Etymologically
Log in

ningã

This is the current revision of this entry, as edited by bogdan on 26 October 2026 at 05:27. This address is a permanent link to this version.
Changes in this edit History

ningã1 still, yet

Forms

ningã[1]

  • Also ninga, nicã, nica, nincã and ninca.[1][2]
  • Other spellings: NÍNGA, with NÍNCA, NÍCA and NÍCĂ, in Papahagi's dictionary;[3][4] Pascu heads it nincă and records ningă, ninga, nică and nica from his sources;[5] nika in Meyer's reading of Kavalliotis.[6]
  • Weigand found ningă (he writes ningo) in the south and the centre of the Aromanian area, beside nikă;[7][6] the glossary of Papahagi's folk tales has ningă everywhere.[8]

Etymology

The adverb is inherited from Latin unquam (“ever, at any time”) according to Pascu, Candrea and Densusianu, Capidan and Ciorănescu.[5][9][10][11] Candrea and Densusianu explain the initial n of the Aromanian form by fusion with the negative particle ni.[9] Wiktionary and REW start instead from numquam (“never”).[1][12] Ciorănescu explains the sense by the negative use of the Latin word: a phrase meaning never married came to mean not yet married.[11]

The same word is Romanian încă, Megleno-Romanian ancă and Istro-Romanian incă.[11][10] Pascu and Candrea and Densusianu compare Old Italian unqua, Old French onques and Old Occitan onca.[5][9] Pascu gives as an alternative a Latin *anque, the source Meyer-Lübke proposed for Italian anche;[5][13] Pușcariu found the Romanian word obscure and that form a poor fit for it.[5][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where nika (in Meyer's reading) translates Modern Greek ἀκόμη (akómi, “still, yet”).[6]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin sense of ever, which in negative clauses meant never, the word came to mean still and not yet.[11] Papahagi gives the senses still and even, with examples such as nínga nifáptu (not yet born).[3] The glossary of Papahagi's folk tales records ningă nă oară (once more).[8]

Timeline

  • 1770 – nika (Meyer's reading) “still” in Kavalliotis's word list.[6]
  • 1894 – Weigand records ningo “still” in the south and centre.[7]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives nincă from Latin unquam.[5]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Still, yet.[2][3][8][1]
  2. Even.[3][2]
  3. Again, more, as in ningă nă oară (once more).[8]

ningã2 near, beside

Forms

ningã (preposition)[2]

  • Also ninga, nãngã and nincã, and the compounds priningã and piningã.[2]
  • Other spellings: NÎ’NGĂ and NÍNCĂ in Papahagi's dictionary;[14][3] nínga and níngă in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;[15] Pascu lists lingă and ningă from his sources, among them Boiagi's grammar of 1813.[16]
  • The glossary of Papahagi's folk tales has ningi everywhere in this sense.[8]

Etymology

The preposition is inherited from Latin longo (“long; along”).[14][16][11][9] Pascu and Candrea and Densusianu explain the Aromanian form as an older form like Romanian lângă in which the l was assimilated to the following n.[16][9] Pușcariu and Capidan start instead from longum followed by ad (“to”), which Ciorănescu finds less likely on phonetic grounds.[13][17][11]

Megleno-Romanian has lăngă and Istro-Romanian pringę.[11] For the sense, Pascu and Ciorănescu compare Italian lungo (“along, beside”) and Old Occitan lonc (“beside”).[16][11] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *dlongo- and Proto-Indo-European *dlongʰ-o-.[18]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dated record is in Boiagi's grammar of 1813, which Pascu cites for ningă.[16]

Timeline

  • 1813 – ningă in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[16]
  • 1901 – nínga “beside” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.[15]
  • 1963 – Papahagi derives it from Latin longo.[14]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. Near, beside, next to, as in şédzi níngă mine (sit beside me).[2][15][14]
  • Romanian încă
  • Romanian lângă

References

  1. ^ a b c d 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. 739
  3. ^ a b c d e Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 767
  4. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 761
  5. ^ 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, 126
  6. ^ 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. 12
  7. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 320
  8. ^ a b c d e Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 658
  9. ^ a b c d e Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  10. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 14
  11. ^ a b c d e f g h Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
  12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  13. ^ a b c Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
  14. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 776
  15. ^ a b c Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 364
  16. ^ 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, 111
  17. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 165
  18. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill