foc

Forms

foc n (plural focuri)^[1]

• Plural focuri, definite singular foclu.^[2][3]
• Other spellings: focu in Wiktionary;^[1] FOC, plural fócurï, in Papahagi's dictionary;^[4] fócu in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[3] Φόκου in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, which its editor reads as foku.^[5]
• Regional forms: fok, plural fukuri, in Weigand's texts;^[6] fok in the Ohrid–Struga area;^[7] fócu, plural fócuri, in the dialect of Metsovo;^[8] focŭ in the glossary of the Aromanian dialect atlas.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin focus (“hearth, fireplace”).^[4][1][10] In Latin the word first meant the hearth, and only later, as in the Romance languages, the fire itself.^[11][12] De Vaan finds no sound etymology for it: a link with fax (“torch”) is formally impossible, and Hamp's explanation as a back-formation from the diminutive foculus (“small stove”) runs into chronological difficulties.^[13]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian foc, Megleno-Romanian foc and Istro-Romanian foc.^{[14][15][16][11]} The western cognates include Italian fuoco, French feu, Catalan fog, Spanish fuego and Portuguese fogo.^[14][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770, where Φόκου translates Modern Greek φωτιά (fotiá, “fire”).^[5]

Semantic evolution

The Latin sense "hearth" gave way to "fire" already in Latin.^[11][12] In Aromanian the noun means fire and a blaze or conflagration;^[4][17] in the plural it means a high fever, as in Saramandu's atlas glossary and in Cunia's am focuri "I have a fever".^[4][9][17] Used of things and people, it came to mean burning hot (of peppers), very bright or lively (of a child), and as an adverb "very well".^[4][17] The phrases ljau foc "catch fire", dau foc "set on fire", foc lj-am "I fire (the gun) at him" and mi fac foc "I get furious" are in Cunia.^[17] Weigand also records it for the flame of love,^[6] and Papahagi notes the "living fire" made by rubbing two pieces of wood together.^[4]

Timeline

• 1770 – Φόκου “fire” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[5]
• 1894 – fok “fire, flame of love”, plural fukuri, in Weigand's glossary.^[6]
• 1901 – fócu, articled foclu, in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. fire; a blaze, a conflagration.^[17][4][1]
2. (plural) A high fever.^[4][17][9]
3. (figurative, as an adjective) Burning hot, peppery; very bright or lively.^[17][4]
4. (as an adverb) Very well.^[4][17]
5. (Weigand) The flame of love.^[6]

Related words

• Romanian foc

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 460
3. ^ a b c Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 197
4. ^ 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. 559
5. ^ 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. 122
6. ^ 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. 304
7. ^ Марковиќ, Марјан (2007), Ароманскиот и македонскиот говор од охридско-струшкиот регион (во балкански контекст), Скопје, p. 52
8. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
9. ^ a b c Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 129
10. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română
11. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
12. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
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 Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
15. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (coord.) et al. (2010–), Dicționarul dialectului meglenoromân, general și etimologic, fascicles in Fonetică și dialectologie XXIX–
16. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S.
17. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)