numã

Forms

numã f (plural numi or nume, definite articulation numa)^[1]

• Also numi or nume.^[1]
• Other spellings: NÚMĂ, plural núme, in Papahagi's dictionary, which also has a neuter NÚME;^[2][3] númă, plural numile, in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[4] numă, plural numi, in Dalametra;^[5] νούμᾶ (númă), plural -μι, in Nikolaidis's Greek script;^[6] Νούμᾳ in Kavalliotis's word list, which Meyer reads numă.^[7]
• Regional forms: númă, plural núme, in the dialect of Metsovo.^[8]
• Capidan notes that numă is the form recorded everywhere in Aromanian.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōmen (“name”),^[3][6][9][1] as Meyer already noted.^[7] Pascu alone files it among the Greek loans, from Modern Greek ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).^[10]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian nume, Megleno-Romanian numi and Istro-Romanian lume.^[11][12] Further west it gave Italian nome, French nom, Spanish nombre and Portuguese nome.^[11][13] Ciorănescu explains the u of the Eastern Romance forms either by the influence of Romanian număr (“number”) or, as he prefers, by a confusion in Latin between nōmen and nūmen (“divine will”);^[11] Papahagi too gives the etymon as nomen or numen.^[3]

De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *nōm-n- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃neh₃-mn̥ (“name”).^[14]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where Νούμᾳ translates Modern Greek ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).^[7]

Semantic evolution

Besides a name, the word means renown: Papahagi and Mihăileanu record om cu numă, a man of renown or standing.^[2][4] It also means a nickname, as in Mihăileanu's mi scoate numă (he gives me a nickname, he speaks ill of me),^[4] and a name day;^[15][8] in Metsovo it can mean a namesake.^[8] Mihăileanu records it in a polite formula of address, numă mi façi aistă buneață (would your honour do me this kindness).^[4] The curse si-li creápă núma (may his name burst) is a name for the devil.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1770 – Νούμᾳ “name” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[7]
• 1901 – númă “name; standing” in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[4]
• 1906 – numă “name, renown” in Dalametra's dictionary.^[5]
• 1925 – Pascu derives it from Greek ὄνομα.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. A name.^[15][2][1]
2. Fame, renown; standing.^[2][5][4][1]
3. A nickname.^[15][2]
4. A name day.^[15][8]
5. (Metsovo) A namesake.^[8]

Word family

• numescu
• numãtsescu
• paranumã

Related words

• Romanian nume

Usage notes

Pascu also records, from Dalametra, an adverb numa “only”, which he derives from Latin non magis; it is not this noun.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 788
3. ^ a b c Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 915
4. ^ a b c d e f Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 387
5. ^ a b c Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 149
6. ^ a b Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 355
7. ^ 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. 91
8. ^ a b c d e Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
9. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1932), Aromânii: dialectul aromân. Studiu lingvistic, București: Academia Română (Academia Română, Studii și cercetări XX), p. 269
10. ^ 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. 2, 69
11. ^ a b c Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
12. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter
13. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
14. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
15. ^ a b c d Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 763
16. ^ 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, 112