sughiț

Forms

sughiț n (plural sughițuri)^[1]

Etymology

It is a back-formation from Romanian sughița (“to hiccup”).^[2][3][4][5] Wiktionary also allows a direct link with Vulgar Latin suggluttium, a form attested in glosses.^[1]

The verb sughița continues Vulgar Latin *subgluttiō.^[4][6][2][3] Tiktin explains this as a cross of Latin singultō (“to sob”) with gluttiō (“to swallow”), the obscure ⟨sin-⟩ being replaced by ⟨sub-⟩.^[6] The noun is also found south of the Danube: Aromanian sugljits.^[7][1] Related words are Spanish sollozo and Portuguese soluço, while Italian singhiozzo goes back to another variant of the same cross.^[1][8] singultus (“sobbing, hiccup”) is of uncertain origin.^[9][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

MDA2's first record is the Anonymus Caransebesiensis, a Romanian–Latin glossary of the second half of the 17th century.^[3] The verb is older: Varlaam's Cazania of 1643 says that someone was always sobbing after his God.^[6][3]

Semantic evolution

The noun names both the hiccup and the sob, a sudden breath in during weeping or, more rarely, laughing.^[3][2] Klein's dictionary of 1801 glosses it with Latin singultio, and the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 gives the verb with German “schluchzen, schlucken”.^[11][12] Folk belief held that when you hiccup someone is talking about you.^[13]

Timeline

• 1643 – the verb sughița in Varlaam's Cazania.^[6][3]
• c. 1650–1700 – the noun in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[3]
• 1801 – sughítz in Klein's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. A hiccup: a sudden, spasmodic contraction of the diaphragm with a sound made as air passes the glottis.^[2][1]
2. A burst of sobbing or laughter: a plânge cu sughițuri “to sob”.^[2][14]

Related words

• sughița
• Aromanian sugljits

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1071
3. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1049
4. ^ a b 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. sughița
5. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 627
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. sughița
7. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 984
8. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
11. ^ 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. 452
12. ^ 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. 684
13. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1263
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. sughiț