linge

Forms

linge (third-person singular present linge, past participle lins, third-person subjunctive lingă); 3rd conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lingō (“to lick”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} It survives in all four branches: Aromanian alingu, Megleno-Romanian ling and Istro-Romanian ling.^[2][6][7] In the rest of Romance the verb is found in dialects of Italy and Sardinia, such as Logudorese lingere.^[8][2] The Latin verb has a nasal present and goes back to Proto-Indo-European *leyǵʰ- (“to lick”), the root of Ancient Greek λείχω (leíkhō) and of English lick.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is linge in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century (Psalm 71:9), and Coresi's psalter of 1570 has ling at the same verse.^[10] MDA2 dates the word from Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581, in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus: „câinii lingea puroile lui” “the dogs licked his sores”.^[3][11] The sense is the physical one, “to lick”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The verb is said mainly of animals, which lick to clean, to smooth or to show attachment and submission, and of people licking food, a plate or their fingers.^[11][4] A-și linge degetele “to lick one's fingers” expresses relish, and a linge unde a scuipat “to lick where one spat” is said of someone who seeks what he once scorned.^[4][5] The verb also means “to flatter servilely”, and Romanian made from the verb linguși “to flatter”, with the expressive suffix -și, and the compounds linge-blide and linge-talere “parasite, sponger”.^[2][4] The reflexive a se linge pe bot means “to kiss”.^[3][1]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – linge in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[10]
• 1570 – ling in Coresi's psalter.^[10]
• 1581 – „câinii lingea puroile lui” in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[3][11]
• 1773 – „Barbile să-și muruiască, câinii să le lingă” “let them smear their beards, let the dogs lick them”.^[11]

Meanings

Verb

1. (of animals) To lick: to pass the tongue over something, to clean or smooth it.^[4][3]
2. To take food up with the tongue, to lick a plate clean;^[4] a-și linge degetele (buzele) to lick one's fingers (lips) after something tasty.^[4]
3. (colloquial) To flatter servilely, to toady.^[4][1]
4. (reflexive, popular) a se linge pe bot to kiss: Se lingeau pe bot în colțul sălii.^[3][1]

Word family

• lingău
• lingări
• linguși
• lingușitor
• prelinge
• linge-blide

Related words

• Aromanian alingu

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. linge
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, 1371
4. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 593
5. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. linge
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 84
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 170
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5066
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c 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 71:9
11. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. linge