Ukrainian.^[2][3] The DA gives the same Slavic set without choosing one language.^[4] The Bulgarian etymological dictionary records the Bulgarian word in dialects with the opposite sense, an affirming particle meaning yes, probably a variety of the interjection of surprise and objection, and says Romanian took it with the sense of no, by no means.^[5]

The Moldavian variant bai comes from Polish baj.^[1] The word is also used south of the Danube: Aromanian ba and Megleno-Romanian ba.^[1][6] The Megleno-Romanian dictionary derives its form from the Bulgarian word, Macedonian ба (ba) and Modern Greek μπα (ba).^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to a Slavonic–Romanian Gospel of 1551–1553.^[7] MDA2 and Tiktin cite the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583), at Acts 26:25, where Paul rejects Festus' charge that he is mad.^[2][8] The roPsalt index also lists a form ba in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, at Psalm 34:8.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word first served to reject a statement: “no, on the contrary”.^[8][7] After a negative sentence it does the opposite and confirms: ba da “yes, it is so”.^[8][3] In popular and regional speech it is a plain “no”, and the 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons use it to translate Slavonic negative particles such as ни.^[10][11] Followed by și, chiar or încă it came to mean “moreover, even”, and repeated it links alternatives: ba…, ba… “now…, now…”.^[7][1] Ciorănescu compares the contradicting pair ba da, ba nu with Spanish and Italian idioms of the same build.^[1]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – the first record, in a Slavonic–Romanian Gospel.^[7]
• c. 1563–1583 – in the Codicele Voronețean (Acts 26:25).^[2][8]
• 1660 – in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon, glossing negative particles.^[11]
• 1688 – 33 times in the Bucharest Bible, first at Genesis 18:15.^[12]

Meanings

Adverb

1. Used to contradict a negative statement or question, often with the verb repeated: on the contrary, yes: Nu ai cheile? – Ba le am!^[3][2]
2. (popular) no: Ai fost la târg? – Ba.^[3][10]
3. Followed by și, chiar or încă: moreover, even: A pierdut banii, ba chiar și casa.^[3][7]
4. Repeated, as a disjunctive conjunction: now… now, either… or: ba plouă, ba ninge.^[3][1]

Related words

• bai
• Aromanian ba

Usage notes

Fixed expressions include a nu zice nici da, nici ba “not to commit oneself”, ba bine că nu “of course”, and the regional nici mai ba! “not a chance”.^[3][10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. ba
2. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 153
3. ^ 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. 84
4. ^ 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. ba
5. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 1, 22
6. ^ a b Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 55
7. ^ 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. ba
8. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. ba
9. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 34:8
10. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 183
11. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. ba
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 18:15