salt

Forms

salt n (plural salturi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin saltus (“leap”) together with borrowed from Italian salto in the view of DEX and MDA2.^[2][3] The Latin noun is formed on saliō (“to jump”).^[4] Ciorănescu and Tiktin instead treat it as a back-formation from Romanian sălta, the verb inherited from saltō;^[5][6] Tiktin adds that the noun was shaped on the model of the Latin, Italian and French words.^[5][6] Ciorănescu notes that the noun has no popular currency.^[5] Pușcariu and Șăineanu took it straight from the Latin noun.^[7][8] The REW lists the Romanian word among the descendants of the Latin noun, with French saut, Occitan saut, Catalan salt, Spanish salto and Portuguese salto.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is in Corbea's psalter of about 1705, in the sense “leap, bound”.^[6] MDA2 dates the noun only from Budai-Deleanu's Romanian–German lexicon of 1818.^[3] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses saltu as a dance, with Latin saltus, saltatio.^[10]

Semantic evolution

The physical leap of a person or an animal is the core sense, and MDA2 adds a sudden movement in flight and a regional sense “dance”.^[3][2] Costinescu in 1870 already used it of a sudden rise in someone's position, and of the acrobats' salt mortal.^[11] The figurative sense, a sudden passage from one state to another, gave the set phrase salt calitativ “qualitative leap”.^[2][3] In sport, triplu salt names the triple jump.^[12][2]

Timeline

• c. 1705 – salt “leap” in Corbea's psalter.^[6]
• 1818 – in Budai-Deleanu's lexicon.^[3]
• 1825 – saltu “dance” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[10]
• 1870 – a figurative salt for a sudden rise in rank, and salt mortal, in Costinescu.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A leap or jump: a sudden movement by which the body leaves the ground, in place or moving forward; also a sudden movement in flight: Pisica ajunse pe gard dintr-un salt.^[2][3][1]
2. (sport) triplu salt: the triple jump.^[2][3]
3. A sudden transition from one situation or state to another;^[2][3] salt calitativ “qualitative leap”.^[2][3]
4. (regional) A dance.^[3]

Related words

• sălta
• săltare
• săltat
• săltăreț
• săltător
• săltătură

Usage notes

An old adverb salt “alone, without troops or escort; at least”, known from the Moldavian chroniclers, has a separate source: Ciorănescu, Tiktin and the DLRLV derive it from the Turkish adverb salt “alone, only”.^{[13][14][15][3]} Eren and Tietze trace the Turkish word to Mongolian saltang “light, without baggage”.^[16][17] Tiktin dates it to Nicolae Costin, about 1710: „De acolo au mers salt numai cu curtea sa Antioh Vodă la Tighinea” “from there Prince Antioh went to Tighina alone, with only his court”.^[14][18]

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. 973
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 751
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ 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. sălta
6. ^ 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. salt 1
7. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 135
8. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 561
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
10. ^ 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. 605
11. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 462
12. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 7
13. ^ 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. salt
14. ^ a b Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. salt 2
15. ^ Costinescu, Mariana; Georgescu, Magdalena; Zgraon, Florentina (1987), Dicționarul limbii române literare vechi (1640–1780): termeni regionali, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 1, 254
16. ^ Eren, Hasan (1999), Türk Dilinin Etimolojik Sözlüğü, Ankara: Bizim Büro, p. 352
17. ^ Tietze, Andreas (2002–2018), Tarihi ve Etimolojik Türkiye Türkçesi Lugatı, Istanbul: Simurg; Vienna: Austrian Academy of Sciences, p. 169
18. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1900), Influența orientală asupra limbei și culturei române, vol. I: Introducerea; vol. II.1: Vorbele populare; vol. II.2: Vorbele istorice, literare, Indice, București: Socec, p. II.2, 101