na

Etymology

It is an interjection shared with the neighbouring languages, and its source is disputed.^[2][3] Ciorănescu, Cihac and Tiktin take it from Slavic, borrowed from Old Church Slavonic на (na), an interjection found in all the neighbouring Slavic languages: Bulgarian на (na), Serbo-Croatian na, Polish na and Russian на (na).^[4][5][6][7] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Slavic *na, and BER compares Lithuanian na.^[1][8] DEX, MDA2 and the DLR do not name a source and only compare Albanian na, Modern Greek να (na) and Hungarian na.^[2][3][9] Scriban took it from Greek, the source in his view of the Slavic forms as well; Șăineanu called it onomatopoeic, and Philippide, as Ciorănescu reports, of obscure origin.^[10][11][4] It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian na “here, look”.^[4][12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to Coresi's Cazania of 1567–1568, MDA2 to Varlaam's Cazania of 1643; in both it is the word said when handing something over, “here you are”.^[6][3] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses Ná with Latin “take!”.^[14]

Semantic evolution

It behaves like a verb: it takes the clitic pronouns of the imperative, na-ți “there you are”, na-vă “there you are (plural)”, na-le “take them”.^[15][16] Tiktin notes that poftim is the politer word.^[6] Pann's proverb advises never saying “give me!” to a miser but always “here!”.^[17] From giving it passed to blows, with a cry that goes with a punch, and in children's speech na became a noun for a beating.^[6][11][3] It also expresses impatience, annoyance or unpleasant surprise, and ends an argument as “that's it”.^[6][3]

Timeline

• 1567–1568 – first record, in Coresi's Cazania.^[6]
• 1643 – in Varlaam's Cazania.^[3][6]
• 1801 – Ná in Klein's dictionary.^[14]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda glosses it with Latin “en habes”, Hungarian nesze and German da hast, and notes that it combines with every personal pronoun.^[16]
• 1862 – Pontbriant calls it a defective verb used only in the imperative.^[18]

Meanings

Interjection

1. (colloquial) here you are, take it: said when giving something to someone: Na, ține banii și du-te la piață.^[2][3][1]
2. A cry that goes with a blow; in children's speech, usually repeated, a noun for a beating.^[2][3]
3. Expresses impatience, displeasure or surprise at something unpleasant: there, look.^[2][3]
4. Closes a statement: that's it, done.^[3]
5. A call used to summon or drive off some domestic animals.^[2][3]
6. Often repeated, a merry cry used as a refrain in folk songs and dances.^[2][3]

Related words

• poftim

Usage notes

In the expressions na-ți-o (bună) and na-ți-o frântă (că ți-am dres-o) it voices annoyance, surprise or disappointment, or disagreement with what someone has said.^[2] Scriban explains the second as said ironically of someone who returns broken a thing he was given to mend.^[10] A separate na is a regional variant of the adverb nu “not”.^[3][9]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 688
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 91
4. ^ a b c 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. na
5. ^ Cihac, A. de (1879), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane II: Éléments slaves, magyars, turcs, grecs-moderne et albanais, Frankfurt am Main, p. 207
6. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. na
7. ^ Kurz, Josef; Hauptová, Zoe (eds.) (1958–1997), Slovník jazyka staroslověnského / Lexicon linguae palaeoslovenicae, 4 vols. + supplements, Praha: Academia; digital ed. gorazd.org
8. ^ Georgiev, Vladimir I. et al. (eds.) (1971–), Bălgarski etimologičen rečnik, Sofija: Izdatelstvo na Bălgarskata akademija na naukite, p. 4, 453
9. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. na
10. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 848
11. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 416
12. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 725
13. ^ 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. 2, 200
14. ^ a b 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. 403
15. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 156
16. ^ 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. 410
17. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. na
18. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 457