Etymologically
Log in

cãndu

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 04:58. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

Pronunciation

Forms

cãndu[1]

  • Also cãnd, which Cunia lists as a spelling he does not adopt and refers to cãndu;[2] Wiktionary gives cãnd and chend as alternative forms.[1]
  • Other spellings: CĂND, CĂ'NDU in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] cândo in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[4] Cîndu or cîndo in Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales, which notes it as used everywhere;[5] Κάνντου in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, read kändu by its editor;[6] kéndu in Daniil's Tetraglosson.[7]
  • Regional forms: Papahagi gives cănd for the north,[3] kënd among the Fărșerots[8] and cúndu for the region of Olympus.[9] Weigand records kundu, kund and kend,[10] and Pascu cîndo, cändu, cândo and cundu.[11]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quandō (“when”).[11][1][12] The Oxford Latin Dictionary analyses the Latin word as quam (“how, as”) with the particle seen in dōnec (“until”), and compares Sanskrit कदा (kadā́, “when”).[13] The DÉRom reconstructs the Proto-Romance adverb and conjunction from this Latin word and cites the Aromanian form from Pascu.[14]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian când, Megleno-Romanian cǫn and Istro-Romanian când.[12][15][16] Further west the same Latin word gave Italian quando, French quand and Spanish cuando.[12][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Κάνντου, read kändu by its editor, translates Greek πότε “when?”.[6]

Semantic evolution

The Latin senses were kept: the word asks “when?” and, as a conjunction, introduces a clause of time.[18][1][10] Doubled, it forms phrases of repeated time: di cãndu-cãndu “from time to time”, and cãndu…, cãndu… “now…, now…”.[18][3]

Timeline

  • 1770 – Κάνντου (kändu) for Greek πότε “when?” in Kavalliotis's word list.[6]
  • 1814 – Kéndu iurtusésti for Greek ὁπόταν ἑορτάζῃς “when you celebrate” in Daniil's Tetraglosson, as printed by Leake.[7]
  • 1894 – kundu “when?, when, as” in Weigand's glossary, with kend.[10][19]
  • 1901 – cândo “when” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[4]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin quandō.[11]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. When?, at what time?[18][1]

Conjunction

  1. When, at the time that.[18][1][10]
  • Romanian când

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 253
  3. ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 336
  4. ^ a b Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 89
  5. ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 564
  6. ^ a b c Meyer, Gustav (1895), Albanesische Studien IV: Das griechisch-südrumänisch-albanesische Wörterverzeichnis des Kavalliotis, Sitzungsberichte der Kaiserlichen Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien, phil.-hist. Classe 132, p. 100
  7. ^ a b Leake, William Martin (1814), Researches in Greece, London (prints Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson), p. 387
  8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 597
  9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 408
  10. ^ a b c d Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 312
  11. ^ a b c 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, 65
  12. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
  13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
  14. ^ Buchi, Éva; Schweickard, Wolfgang, eds. (2008–), Dictionnaire Étymologique Roman (DÉRom), Nancy: ATILF, http://www.atilf.fr/DERom
  15. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 30
  16. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  17. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  18. ^ a b c d Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  19. ^ Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 310