ntreb

Forms

ntreb (second-person singular ntreghi, third-person singular ntreabã, participle ntribatã)^[1]

• First conjugation: aorist ntribai, imperfect ntribam, participle ntribatã, infinitive ntribari or ntribare;^[2][3] second person singular ntreghi, third person ntreabã.^[1]
• Other spellings: ntrebu, ãntreb, ãntrebu, antreb, antrebu and treb in Wiktionary;^[1] ãntreb and antreb in Cunia;^[2] NTREB in Papahagi's dictionary, which also has antréb and întréb;^[4] ’ntrébu in Mihăileanu;^[5] Ντρέμπου in Kavalliotis's Greek script, which Meyer reads ntrebu.^[6]
• Recorded infinitives: ntribare, ntrebare, întribare, întrebare (Boiagi), ndribare (Dalametra) and antribare (Nikolaidis).^[7] Weigand has ntreb and ndreb, with the third person antreabo.^[8]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin interrogō (“to ask, question”),^{[4][7][1][3][6]} formed from inter (“between”) and rogō (“to ask”).^[9] The sound shape is irregular: Pușcariu, after Meyer-Lübke, and Popovici explain the b through an intermediate Latin form in which g was followed by u,^[10][11] Pascu through the loss of the o.^[7] De Vaan explains rogō as probably a verb formed from a noun, Proto-Italic *rogo- (“request”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₃roǵ-o- (“stretching”).^[12]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian întreba, Megleno-Romanian antreb and Istro-Romanian ântrebå.^[13][14][15] Further west it lives only in Old French enterver, Old Occitan entervar, still spoken in south-eastern French dialects, above all in Switzerland, and Asturian entrugar.^[16][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770, where Ντρέμπου, read ntrebu by its editor Meyer, translates Modern Greek ἐρωτῶ (erotó, “I ask”).^[6]

Semantic evolution

The Latin verb meant to put a question to someone,^[9] and Aromanian kept that sense.^[2][1][3] Papahagi also gives the reflexive sense to consult, take counsel,^[4] as in the saying Cunia records, si ntreghi sh-cãrliglu ("ask even your crook"), that is, seek advice from anyone at all.^[2]

Timeline

• 1770 – Ντρέμπου (ntrebu) “I ask” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[6]
• 1813 – întrebare in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.^[7]
• 1894 – ntreb “to ask” in Weigand's glossary.^[8]
• 1901 – ’ntrébu in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[5]

Meanings

Verb

1. To ask, question.^[2][1][4][3]
2. (reflexive) To consult, take counsel.^[4]

Related words

• Romanian întreba

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 757
3. ^ a b c d Κατσάνης, Νικόλαος; Ντίνας, Κωνσταντίνος (1990), Γραμματική της κοινής κουτσοβλαχικής, Θεσσαλονίκη: Αρχείο Κουτσοβλαχικών Μελετών, p. 139
4. ^ a b c d e Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 909
5. ^ a b Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 384
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. 49
7. ^ 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, 41
8. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 321
9. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
11. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S., p. 90
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ a b Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
14. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 21
15. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
16. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter