oală

Forms

oală f (plural oale)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin olla (“pot”).^[2][3][4][1] Pușcariu (no. 1212), Candrea–Densusianu (no. 1267) and the REW list it among the inherited words.^[2][5] The Latin word had an older form aula, the usual one in Plautus and Cato.^[6] Wiktionary traces it, through a Proto-Italic form, to Proto-Indo-European *Hukʷ- (“cooking pot”), perhaps a substrate word.^[1]

The /l/ of the singular is unexpected, since a single Latin /l/ between vowels became /r/;^[2][7] Tiktin, Byck and Graur, and Ciorănescu after them, explain the singular as rebuilt on the plural ⟨oale⟩, from ollae.^[2][7] The word survives in all four branches: Aromanian oalã, Megleno-Romanian oală and Istro-Romanian olę.^[2][8][1] Its Romance cognates include Italian olla, Catalan olla, Spanish olla, Occitan ola and Old French oule.^[2][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, which has oală at Psalm 2:9 and 21:16, the earthen vessel of the potter.^[10][3] Tiktin's first dated record is from 1535.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The core sense, an earthen pot for cooking and storing food, has stayed the main one, and the word also names what a pot holds: o oală de vin “a jug of wine”.^[4][9] In Moldavia the clay pot gave two technical senses: a clay pipe for water, as in Neculce's account of water brought pre oale “through pipes” to a church, and a roof tile.^[11][12] Both appear in the old Moldavian chronicles, where a regional neuter ol, rebuilt on the plural, also occurs.^[12][2] The tile sense is still Moldovan.^[13]

Many idioms grew around the word: a se face oale și ulcele “to be long dead”, a prinde ca din oală “to catch with no trouble at all” and mustăți pe oală “a drooping moustache”.^[4][11] In the 20th century the compound oală-minune “pressure cooker” appeared, on the model of German Wundertopf.^[14] Ciorănescu derives from Romanian a Transylvanian Saxon word for “pot lid”, compounded with German Deckel.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – oală in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (Psalm 2:9, 21:16).^[10][3]
• 1535 – Tiktin's first dated record.^[11]
• 1688 – oală six times in the Bucharest Bible, as in Leviticus 6:28.^[15]
• 1801 – Klein's dictionary glosses Oála with Latin olla.^[16]
• 1825 – the Lexicon of Buda gives olă “Topf”, with târgu de ole “pot market”.^[17]
• 1978 – oala-minune “the pressure cooker” in the press.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A pot: a vessel of fired clay, metal or porcelain, usually wide-mouthed and taller than it is wide, used to cook or keep food.^[4][3][1]
2. The contents of such a pot.^[4][9]
3. (regional, Moldavia) A roof tile.^[9][13]
4. (dated) A clay pipe for carrying water.^[12][11]

Word family

• olar
• olărie
• olan
• ulcea
• ulcică

Related words

• ulcior
• Aromanian oalã
• Latin olla

Usage notes

Common expressions include a plăti oalele sparte “to pay for others' misdeeds”, a pune toate în aceeași oală “to lump different things together” and tuns pe oală “with the hair cut straight round at the neck”.^[4] The compound oală-minune is a pressure cooker.^[4][14]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. oală
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 179
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. 727
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6059
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. oală
8. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 131
9. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 882
10. ^ 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 2:9
11. ^ 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. oală
12. ^ a b c Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 206
13. ^ a b Stati, Vasile (2003), Dicționar moldovenesc-românesc, Chișinău, p. 202
14. ^ a b c Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. oală
15. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Leviticus 6:28
16. ^ 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. 407
17. ^ 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. 462