hambar

Forms

hambar n (plural hambare)^[1] Variants are ambar, hămbar, hâmbar, hombar and the Transylvanian hămbariu.^[2][3] Negruzzi wrote ambar: „Pânea din ambar” “the bread from the granary”.^[3]

Etymology

Its immediate source is disputed.^[4][5] For DER, MDA2, Tiktin, the DA and Scriban it is borrowed from Ottoman Turkish انبار (ambar), itself of Persian origin.^{[4][2][6][3][7]} DEX gives Hungarian hambár and Bulgarian хамбар (hambar) as its sources, NODEX the Hungarian word alone, and the DLRLV all three languages.^[5][8][9] Wiktionary gives the chain Hungarian hombár, Ottoman Turkish, Persian.^[1]

The Ottoman word is from Persian انبار (anbâr, “storehouse”).^[10][11][12] It spread through the Balkans and beyond: Modern Greek αμπάρι (ampári), Albanian hambar and the Hungarian word, recorded from 1608, all come from Turkish.^{[13][14][15][12]} Ciorănescu also cites Serbian, Ruthenian and Russian forms.^[4]

South of the Danube the word is Aromanian ambare and Megleno-Romanian ambar, both from Turkish.^[4][16][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1670, in the Latin–Romanian glossary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, which spells it hĕmbar.^[6][9] The next record is in Neculce's Moldavian chronicle: „Făcusă și hambare de punea pânea” “granaries had also been built where the grain was kept”.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is a storehouse for grain, later for other produce and farm tools.^[3][5] At a mill it names a small bin in the loft with two compartments, one for wheat and one for maize, into which the miller's toll is poured.^[3][2] Regionally it is a big wooden chest for flour or maize meal, in Transylvania also a wire-sided chest for hanging meat.^[3][2][6] Another old sense, already in Ottoman Turkish and Greek, is a ship's hold.^[4][11][18] DER also records a slang sense “snuffbox”.^[4] A proverb says that an empty granary has no mice: Hambarul gol nu are șoareci.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1608 – the Hungarian word first recorded.^[15]
• c. 1670 – hĕmbar in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis glossary, the first Romanian record.^[6][9]
• 18th century – hambare in Neculce's chronicle.^[3][2]
• 1870 – hambarŭ “granary” in Costinescu's dictionary.^[19]

Meanings

Noun

1. A granary or barn: a storehouse for grain and other farm produce.^[5][2][1]
2. A small bin in the loft of a mill into which the grain paid as the miller's toll is poured.^[5][2]
3. (regional) A large wooden chest for flour, maize meal or grain.^[5][20]
4. The hold of a ship.^[5][21]

Related words

• Aromanian ambare
• Ottoman Turkish انبار (ambar)

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 1039
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. hambar
4. ^ 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. hambar
5. ^ 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. 458
6. ^ 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. hambar
7. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. hambar
9. ^ a b c Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 141
10. ^ Nişanyan, Sevan, Nişanyan Sözlük: Çağdaş Türkçenin Etimolojisi (online edition)
11. ^ a b Tietze, Andreas (2002–2018), Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı, Istanbul: Simurg; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences
12. ^ a b Benkő, Loránd (ed.) (1967–1976), A magyar nyelv történeti-etimológiai szótára, 3 vols., Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 2, 137
13. ^ Babiniotis, Georgios (2010), Ετυμολογικό λεξικό της νέας ελληνικής γλώσσας [Etymological Dictionary of Modern Greek], Athens: Κέντρο Λεξικολογίας
14. ^ Kriaras, Emmanuel, Επιτομή του Λεξικού της μεσαιωνικής ελληνικής δημώδους γραμματείας 1100–1669, Κέντρο Ελληνικής Γλώσσας, https://www.greek-language.gr
15. ^ a b Gerstner, Károly (ed.) (2006–), Új magyar etimológiai szótár, Budapest: Nyelvtudományi Kutatóközpont; online at uesz.nytud.hu
16. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
17. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 12
18. ^ Ινστιτούτο Νεοελληνικών Σπουδών (Ίδρυμα Μανόλη Τριανταφυλλίδη) (1998), Λεξικό της κοινής νεοελληνικής, Thessaloniki: Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
19. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 510
20. ^ Constantinescu, Grigore; Constantinescu, Eugenia (2014), Glosar. Arealul etnocultural Argeș-Muscel, p. 51
21. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 438