noi

Forms

noi (first-person plural)^[1] The dative forms are nouă, ne and ni, the accusative forms (pe) noi and ne.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōs (“we, us”).^{[4][3][2][5][1]} The final /i/ is explained in different ways.^[6][4] Candrea and Densusianu see a regular change of final /s/ to /i/ in stressed monosyllables, as in trei and mai.^[6] Ciorănescu calls the ending unclear; he cites Rohlfs, who sees in it a reflex of the oblique forms, as Latin nōbīs would give the ending of the nominative, and he finds less likely Pascu's view that it is a plural ending.^[4] According to Candrea and Densusianu, the tonic dative nouă continues the same Latin dative, while the clitic ne was remodelled after le.^[6][4]

The word is found in all four branches: Aromanian noi, Megleno-Romanian noi and Istro-Romanian noi.^[4][6][7][8] Its Romance cognates include Italian noi, Occitan nos, Catalan nos and French nous.^[4][5]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2 dates the first record to the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583).^[3]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun names the speaker together with the people he includes in what he says.^[2][3] With a preposition it also names the speaker's home, family, village or country: la noi “at home, in our country”, and in Moldavia ca pe la noi “as it should be”.^[3][2] The clitic dative ne (ni) can be possessive, as in casa ne e frumoasă “our house is beautiful”.^[2][3] In official style noi stands for the speaker alone, and authors use it as a plural of modesty.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1563 – the first record, in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda gives Latin nos, Hungarian mi and German wir.^[9]
• 1862 – Pontbriant records între noi “between ourselves”.^[10]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. we, us: the speaker together with the people he associates with himself: noi am rămas acasă “we stayed at home”;^[2][3][1] la noi “at home; in our country”.^[2][3][1]
2. In the dative clitic forms ne, ni, with a possessive sense, “our”; also as an ethical dative.^[2][3]
3. In the clitic form ne, as a reflexive pronoun, “ourselves, each other”: ne vedem mâine “see you tomorrow”, literally “we see each other tomorrow”.^[2]
4. In official style, “I”; also as a plural of modesty: noi considerăm că “we consider that”.^[2]

Related words

• nostru

Usage notes

Two rarer words are spelled the same.^[3] A regional plural noun noi names, in folk medicine, the ashes, coals or bits of leaf, usually nine, put into a remedy, and also dew; it is first recorded in 1911.^[3][11] An old verb a noi, from nou, meant “to renew”, the modern înnoi; it is first recorded in the Hurmuzaki Psalter.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 719
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, 163
4. ^ a b c d e f 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. noi
5. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 103
6. ^ a b c d Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. noi
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 751
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, 128
9. ^ 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. 448
10. ^ Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 495
11. ^ Bulgăr, Gheorghe; Constantinescu-Dobridor, Gheorghe (2002), Dicționar de arhaisme și regionalisme, 2 vols., București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. noi