Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word ãlj
- Confidence
- Established
- Formation
- Inherited
- First attested
- 1813 Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu
- Inherited from
- Latin illi
- Ultimate origin
- Latin ille
Forms
ãlj (unstressed dative singular of el and ea; unstressed accusative plural of elj)[1]
- Cunia lists ãlj with the other short forms of el: lji, lj, li, ãl, ul, lu, u and l.[2][3]
- Other spellings: ilj, lji and lj in Wiktionary;[1] ÎL'Ĭ in Papahagi's dictionary, an accusative and dative form of el and ea;[4] l'i, as dative singular and accusative plural, in Boiagi and the other older sources Pascu cites.[5]
Etymology
The pronoun ãlj is inherited from Latin illī (“to him, to her”), the dative singular of ille (“that”).[1] Pascu files the forms under the pronoun el, from *illus, the popular form of ille, and explains the accusative plural as an unstressed form of the nominative plural elj.[5] Papahagi's dictionary also derives the pronoun from *illus and ille.[6] According to de Vaan, ille replaced the older olle, and the change of the first vowel is explained either by analogy with iste or by a sound change.[7]
The same unstressed dative is Romanian îi,[1] Megleno-Romanian îl[8] and Istro-Romanian âlʼ.[9]
Earliest recorded meaning
The oldest record Pascu cites is l'i in Boiagi's grammar of 1813, as a dative singular and as an accusative plural.[5]
Semantic evolution
It is the unstressed indirect object of both el “he” and ea “she”, and the unstressed direct object of the masculine plural elj “they”.{K}[4] Papahagi's dictionary quotes a luĭ lji-ded “I gave it to him”.[6]
Timeline
- 1813 – l'i in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[5]
- 1963 – Papahagi's dictionary heads ÎL'Ĭ as an accusative and dative form of el and ea.[10]
Meanings
Pronoun
- (to) him, (to) her (unstressed dative singular).{K}[4][5]
- them (unstressed accusative plural, masculine or mixed).{K}[5]
Related words
- el
- ea
- elj
- Romanian îi
- Istro-Romanian âlʼ
References
- ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
- ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 433
- ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 174
- ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 688
- ^ a b c d e f 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, 82
- ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 527
- ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
- ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1902), Megleno-românii: studiu etnografico-filologic I, București: Academia Română (with a glossary), p. 87
- ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
- ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 584
Related etymologies
Cite this entry
“Ãlj.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/%C3%A3lj. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.
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