banã

Forms

banã f (plural bani, definite articulation bana)^[1]

• Plural bani; definite form bana.^[1] Cunia gives it no plural.^[2]
• Other spellings: bane in Wiktionary;^[1] BANĂ in Pascu;^[3] bánă in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[4] bână in Dalametra;^[5] Bană in the glossary to P. Papahagi's tales;^[6] μπάνᾶ, read bánă, in Nikolaidis's Greek script.^[7]
• Regional forms: bánă, plural bắnuri, in the dialect of Metsovo.^[8]

Etymology

Pascu, following Jokl, takes it borrowed from Albanian banë (“dwelling, abode”), and explains the sense from "dwelling" to "life" by Albanian and Russian verbs that mean both "live" and "dwell".^[3] Papahagi's etymological index also refers it to an Albanian word, with a question mark.^[9] Nikolaidis reports G. Meyer's Albanian etymology, which he finds doubtful, and Rösler's Turkish–Persian one.^[7] Wiktionary compares the derived verb bãnedz (“to live”) with Albanian banoj.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pascu cites the word from Boiagi's grammar of 1813, with the sense "life".^[3]

Semantic evolution

The word means life, a living being's existence from birth to death, and also the way one lives, one's living.^[2][4][5] Set phrases include bana s'ai ("may you live"), a wish,^[5] and nu-lj dau banã ("I give him no peace").^[2][6] Mihăileanu notes that it was also used as a word of endearment, "dear".^[4]

Timeline

• 1813 – the word for “life” in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.^[3]
• 1901 – bánă “life, living; dear” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1906 – bână “living, life” in Dalametra's dictionary.^[5]
• 1909 – μπάνᾶ “life” in Nikolaidis's dictionary.^[7]

Meanings

Noun

1. life; the time a person lives.^[2][7][1]
2. living, the way or conditions of one's life.^[2][4][5]
3. (dated) dear, as a term of endearment.^[4]

Word family

• bãnedz

Usage notes

Pascu's BANA "bath, bathtub", which he derives from Italian bagno, and the Megleno-Romanian báńă "public bath" are another word.^[10][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 182
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. 2, 222
4. ^ a b c d e f Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 64
5. ^ a b c d e Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 36
6. ^ a b Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 549
7. ^ a b c d Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 312
8. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1199
10. ^ 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, 201
11. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 58