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macã

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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word macã

Confidence
Established
Formation
Compound
First attested
1901 Mihăileanu's dictionary

Forms

macã[1]

  • Other spellings: maca in Wiktionary;[1] MÁCĂ in Papahagi's dictionary;[2] má-că in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[3] macâ in DIARO;[4] μάκα in Nikolaidis's Greek script, transcribed mákā.[5] Cunia also lists the spelling ma-cã, which he does not recommend.[6]
  • Bara records the forms máca and mácã.[7]

Etymology

It is a compound of the conjunctions ma (“but; if”) and cã (“that”).[2][4][5] Papahagi derives ma in this sense from Italian ma (“but”), unlike the adverb ma "more", from Latin magis;[8][1] Pascu also files ma "but; if" among the Romance loans, compares Modern Greek μα (ma) and Albanian ma, and gives macã as its derivative.[9] Cã is from quod (“that, because”).[10][1] Nikolaidis explained the compound as ma "but" and cã "because", with the sense "but since".[5]

Semantic evolution

The conjunction introduces a condition, "if, in case".[2][3][1] Mihăileanu has má-că vine voi si sciu ş' mine "if he comes, I want to know too",[3] and DIARO macâ-i ași, nu ti voi! "if that is so, I don't love you!".[4] It also introduces an indirect question, as in DIARO's nu știu macâ va s-yinâ "I don't know whether he will come".[4] Nikolaidis and Pascu record a causal sense, "since".[5][9]

Timeline

  • 1901 – má-că “if, in case” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[3]
  • 1906 – the conjunction in Dalametra's dictionary, as cited by Papahagi.[2]
  • 1909 – μάκα “but since” in Nikolaidis's dictionary.[5]

Meanings

Conjunction

  1. If, in case.[2][3][1]
  2. Whether (in indirect questions).[4]
  3. (older) Since, as.[5][9]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 763
  3. ^ a b c d e Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 271
  4. ^ a b c d e Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda et al. (1997), Dicționar aromân (macedo-vlah) DIARO, A–D, București, p. 344
  5. ^ a b c d e f Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 274
  6. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 607
  7. ^ Bara, Mariana (2024), Dictsiunarlu ti cathi dzuuã, online at dixionline.net
  8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 649
  9. ^ a b c 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, 212
  10. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 253
Cite this entry

“Macã.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/mac%C3%A3. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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