Etymologically
Log in

ãn

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 04:26. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

ãn[1]

  • Short form n (-n), often joined to the next word, as in nsus, nghios, ntru, mpadi and ndzari;[2] Cunia also lists m.[2]
  • Other spellings: ÎN and N in Papahagi's dictionary, which treats the full form under the short one;[3][4] an, becoming am before b, p and v, in P. Papahagi's glossary to his tales.[5]

Etymology

The preposition ãn “in” is inherited from Latin in (“in, into”).[4][1][6] De Vaan traces it to Proto-Italic *en and Proto-Indo-European *h₁(e)n (“in”).[7] Candrea and Densusianu explain the forms: before a consonant the preposition was reduced to n or m, and Aromanian keeps this.[8]

The word is common to the Eastern Romance languages: Romanian în, Megleno-Romanian ăn and Istro-Romanian ân.[6][9][10] In the west it gave Italian in, French en, Spanish en and Portuguese em.[11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dictionary record here is P. Papahagi's glossary to his tales of 1905, which glosses an with Romanian în.[5]

Semantic evolution

It marks place, “in, into, inside”, as in intrai n casă “I went into the house”.[4][2] Cunia quotes the set phrases n vimtu “in vain” and l-ljau n cicioari “to go after someone”.[2]

Timeline

  • 1905 – an “in” in P. Papahagi's glossary.[5]
  • 1963 – Papahagi's dictionary heads the preposition under n and derives it from Latin in.[4]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. in, into, inside.[2][4]
  2. n vimtu “in vain”.[2][4]
  • Romanian în
  • Megleno-Romanian ăn
  • Istro-Romanian ân

References

  1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 694
  3. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 585
  4. ^ a b c d e f Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 725
  5. ^ a b c Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 523
  6. ^ 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)
  7. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  8. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 15
  10. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  11. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter