Etymologically
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icã

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Forms

icã[1]

  • Other spellings: i in Wiktionary;[1] ÍCĂ in Papahagi's dictionary;[2] ícă in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[3] ică in Dalametra[4] and in the glossary to P. Papahagi's tales;[5] ικά, read ikā, in Nikolaidis's Greek script.[6]

Etymology

Papahagi's dictionary explains it, with a question mark, as from Aromanian i (“or”) + cã (“that”),[2] and the glossary to P. Papahagi's tales gives the same explanation without the doubt.[5] Cunia lists i among its synonyms,[7] and Papahagi derives cã from Latin quod.[8] Wiktionary gives the origin as unknown.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The oldest dictionary to record it, Mihăileanu's of 1901, glosses it with Romanian sau "or".[3]

Semantic evolution

It joins two words or clauses of which the second is an alternative to the first.[7] Dalametra and Nikolaidis illustrate it with "I or you",[4][6] and Mihăileanu with a choice between wanting and not wanting.[3]

Timeline

  • 1901 – ícă “or” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[3]
  • 1905 – ică “or”, explained as i + că, in the glossary to P. Papahagi's tales.[5]
  • 1906 – ică “or” in Dalametra's dictionary.[4]
  • 1909 – ικά “or” in Nikolaidis's dictionary.[6]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. or, or else.[7][2][1]

Usage notes

Nikolaidis's γικά (yika) "collar" and Cunia's yicã, which he refers to yeacã, are another word, of Turkish origin.[9][10]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 570
  3. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 243
  4. ^ a b c Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 109
  5. ^ a b c Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 616
  6. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 176
  7. ^ 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. 553
  8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 253
  9. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 132
  10. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 1108