cap

Forms

cap n (plural capiti or capite)^[1]

• Neuter; plural capiti or capite.^[1][2] Papahagi gives the plural cápite;^[3] Mihăileanu the definite caplu and the plural capitle.^[4]
• Other spellings: CAP in Papahagi's dictionary;^[3] capu in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling^[4] and in DIARO;^[5] κάπου in Nikolaidis's Greek script, transcribed kápu, plural kápiti;^[6] Κάπου in Kavalliotis's word list.^[7]
• Regional forms: kap, plural käpite, in Weigand's texts;^[8] cápu, plural cápite, in the dialect of Metsovo;^[9] kapu in the village of Turia;^[10] capŭ in the dialect atlas.^[11]
• cãp “chief, leader”: Wiktionary has it as a masculine noun (plural cãpi or cãchi) and compares cap,^[1] and Cunia refers cãp to cap;^[12] Pascu has căp “crowned head, king” as a derivative of cap.^[13] Papahagi, however, refers CĂP to CÎP “chief”, which he derives from a Turkish word for “head, chief”.^[14][15]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin caput (“head”).^{[3][13][16][17]} Wiktionary derives it through a by-form, Vulgar Latin capus;^[1] the OLD records capus for caput in an inscription.^[18] Candrea and Densusianu note that the singular could come from capus as well, but the Aromanian plural continues capita, the plural of caput, which therefore is the likelier source;^[17] Pușcariu leaves both open.^[16] De Vaan traces caput to Proto-Italic *kaput (“head”), with cognates such as Proto-Germanic *haubud- (“head”); since words for "cup" often come to mean "head", he finds it likely that both go back to a substratum word for "cup", formed on the root of capiō (“to seize”).^[19]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian cap, plural capete, Megleno-Romanian cap, plural capiti, and Istro-Romanian cåp.^[17][16][20] Further west it gave Italian capo, French chef and Spanish cabo.^[16]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770, where Κάπου translates Modern Greek κεφάλι (kefáli, “head”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

Papahagi lists over twenty senses and phrases.^[3] Besides the head of a person or an animal, the word is used of what is round or stands at the top: a head of garlic, a whole cheese, the nipple of the breast.^[3][21] As the seat of the mind it means intelligence (easte cap "he is clever");^[21] as the person at the head, a chief or leader;^[3][22] and, as in Romanian, the principal of a loan, the capital: Mihăileanu has are capitle cu dhiáfuru "he has his capital out at interest".^[4][23] It also means the end or beginning of something.^[3][21] Phrases include cap gol "bareheaded; empty-headed"^[22] and sculă caplu "rose up, rebelled".^[4]

Timeline

• 1770 – Κάπου “head” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[7]
• 1894 – kap “head” in Weigand's glossary.^[8]
• 1901 – capu “head, capital, chief” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1906 – cap “head; chief; piece; beginning; intelligence” in Dalametra's dictionary.^[21]

Meanings

Noun

1. The head of a person or an animal.^[3][22][1]
2. The mind, intelligence.^[3][21]
3. A chief, a leader.^[3][22][4]
4. Capital, the principal of a sum of money.^[3][22][4]
5. The end or the beginning of something.^[3][21]
6. A head of garlic; a whole cheese.^[3][21]
7. The nipple of the breast.^[3][21]

Related words

• Romanian cap

References

1. ^ a b c d e 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. 232
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 312
4. ^ a b c d e f g Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 92
5. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 173
6. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 195
7. ^ 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. 65
8. ^ 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
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. 367
11. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 118
12. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 257
13. ^ 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, 56
14. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 267
15. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 289
16. ^ a b c d Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
17. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
18. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
19. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
20. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
21. ^ a b c d e f g h Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 47
22. ^ 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)
23. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)