Etymologically
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cal

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cal1 horse

Forms

cal m (plural calj or cai)[1]

  • Plural calj or cai;[1][2] articled singular calu;[3][1] Wiktionary also gives calu as an alternative form.[3][1]
  • Other spellings: CAL, plural cál'i, articled cálu, plural cáli, in Papahagi's dictionary;[3] cal, plural -li, in Dalametra's dictionary;[4] κάλου (kálu), plural κάλ’, in Nikolaidis's Greek script;[5] Κάλου in Kavalliotis's word list, read by Meyer as kalu;[6] kal, plural kail’, in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • Regional forms: calŭ in the atlas glossary;[8] cálu, plural cáĺi, in Metsovo;[9] the articled k'aļlu in the village of Turia.[10]

Etymology

The horse is inherited from Latin caballus (“horse, especially a workhorse”).[3][11][12][1] In Common Romance it replaced Latin equus as the word for "horse".[13] It is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian cal, Megleno-Romanian cal and Istro-Romanian co;[14][13][15] further west it gave Italian cavallo, French cheval and Spanish caballo.[14][16]

Latin caballus is itself a loanword of unclear source, according to de Vaan;[17] Greek has the older Ancient Greek καβάλλης (kabállēs, “nag”), which is independent of the Latin word, and Beekes compares Turkic and Persian words for a horse.[17]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Κάλου, read by Meyer as kalu, translates Greek ἄλογον "horse".[6]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin "workhorse"[17] the Aromanian word became the general name of the horse.[2][3] Dalametra and Papahagi list its kinds: cal di cãvalã "saddle horse", cal di furtie "pack horse", cal areati "stallion", cal shuts "gelding".[4][3] A fine steed is a cal tsi mãcã loclu shi bea niorlji, "a horse that eats the ground and drinks the clouds",[2][3] and nj-gioacã calu "my horse dances" means that things are going well.[2] Papahagi also gives the senses "dragonfly" and "tooth";[3] Dalametra records calu-a Dumnidzãlui as the name of an insect, and cal for the last stroke in the children's game of tipcat.[4]

Timeline

  • 1770 – Κάλου “horse” in Kavalliotis's word list.[6]
  • 1813 – cal in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[11]
  • 1894 – kal “horse” in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • 1906 – cal “horse” in Dalametra's dictionary.[4]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A horse.[2][3][1]
  2. A dragonfly.[3]
  3. A tooth.[3]
  4. In the game of tipcat, the last stroke.[4]

cal2 callus

Forms

cal n (plural calusi, which Cunia marks as uncertain)[18]

  • The atlas glossary records calŭ, with a masculine plural, for a corn on the foot.[8]

Etymology

The sources give no origin for the callus.[18] Saramandu's glossary of the ALAR atlas records the word for a corn on the foot with the literal gloss "horse", which treats it as a figurative use of cal1.[8]

Meanings

Noun

  1. A callus: skin hardened by rubbing, on the hands or feet.[18]
  2. A corn on the foot.[8]
  • Romanian cal

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. 226
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 306
  4. ^ a b c d e Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 47
  5. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 186
  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. 15
  7. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 309
  8. ^ a b c d Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 118
  9. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
  10. ^ Бара, Мариана; Каль, Теде; Соболев, Андрей Н. (2005), Южноарумынский говор села Турия (Малый диалектологический атлас балканских языков, серия монографий 1), p. 410
  11. ^ a b 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, 55
  12. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα
  13. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  14. ^ 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)
  15. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 55
  16. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  17. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  18. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 227