sulfină

Forms

sulfină f (plural sulfine)^[1] The common variant is sulcină (Moldavia and Transylvania); the Banat has sulvină, and Soroca solcină.^[2][3][4] Transylvanian sources also have sufulf, sulfuf and sufult.^[2][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sulfīna, a Latin name of an unidentified plant recorded by A. Thomas; the name is formed on sulphur (“sulphur”) and refers to the yellow colour of the flowers.^[4][5][6] Candrea had reconstructed the form without knowing that the word is attested, and DEX and Wiktionary still give it as a reconstructed Vulgar Latin form.^[4][7][1] Tiktin also connects it with the Latin word for sulphur through the colour of the flowers.^[2]

Cihac's link with Slavic words for yellow such as Old Church Slavonic жлътъ (žlŭtŭ) is unlikely according to Ciorănescu.^[4] He finds the variant sulcină strange, and takes sufulf from a cross with Hungarian szúlfü (“thyme”).^[4] Tiktin calls this form obscure, and Scriban compares the Hungarian word too.^[4][2][3]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1783, in Benkő.^[2] MDA2's first record is the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The name covers several fragrant honey plants of the pea family: the white and the yellow melilot, and the blue fenugreek.^[5][6] The plant was laid among stored clothes for its scent and to keep moths away.^[2][3][8] Folk poetry uses it for a pale face: a rosy girl “turned into melilot from a peony”.^[2] Regional compounds name other plants, such as the bastard balm (sulcină-de-pus-printre-straie) and restharrow (sulcină-puturoasă).^[5]

Timeline

• 1783 – the first record, in Benkő.^[2]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda, MDA2's first record.^[5]
• 1870 – Costinescu glosses sulfină and sulcină with French “mélilot”.^[9]
• 1929 – Panțu's dictionary of plant names lists sulfină-albă for Melilotus albus.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. melilot, sweet clover: the name of two fragrant honey and medicinal herbs, the yellow melilot (Melilotus officinalis) and the white melilot (Melilotus albus).^[7][5][1]
2. sulfină albastră: blue fenugreek (Trigonella caerulea).^[5]

Related words

• molotru
• sulf
• Latin sulphur

Usage notes

The variant sulcină has the plural sulcini, while sulfină has sulfine.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. sulfină
3. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1264
4. ^ a b c d e f g 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. sulfină
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1054
6. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sulfină
7. ^ a b DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1072
8. ^ a b Panțu, Zach. C. (1929), Plantele cunoscute de poporul român. Vocabular botanic cuprinzând numirile române, franceze, germane și științifice, 2nd ed., București: Editura Casei Școalelor, p. 295
9. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 579