carti

Forms

carti f (plural cãrtsã)^[1]

• Plural cãrtsã.^[1][2] Cunia heads it carti or carte, and Wiktionary gives carte as an alternative form.^[2][1]
• Other spellings: CARTE, plural cắrțî, in Papahagi's dictionary;^[3] cărti, plural -ți, in Dalametra's^[4] and cârti, plural cărțâ, in DIARO's Romanian-based spelling;^[5] κάρτε (karte), plural κἄρτσῖ, in Nikolaidis's Greek script;^[6] karte in Weigand's glossary.^[7]
• Regional forms: cárti, plural cắrţâ or cărţ, in the atlas glossary;^[8] cárte, plural cắrtsî, in Metsovo.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin charta (“papyrus paper, a sheet of it”).^[3][10][1] Pascu explains the ending through the plural: Latin charta first gave a singular in -ã, and the singular in -e was then made from the plural on the pattern of parti.^[10] Candrea and Densusianu think the sense "paper" may be inherited, or borrowed from Modern Greek χαρτί (chartí) or Albanian kartë.^[11]

It is shared with Romanian carte and Megleno-Romanian cârti;^[12][13] the Latin word also gave Italian carta, Spanish carta and French charte.^[12][14]

Latin charta is from Ancient Greek χάρτης (khártēs, “papyrus leaf, roll”).^[15][1] Beekes and Frisk call the Greek word unexplained, probably from Egypt like the papyrus plant itself.^[16][17]

Earliest recorded meaning

Boiagi's grammar of 1813 is among Pascu's sources for the word, which he glosses "paper, book, letter", and for the sense "playing card".^[10]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin "papyrus paper"^[15] the word came to mean paper, a letter, a book, a register and an official document, playing cards and paper money.^[2][3] Mihăileanu adds "learning, education", as in nu ştie carte "he cannot read";^[10] Papahagi's folk tales have z-goacă a cărţi "to play cards" and slăbi feata ca cartea "the girl grew as thin as paper".^[18] In the ALAR atlas it also means a doctor's prescription, and the plural "documents".^[8] Pușcariu records the plural for the lobes of the lungs,^[19] and in Megleno-Romanian the plural names the lungs or the stomach of ruminants.^[20][13]

Timeline

• 1813 – the word in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.^[10]
• 1894 – karte “letter” in Weigand's glossary.^[7]
• 1905 – carte “book; paper; letter; playing card” in Papahagi's glossary of folk tales.^[18]
• 1906 – cărti “book, letter, paper” in Dalametra's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. Paper; a sheet of paper.^[2][3][1]
2. A letter.^[2][3][1]
3. A book.^[2][3][1]
4. A register; an official document.^[2][3][8][1]
5. Learning, the ability to read and write.^[3][18]
6. A playing card.^[2][3][1]
7. Paper money.^[2][1]
8. (ALAR atlas) A doctor's prescription.^[8]

Word family

• cãrturar

Related words

• Romanian carte

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. 237
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 317
4. ^ a b Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 47
5. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 182
6. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 204
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. 310
8. ^ a b c d Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 119
9. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
10. ^ a b c d e 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, 58
11. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 62
14. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
15. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
16. ^ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010), Etymological Dictionary of Greek, with the assistance of Lucien van Beek, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 10, Leiden; Boston: Brill
17. ^ Frisk, Hjalmar (1960–1972), Griechisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3 vols, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
18. ^ a b c Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 558
19. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
20. ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1902), Megleno-românii: studiu etnografico-filologic I, București: Academia Română (with a glossary), p. 63