muncel

Forms

muncel n (plural muncele)^[1] Besides the neuter plural muncele, an older and regional masculine plural muncei occurs: „Căpățânile acelea de curechi erau ca niște muncei de mari” “those cabbage heads were as big as little hills” (Sbiera).^[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin monticellus (“hillock”), a diminutive of Latin mōns (“mountain”).^{[5][6][2][4][3][1]} DER cites Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW for this etymology.^[5][7] Romance cognates include Dalmatian muncial, Occitan moncel and French monceau, where the sense became “heap”.^[5][7][1][8] Candrea–Densusianu regarded forms such as Italian monticello and Spanish montecillo as later formations on the word for “mountain”, like Romanian munticel.^[9]

DER calls mușcel (Muntenia, Oltenia) a doublet of the word; its derivation is less clear, perhaps crossed with an expressive root ⟨mot-⟩ “knob”, while Tiktin derived it from ⟨*munțicel⟩.^[5]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word first appears in place names in Latin charters: Tiktin gives Menchel in 1284 and Muntcel in 1403.^[3] A Transylvanian charter of 1486 names „Mons ... wolahico Munchel vocatus”, a mountain “called Munchel in Romanian”.^[10] In Romanian texts the plural muncele is in the Psaltirea Ciobanu (c. 1573–1585), and a document of 1684 says „i-am dat noi munceii noștri” “we gave him our hills”.^[11][2][4]

Semantic evolution

The word keeps the sense of the Latin diminutive: a small mountain or a large hill, in particular the lower step of a mountain range between two valleys.^[2][6] Regionally it names a cap-shaped hill with good pasture, ploughland or hayfields.^[2][4] It is common in place names: in Maramureș there are hills and peaks called Muncel, Muncelu and Muncelașu.^[12][13]

Timeline

• 1284 – Menchel, a place name, the first record.^[3]
• 1403 – the place name Muntcel.^[3]
• 1486 – a Transylvanian mountain “called Munchel in Romanian”.^[10]
• c. 1573–1585 – muncele in the Psaltirea Ciobanu.^[11]
• 1684 – munceii “the hills” in a Moldavian document.^[2][4]
• 1715 – the diminutive munticel, formed on munte.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A small mountain or a large hill forming the lower step of a mountain range or massif.^[6][4][1]
2. (regional) A cap-shaped hill with good pasture, ploughland or hayfields.^[4][2]
3. A hillock, knoll.^[4][5]

Related words

• munte
• munticel
• mușcel
• Latin mōns

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. muncel
3. ^ 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. muncel
4. ^ 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. 2, 76
5. ^ a b c d e 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. muncel
6. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 682
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5670
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. muncel
10. ^ a b Suciu, Coriolan (1966–1968), Dicționar istoric al localităților din Transilvania, I–II, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
11. ^ 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 139:10
12. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2011), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din Maramureș, Baia Mare: Ethnologica
13. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 77