falcă

Forms

falcă f (plural fălci)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin falx (“sickle, scythe”) (accusative ⟨falcem⟩); the change of meaning from “sickle” to “jaw” is explained by the curved shape of the jawbone.^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu compares Sardinian cavanu (“jaw”) beside cavana (“sickle”), and notes that the shift is found only in Romanian and Albanian.^[2] Albanian has felqinë (“jaw”).^[1]

How the Romanian form arose is disputed.^[2] DEX, MDA2 and Wiktionary take it as a singular rebuilt from ⟨fălci⟩, the old plural of falce, the regular outcome of the Latin word.^[3][5][1] Tiktin rejects this because the regular form survives beside it, and with Pușcariu and REW starts from Vulgar Latin *falca, a by-form of the Latin noun.^[6][4][7] Ciorănescu gives both explanations; the regular form survives only as a Moldavian measure of land.^[2] Candrea and Densusianu also hesitate between the two, comparing salcă beside salce.^[8] A derivation from Hungarian falka (“piece”), proposed by Dumke, is not possible according to Ciorănescu, who follows Drăganu.^[2]

The word survives in Aromanian falcã and Megleno-Romanian falcă, both meaning “jaw, cheek”.^{[9][10][11][12]} The Latin word continues in Italian falce, French faux, Occitan faus, Spanish hoz and Portuguese fouce, all names of the sickle or scythe.^[2][7] Its own origin is uncertain: de Vaan suggests at most a loan from another Indo-European language of Italy.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 and Tiktin date the first record to the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578).^[5][6] Candrea's glossary of that psalter lists the plural fălcile.^[14] The DA quotes the cheek sense from a psalter of 1651: „Tu bătuși pre toți pizmașii miei preste fălci” “thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek”.^[15]

Semantic evolution

The word names each of the two bones of the face that hold the teeth, and by extension the lower part of the cheek or the whole face.^[3][5] The “cheek” sense is frequent in old Moldavian and Transylvanian texts: Varlaam's sermon turns the other cheek with „De te va lovi neștine preste falcă” “if anyone strikes you on the cheek”.^[16][15]

By analogy the word names parts of tools and vehicles shaped like jaws: the poles that hold the batten of the loom, the arms of the shaft of a peasant cart, the jaws of pincers.^[6][8] In modern technical language it is the gripping or crushing part of a machine.^[3] For insects and crustaceans it renders “maxilla”.^[3]

Several idioms use it: cu o falcă în cer și cu alta în pământ “with one jaw in the sky and the other on the earth”, said of the dragons of folk tales, came to mean “furious”.^[3][5] A da fălci is “to eat greedily”, and a strâmba cuiva fălcile “to slap someone hard”.^[5][6] From the old plural fălci of falce came Ukrainian фальча (falʹča), a measure of land.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1573–1578 – fălcile in the Psaltirea Scheiană, the first record.^[5][14]
• 1643 – falcă “cheek” in Varlaam's sermons.^[16]
• 1649 – fălci glosses the Slavonic for “measures of land” in Mardarie's lexicon.^[17]
• 1651 – preste fălci “upon the cheek” in a psalter.^[15]
• 1660 – falcă glosses Slavonic ланита “cheek” in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[18]
• 1688 – the jawbone of Samson (Judges 15:15) and the right cheek of Matthew 5:39 in the Bucharest Bible.^[19][6]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses fálca with Latin mandibula, maxilla.^[20]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda derives it from Latin falx by metaphor.^[21]

Meanings

Noun

1. A jaw: each of the two bones of the face in which the teeth are set; in people the jawbone, in animals the mandible.^[3][5]
2. The lower part of the cheek; by extension the cheek or the face.^[3][5]
3. (zoology) The maxilla of insects and crustaceans.^[3]
4. (technology) A jaw-like part of a device or machine that grips, crushes or deforms a material.^[3][5]
5. (regional) Each of the two arms of the shaft by which a cart is joined to the front axle.^[5][6]

Word family

• fălcar
• fălcată
• fălcău
• fălcuță
• fălcos
• fălcea

Related words

• Aromanian falcã
• Latin falx

Usage notes

In a Romanian dialect of Hungary Tamás recorded a rare falcă “flock (of sheep)”, from Hungarian falka (“herd”); it is a separate borrowing.^[22] The plural is fălci; old texts also have falci.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g 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. falcă
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 379
4. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 50
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 873
6. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. falcă
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3175
8. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. 542
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 447
10. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 83
11. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 154
12. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 125
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A. (1916), Psaltirea Scheiană comparată cu celelalte psaltiri din sec. XVI și XVII traduse din slavonește, vol. II: Glosarele, București: Socec, p. 289
15. ^ a b c 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. falcă
16. ^ a b Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 126
17. ^ 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. fălci
18. ^ 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. falcă
19. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Judges 15:15
20. ^ Gáldi, László (ed.) (1944), Samuel Klein: Dictionarium valachico-latinum. Primul dicționar al limbii române, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Pázmány Péter Tudományegyetemi Román Intézet (Klein's dictionary of 1801, with Gáldi's etymological study), p. 358
21. ^ 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. 210
22. ^ Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 316