cãni

Forms

cãni m (plural cãnj, definite articulation cãnili, definite plural cãnjlji)^[1]

• Plural cãnj, definite singular cãnili, definite plural cãnjlji.^[1][2]
• Other spellings: cãne (Cunia's second form) and cheni;^[2][1] CÎ'NE in Papahagi's dictionary;^[3] căne, definite cânile, in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[4] câni in DIARO;^[5] κᾶνε (kane), plural kani, in Nikolaidis;^[6] käne, Meyer's reading of the word in Kavalliotis's list.^[7]
• Regional forms: cî´ne, plural cî´ńi, in the dialect of Metsovo;^[8] 'kăni in Ohrid–Struga.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin canis (“dog”).^[3][1][6] The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian câine, Megleno-Romanian cǫini and Istro-Romanian căre.^[10][11] In the west it gave Vegliote kuon, Italian cane, French chien and Portuguese cão.^[12][10] The OLD compares Latin canis with Ancient Greek κύων (kúōn) and Sanskrit श्वन् (śván);^[13] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *ḱwṓ (“dog”), with a vowel that has no agreed explanation.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770, where käne (Meyer's reading) translates Modern Greek σκυλί (skylí, “dog”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

Besides the animal, the word names people by the dog's qualities: a wicked or cruel person, and in a good sense a tenacious, hard-working, faithful or brave one.^[3][2][8] Papahagi also records it as the name of the peacock butterfly and of the piastre,^[3] and Cunia of an old Turkish coin;^[2] in Metsovo the plural cî´ńi means “money”.^[8] Cap-di-cãni “dog's head” is a creature of the folk tales with a man's body and a dog's head.^[2] Mihăileanu quotes cănele aveagłă casa “the dog guards the house”.^[4]

Timeline

• 1770 – käne “dog” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[7]
• 1901 – căne “dog; bad man” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1909 – Nikolaidis derives it from Latin canis.^[6]

Meanings

Noun

1. A dog.^{[14][3][1][7]}
2. (figurative) A wicked or cruel person.^[2][3][4]
3. (figurative) A tenacious, hard-working or faithful person; a brave man.^[2][3]
4. An old coin, a piastre;^[2][3][8] (Metsovo, plural) money.^[2][3][8]
5. The peacock butterfly.^[3]

Related words

• Romanian câine

Usage notes

In Aromanian folk belief recorded by Țîrcomnicu, the way a dog slept on the eve of the Dormition foretold the winter, and its howling foretold a death.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 254
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 360
4. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 89
5. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 209
6. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 192
7. ^ a b c d 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. 107
8. ^ a b c d e Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
9. ^ Марковиќ, Марјан (2007), Ароманскиот и македонскиот говор од охридско-струшкиот регион (во балкански контекст), Скопје, p. 52
10. ^ 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)
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
15. ^ Țîrcomnicu, Emil (2009), Obiceiuri și credințe macedoromâne: dicționar, București, p. 27