Etymologically
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aprir

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Forms

aprir[1]

  • A masculine noun without a plural;[2] Cunia writes it with a capital, Aprir.[2]
  • Other spellings: Prir, Apriir, April and Aprili in Cunia;[2] prir, priru, prilj, apriir, april and apriljiu in Wiktionary;[1] APRIR and april in Pascu, from Pericle Papahagi's texts;[3] apriru, with apriiru and priru, in DIARO.[4]
  • Capidan cites aprir as an example of the change of l between vowels to r, found in all the dialects.[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Aprīlis (“April”).[3][6][1] Candrea and Densusianu explain the Aromanian form from Aprīlis through the change of l to r; the variant april shows the dissimilation of the two r sounds.[7]

The word is shared with Romanian prier, a popular form beside the standard aprilie;[8][1] Megleno-Romanian has pril', which Candrea and Densusianu take from Greek.[8][7] Albanian prill is compared too.[1][3] Elsewhere the Latin name continues in Italian aprile, French avril and Spanish abril.[9]

In Latin Aprīlis was the name of the second, later the fourth, month of the Roman calendar; the Oxford Latin Dictionary calls its origin doubtful, perhaps Etruscan.[10] De Vaan notes that, as the second month, it may be connected with ab (“away from”) as the following, next month.[11]

Semantic evolution

The Aromanian word keeps the Latin sense, the fourth month of the year, after March and before May.[2] Țîrcomnicu links the month in folk belief with the rebirth of nature.[12]

Meanings

Noun

  1. April.[2][1][3]
  • Romanian prier

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 92
  3. ^ a b c d 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, 35
  4. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 63
  5. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1932), Aromânii: dialectul aromân. Studiu lingvistic, București: Academia Română (Academia Română, Studii și cercetări XX), p. 350
  6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1154
  7. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  8. ^ 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)
  9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  10. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  12. ^ Țîrcomnicu, Emil (2009), Obiceiuri și credințe macedoromâne: dicționar, București, p. 16