luni

Forms

luni f (plural luni)^[1] The oldest record writes lune: „Lune, a 11 d[umi]neca” “Monday of the 11th Sunday”.^[2] Gaster's chrestomathy also has luri.^[3] The articled form lunea means “on Mondays”.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *lūnis, an analogical form of diēs Lūnae (“day of the Moon”) made after Mārtis and Iovis, the genitives in the names of Tuesday and Thursday.^[5][4][6][7] The Latin phrase is a calque of Ancient Greek ἡμέρα Σελήνης (hēmérā Selḗnēs).^[1]

The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian luni, Megleno-Romanian luni and Istro-Romanian lur.^{[5][8][9][10][11]} Sardinian lunis and Spanish lunes continue the same form, while Italian lunedì and French lundi continue the full phrase with diēs.^[12][6][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is lune in the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel book of 1551–1553, naming a Monday of the church year.^[2][14] Tiktin also finds it in the Codicele Voronețean.^[15] Coresi's book of homilies of 1581, MDA2's first record, has the Pharisee who fasts two days a week, „luni și joi” “Monday and Thursday”.^[16][2]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept the single sense “Monday”; used without an article it means the coming Monday (plec luni), and articled, lunea, every Monday.^[4][7] Folk calendars name particular Mondays: Lunea curată, the first day of Lent, Lunea păstorilor, a shepherds' holiday, and Lunea rătăcită, the Monday between Ascension and Pentecost.^[15][16] The pious fasted on Mondays too, hence the ironic postește lunile “he has nothing to eat”.^[15]

Names of cattle born on a Monday are formed from it: Banat Lunilă and Megleno-Romanian Lunce for an ox.^[12][9]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – lune in the Slavonic–Romanian Gospel book.^[2][14]
• 16th century – in the Codicele Voronețean.^[15]
• 1581 – „luni și joi” in Coresi's book of homilies.^[16][2]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses Luni as Latin dies Lunae.^[17]

Meanings

Noun

1. Monday: the first day of the week, after Sunday.^[4][1]
2. (adverbial) On Monday;^[4] lunea on Mondays, every Monday: Muzeul e închis lunea.^[4]

Related words

• lună
• Aromanian luni
• Latin diēs Lūnae

Usage notes

Not to be confused with luni, the plural of lună “moon, month”.^[4] An old verb luni “to be moonstruck”, used by Coresi in 1581, is a loan from Slavonic.^[2][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. luni
3. ^ Gaster, M. (1891), Chrestomatie română: texte tipărite și manuscrise (sec. XVI–XIX), dialectale și populare, cu o introducere, gramatică și un glosar româno-francez, vol. II, Leipzig: Brockhaus / București: Socec
4. ^ 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. 605
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. luni
6. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 86
7. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 761
8. ^ 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, 110
9. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 175
10. ^ Byhan, Arthur (1899), Istrorumänisches Glossar, Sechster Jahresbericht des Instituts für rumänische Sprache zu Leipzig: 174–366, p. 269
11. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
12. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5164
14. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. amândoi
15. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. luni
16. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1406
17. ^ 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. 392
18. ^ Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. luní