nãpoi

Forms

nãpoi (adverb)^[1]

• Other spellings: napoi and nipoi in Cunia;^[1] năpoi, nipoï, napoi, înapoi and nipoi in the texts Pascu cites, napoi among them from Boiagi;^[2] napoi and năpói in Mihăileanu;^[3] Νᾳπόϊ in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *inappoe, as Pascu reconstructs it.^[2] Candrea and Densusianu derive the same adverb from Latin in (“in”), ad (“to”) and post (“behind, after”);^[5] Papahagi's index of etyma files it under the same Latin compound.^[6]

It is shared with Romanian înapoi, dialectal năpoi in the Banat, and Megleno-Romanian năpoi (“then, back, again”).^[5][2][7] The last part is the Latin adverb that also gave poi.^[8] De Vaan traces post to Proto-Italic *posti (“behind, after”) and Proto-Indo-European *pos(ti) (“after”).^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kavalliotis's word list of 1770 has Νᾳπόϊ for Modern Greek πάλιν (pálin, “again”).^[4]

Semantic evolution

Pascu gives two senses, backwards or behind, and again.^[2] Mihăileanu separates them by stress: napoi backwards, năpói again.^[3] Cunia adds after, and nevertheless, and the phrases ma nãpoi (later) and dau nãpoi (to shrink from doing something).^[1]

Timeline

• 1770 – Νᾳπόϊ “again” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[4]
• 1813 – napoi in Boiagi's grammar, as Pascu quotes it.^[2]
• 1901 – napoi “backwards” and năpói “again” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[3]

Meanings

Adverb

1. back, backwards; behind.^[1][2][3]
2. again, once more.^[1][3][4]
3. afterwards, later.^[1]
4. nevertheless.^[1]

Related words

• Romanian înapoi
• Megleno-Romanian năpoi

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 700
2. ^ 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, 140
3. ^ a b c d e Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 336
4. ^ a b c d 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. 93
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1161
7. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill