fac

Forms

fac (third-person singular fatsi or fatse, second-person plural fãtsets, imperfect fãtseam, participle faptã)^[1]

• A verb of the third and second conjugations: aorist feci, imperfect fãtseam, participle faptã, long infinitives fatsiri or fatsire and fãtseari or fãtseare.^[2] Papahagi gives fecĭu, faptu, fațire and fățeare;^[3] Katsanis and Dinas class it as III, with the aorist fetu and the participle faptu.^[4] Wiktionary's alternative form is facu.^[1]
• Other spellings: fácu (féciŭ, fáptă, fácire and făceáre) in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[5] făcu in DIARO;^[6] φάκου (fáku), with φέτσου and φάπτα, in Nikolaidis's Greek script;^[7] Φάκου in Kavalliotis's word list;^[8] fétze, which Leake reads fece, in Daniil's Tetraglosson.^[9] Pascu's sources write the long infinitives fatire, fatere and fâteare, and Boiagi has the present participle fetendu.^[10]
• Regional forms: fak in Weigand's texts;^[11] faku in Turia, recorded for giving birth to a child.^[12]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin faciō (“to make, do”),^{[3][10][1][4]} a verb that, as Pascu lists its senses, also meant to create, to build, to say, to order and to feign, and in the passive to become.^[10] Nikolaidis gives the same Latin source.^[7] De Vaan traces faciō to Proto-Italic *fak-i- and Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₁-k- (“to make”), an extension of *dʰeh₁- (“to put”).^[13]

The verb is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian face, Megleno-Romanian fac and Istro-Romanian fåče.^[14][15][16] Candrea and Densusianu record the sense to give birth for Aromanian as well as for Daco-Romanian and Megleno-Romanian,^[17] and Pușcariu notes that in Aromanian it also means to become and to pretend.^[14] In the west the Latin verb gave Italian fare, French faire, Spanish hacer and Portuguese fazer.^[18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Φάκου translates Modern Greek κάμνω (kámno, “I make, do”); the same list has Φάχου ζέφκα for ξεφαντώνω (xefantóno), which Meyer glosses as to enjoy oneself, to feast.^[8][19]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin sense to make, do, Aromanian developed a wide range: Papahagi lists twenty-one senses, from to commit, to produce, to be worth, to bargain and to change money, to spend, to decide, to ripen, to head for a place, to stay, to pretend, to say and to be born.^[3] With a noun it forms set phrases that stand for single verbs, such as fac pãzari for pãzãripsescu “to bargain” and fac mãyi for mãyipsescu “to cast a spell”.^[2] Mihăileanu has it for creating and giving birth: Dumnidzàu feçe lumea tu şase dzăle (“God created the world in six days”).^[5] Weigand records fatse “he says”,^[11] and the dialect atlas has a medical use, to have a bowel movement.^[20]

Timeline

• 1770 – Φάκου “I make” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[8]
• 1802 – fétze “made” in Daniil's Tetraglosson, as Leake printed it.^[9]
• 1813 – the present participle fetendu in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.^[10]
• 1894 – fak “make; say; give birth” in Weigand's glossary.^[11]
• 1901 – fácu “do, give birth, create” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[5]
• 1909 – φάκου in Nikolaidis's dictionary.^[7]

Meanings

Verb

1. To make, do; to create or produce something.^[2][3][1]
2. To commit (a sin, a deed).^[3]
3. (reflexive) To become; to be born.^[2][3][14]
4. To give birth.^[5][12]
5. To change (money); to bargain.^[2][3]
6. To be worth, to cost.^[3]
7. To go, head for a place; to run about.^[2][3]
8. To say.^[2][11]
9. (reflexive) To pretend.^[2][3]
10. (impersonal, fatsi) To be fitting, to be needed.^[2]
11. To ripen; to take on colour.^[3]
12. (medical) To have a bowel movement.^[20]

Related words

• Romanian face
• Megleno-Romanian fac
• Istro-Romanian fåče

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 439
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. 537
4. ^ a b Κατσάνης, Νικόλαος; Ντίνας, Κωνσταντίνος (1990), Γραμματική της κοινής κουτσοβλαχικής, Θεσσαλονίκη: Αρχείο Κουτσοβλαχικών Μελετών, p. 138
5. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 184
6. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 154
7. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 562
8. ^ 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. 61
9. ^ a b Leake, William Martin (1814), Researches in Greece, London (prints Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson), p. 383
10. ^ a b c d 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, 83
11. ^ 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. 303
12. ^ a b Бара, Мариана; Каль, Теде; Соболев, Андрей Н. (2005), Южноарумынский говор села Турия (Малый диалектологический атлас балканских языков, серия монографий 1), p. 344
13. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
14. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 49
15. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–, p. 149
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. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
19. ^ 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. 89
20. ^ a b Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 127