hei

Forms

Variants: he, hehe, ehei.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is onomatopoeic, a natural cry.^[2][4][3][1] Ciorănescu calls it an expressive creation, with the variants hăi, hoi and ehei, and compares a similar Bulgarian interjection.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin finds it first about 1670 in the glossary of the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[4] MDA2 cites Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[3] Cantemir used it to reproach: „Bre hei, om necunoscătoriu” “hey, you ignorant man”.^[4]

Semantic evolution

Its uses range from a call (“hey, father!”) to astonishment, annoyance, a sigh of regret, encouragement and confirmation.^[4][6] Placed before an adverb, it stresses distance or time, as in hei, tocmai “ever so far”.^[6] Repeated, it suggests that things are more complicated than they look.^[2]

The Lexicon de la Buda (1825) glosses it with Latin heus and German he, heda.^[7] Pontbriant (1862) took it for a Hungarian word.^[8]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[4]
• 1705 – in Cantemir's Istoria ieroglifică.^[3]
• 1825 – hei in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[7]
• 1862 – hei “hey! well!” in Pontbriant.^[8]

Meanings

Interjection

1. hey: a call, or a way to draw someone's attention.^[2][1]
2. Expresses high spirits, pleasure, admiration, impatience, doubt, annoyance, surprise or regret.^[2][3]
3. (often repeated) Suggests that things are more complicated than they seem.^[2]

Usage notes

DEX has a second, unrelated word hei² (plural heiuri), a regional noun for an outbuilding of a farm, borrowed from Hungarian hely (“place”).^[2][9][5] MDA2 dates it to before 1791.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c 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. 464
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1057
4. ^ 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. hei
5. ^ a b 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. hei
6. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 450
7. ^ a b 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. 260
8. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 302
9. ^ Tamás, Lajos (1966), Etymologisch-historisches Wörterbuch der ungarischen Elemente im Rumänischen, Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó, p. 421