multu

Forms

multu m (feminine multã, masculine plural multsã /multsi, feminine plural multi /multe)^[1]

• Cunia heads the adjective multu (múl-tã, múl-tsã, múl-ti) and refers the adverb to it.^[2][3]
• Other spellings: Wiktionary also has mult;^[1] Papahagi heads both the adverb and the adjective MÚLTU;^[4] Mihăileanu has the adverb múltu and the adjective multu-ă;^[5][6] Nikolaidis writes μούλτου (múltu, feminine -tă);^[7] Meyer reads the form in Kavalliotis's word list as multu,^[8] and Leake prints Daniil's form as miltu.^[9]
• Regional forms: mult, without the final -u, in Samarina, where Papahagi calls the loss of the vowel a feature of the village's speech;^[4] Samarina is one of the Pindus villages.^[10] Weigand writes mult[u],^[11] and the ALAR glossary records the adverb mult.^[12]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin multus (“much, many”),^{[4][13][1][14]} and the adverb continues the neuter multum (“much, very”).^[13] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *molto-, and links it, with doubts about the root, to Ancient Greek μάλα (mála, “very, quite”); a source in Proto-Indo-European *m(o)l-to- (“good, big”) is only a possibility.^[15]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian mult, Megleno-Romanian mult and Istro-Romanian munt.^[14][16][17] The western languages have Italian molto, Old French mout, Catalan molt, Spanish mucho and Portuguese muito.^[18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Meyer reads multu as the translation of Modern Greek πολύς (polýs, “much”).^[8]

Semantic evolution

The adjective means much, many, large in number or size, and long-lasting; the adverb means much, very and for a long time.^[2][4][1] With di it means long ago (di multu).^[19][20] Papahagi and Cunia record the wish trã multsã anj! (for many years!),^[2][20] and Cunia multu-putsãn for everything one has.^[2] Combined with ma (more) it gave maltu (more; enough), which Mihăileanu explains as a contraction of ma multu.^[21][13]

Timeline

• 1770 – multu “much” in Kavalliotis's word list, as Meyer reads it.^[8]
• 1814 – miltu musátu “very prettily” in Leake's print of Daniil's Tetraglosson.^[9]
• 1894 – mult[u] “much; very” in Weigand's glossary.^[11]
• 1901 – the adverb múltu and the adjective multu-ă in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[5][6]
• 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin multus.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Much, a lot of; in the plural, many.^[2][1][4]
2. Large in size or extent; lasting a long time.^[2]

Adverb

1. Much, a lot.^[1][4][5]
2. Very;^[5][22] multu ghine “very well”.^[5][22]
3. For a long time.^[4]

Word family

• maltu

Related words

• Romanian mult

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 679
3. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 680
4. ^ a b c d e f g Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 830
5. ^ a b c d e Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 323
6. ^ a b Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 324
7. ^ Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 301
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. 99
9. ^ a b Leake, William Martin (1814), Researches in Greece, London (prints Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson), p. 386
10. ^ Caragiu Marioțeanu, Matilda (1968), Dialectul aromân, in Crestomație romanică III/1, București: Editura Academiei
11. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 318
12. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 146
13. ^ 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, 121
14. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
15. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
16. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
17. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română
18. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
19. ^ Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 646
20. ^ a b Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 711
21. ^ Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 275
22. ^ a b Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 137