loc

Forms

loc n (plural locuri)^[1]

• Plural locuri;^[2] definite singular loclu, which Weigand also heard as lokul.^[3][4]
• Other spellings: locu in Wiktionary;^[1] lócu, plural locúrile (articled), in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[3] LOC in Papahagi's dictionary;^[5] λόκου (lóku), plural λόκουρ' (lókuri), in the Greek script of Nikolaidis;^[6] loku (Meyer's reading) in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770.^[7]
• Regional forms: lok, plural l'okur, in the village of Turia;^[8] lócu, plural lócuri, in the dialect of Metsovo;^[9] locŭ in the glossary of the ALAR atlas;^[10] lok in Weigand's texts.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin locus (“place”).^{[11][5][1][12]} The Latin noun had an older form stlocus.^[13][14] Walde–Hofmann and Pokorny derived it from Proto-Indo-European *stel- (“to place”), but de Vaan objects that there is no suffix to account for the rest of the word, and leaves the further origin open.^[14]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian loc, Megleno-Romanian loc and Istro-Romanian loc.^{[12][15][16][17]} In the west it continues as Italian luogo, French lieu and Catalan lloc, and as the adverbs Spanish luego and Portuguese logo.^[12][18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770: the word, read by Meyer as loku, translates both Modern Greek γῆ (gī, “earth”) and τόπος (tópos, “place”).^[7][19]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin sense of a place, Aromanian developed the senses of land, soil and the earth itself, and of a country or region.^[20][11] Capidan notes that the sense "country" is Aromanian and not Daco-Romanian: dit loclu a nostru means "from our parts, from our country".^[21] Pascu adds the sense of origin, homeland, and records de-a locului "native, from the country" and tu loc "at once".^[11] Papahagi counts thirteen senses, among them a phrase meaning "to bite the earth", that is, to die, and the negative use "to be of no use".^[5]

Timeline

• 1770 – loku (Meyer's reading) “earth; place” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[7]
• 1813 – in locu si “instead of” in Boiagi's grammar, as Pascu cites it.^[11]
• 1894 – lok “place” in Weigand's glossary.^[4]
• 1901 – lócu “land, place, position” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. A place, spot, location.^[1][20][5]
2. Land, soil, earth; the ground.^[1][20][3]
3. A country, region; one's homeland.^[1][20][11]
4. The space a thing occupies; room for something.^[2][5]
5. In tu loc: at once, immediately.^[11][5]

Related words

• Romanian loc

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 598
3. ^ a b c d Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 267
4. ^ a b c Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 315
5. ^ a b c d e f Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 748
6. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 266
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. 35
8. ^ Бара, Мариана; Каль, Теде; Соболев, Андрей Н. (2005), Южноарумынский говор села Турия (Малый диалектологический атлас балканских языков, серия монографий 1), p. 320
9. ^ Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
10. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 142
11. ^ a b c d e f 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, 109
12. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
13. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
14. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ Candrea, I.-A. (1927–1937), Glosar megleno-romîn I–IV, Grai și suflet III: 175–209; IV: 381–413; VI: 163–193; VII: 194–233, p. 410
16. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
17. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 120
18. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 145
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. 115
20. ^ a b c d Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
21. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1932), Aromânii: dialectul aromân. Studiu lingvistic, București: Academia Română (Academia Română, Studii și cercetări XX), p. 175