dehoca

Forms

a dehoca (first-person singular present dehoc, third-person singular dehocă, past participle dehocat); first conjugation.^[1][2]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[3][1] The usual explanation is inherited from Vulgar Latin *dēvocāre (“to empty out”), with the old Latin vowel /o/ of Latin vocō for vacō (“to be empty”) (as in vocuus for vacuus); an intermediate ⟨*deoca⟩ then developed an /h/ in the hiatus, while the Transylvanian devoca kept the /v/.^[4][5] This view, from Candrea, is accepted by the REW and Scriban, and the comparisons are Occitan devogar (“to empty”) and Sardinian debogada (“emptied, hollowed out”).^[3][4][5]

Ciorănescu prefers to see an expressive creation, of the series of dăbăla and dehula.^[3] Densusianu started from Hungarian dió (“walnut”).^[3] Tiktin and Șăineanu call it of unknown origin, and DLR, which separates dihoca from the Transylvanian form, gives no etymology.^[6][7][8][4] The related dezvoca “to shell, take apart” is traced in the same way to *disvocāre, and Papahagi finds that Aromanian dizvoc (“to tear apart; to give birth”) fits that etymology.^[4][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR records the Transylvanian devoca “to take apart, shell” in Samuil Micu's dictionary of 1780–1801, with the Moldavian dehoca and dihoca as its variants.^[4] Candrea and Densusianu found devoca in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[5] Tiktin's first record for dihoca “to smash to pieces” is Sbiera's.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Moldavian forms mean “to cut up, tear to pieces”, then “to beat soundly”: in a tale of Sbiera's a woman threatens to beat people and set the dogs on them.^[6][8] The heart “breaks” in Vlahuță: plângea de i se dihoca inima “she wept as if her heart would break”.^[6][8] By extension it meant “to kill”, and Ciorănescu gives “to slaughter an animal”.^[8][3] The reflexive “to wear oneself out” is in a folk text Tiktin quotes: pentru feciori m-am dihocat “I wore myself out for my sons”.^[6][8]

Timeline

• 1780–1801 – devoca in Micu's dictionary, the first record.^[4]
• 1825 – devoca in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[5]
• 1856 – dihoca in Sbiera, according to Tiktin.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (regional, dated) To cut up; to tear to pieces, break up.^[3][2][1]
2. (regional, dated) To slaughter (an animal); to beat soundly.^[3][8][1]
3. (regional, dated) To exhaust, wear out; reflexive, to wear oneself out with work.^[3][7][1]

Related words

• dezvoca
• desface
• Aromanian dizvoc

Usage notes

It is a Moldavian word, also written dihoca; the Transylvanian form is devoca.^[3][4] DLR, CADE and Tiktin treat the verb under dihoca.^[8][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dehoca
3. ^ 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. dehoca
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. dezvoca
5. ^ a b c d Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 481
6. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dihoca
7. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 196
8. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dihoca
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 408