Etymologically
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numã

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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
  • 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