geană

Forms

geană f (plural gene)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *genna, an altered form of Latin gena (“cheek”).^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu calls the double /n/ of the Vulgar Latin form insufficiently explained.^[4] Candrea and Densusianu put it down to the influence of cennus, while Pușcariu and the DA see the influence of pinna (“feather”), which also kept its /e/ before /n/.^[4][5][6] Tiktin derives the word directly from the Latin noun, which he glosses “eyelid”.^[7] The Latin word is from Proto-Indo-European *ǵénus (“jaw, cheek”), like Ancient Greek γένυς (génus, “jaw”).^[8][1]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian dzeanã (“eyebrow, hill”), Megleno-Romanian zęnă and Istro-Romanian jǫne.^[4][9][10] Outside Eastern Romance, Pușcariu and the REW compare a Calabrian dialect word for the strip of land between two fields and Occitan gena (“cheek”).^[6][11][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century has the form geana at Psalm 16:9.^[12] Tiktin's first record is the Psaltirea Scheiană (c. 1573–1578), Psalm 10:4, and his old quotations show the sense “eyelid”.^[7] MDA2 dates the word to the Bucharest Bible of 1688, where the psalmist will not give sleep to his eyes, „somn ochilor miei și genelor mele”, “to my eyes and my eyelids”.^[3][7]

Semantic evolution

The Latin “cheek” became “eyelid” in Romanian, the sense of the old texts, which is now dated.^[7][2] From the lids the word passed to the hairs on their edge, the modern “eyelash”, recorded by Tiktin from the 19th century.^[7][5] The DA notes that the plural gene is the usual form in this sense, and that the singular names one lash, apart from a few collective uses in poetry.^[5]

A figurative sense compares the line of the lashes to a thin strip of light on the horizon, or to the lit edge of a hill or a cloud: în geana zilei “at daybreak”.^[7][13][2] Aromanian also uses the word for a hill.^[7][9] In slang geană is a warning, “look out!”, and a close watch kept on someone.^[4][14] Ciorănescu explains this as a jocular confusion with the slang verb gini (“to watch”), whose derivation from Romani ğene (“persons”) (Graur) he thinks less likely.^[4]

Timeline

• early 16th century – geana in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, Psalm 16:9.^[12]
• c. 1573–1578 – the Psaltirea Scheiană, Psalm 10:4, Tiktin's first record.^[7]
• 1660 – geana in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon, glossing Old Church Slavonic вѣжда (věžda).^[15]
• 1688 – genele “eyelids” in the Bucharest Bible, Psalm 131:4.^[3][7]
• 1799 – red-rimmed eyelids in the Romanian Bertoldo.^[7][5]

Meanings

Noun

1. An eyelash: each of the short hairs on the edge of an eyelid.^[2][3][1]
2. (dated) An eyelid.^[2][3][1]
3. (figurative) A thin streak of light, or a lit strip of a hill or a cloud.^[2][3]
4. (slang) A close watch on someone, and as an interjection “look out!”.^[4][14]

Word family

• genat

Related words

• Aromanian dzeanã
• Latin gena

Usage notes

A-i da (cuiva) ochii în gene or a da geană-n geană is said of someone about to fall asleep, and a privi printre gene means to look through half-closed eyes.^[2][3] A face cu geana is to wink.^[3] In Moldova se face geană means that day is breaking.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 431
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 980
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. geană
5. ^ a b c d 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. geană
6. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 60
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. geană
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 432
10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 427
11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 3727
12. ^ a b 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 16:9
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. geană
14. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. geană
15. ^ 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. geana
16. ^ Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. s.v. geană