Etymologically
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oclju

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Pronunciation

Forms

oclju m (plural oclji)[1]

  • Plural oclji.[2][1]
  • Other spellings: ocljiu and ochi in Wiktionary;[1] ocl'u, plural ocl'i, in Pascu's dictionary[3] and in Papahagi's glossary of folk tales;[4] ΄Οκλλιου in Kavalliotis's word list, which its editor reads as oklu.[5]
  • Regional forms: okl'u, plural okl'i, in the village of Turia;[6] oklu and the articled okl'ul in Weigand's texts.[7]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin oclus,[1] the syncopated form of oculus (“eye”);[1][8] Papahagi and Pascu give the Latin word in its classical form.[9][3] De Vaan traces oculus to Proto-Italic *ok(e)lo- and Proto-Indo-European *h₃e/okʷ-(e)lo- (“eye”).[10]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian ochi, Megleno-Romanian ocl'u and Istro-Romanian óclʼu.[11][12] Further west it gave Italian occhio, Occitan uelh, French œil, Spanish ojo and Portuguese olho,[11] and Dalmatian vaklo.[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Kavalliotis's word list of 1770, where ΄Οκλλιου is the word for “eye”.[5]

Semantic evolution

Besides the eye itself, the word means sight,[14][3] and also a kiss on the eye.[14][3] Things shaped like an eye or set in pairs are named after it: each of the two pockets of a saddlebag (oclju di tisagã),[14][4] the millstone,[14][3] and in the plural a pair of spectacles.[3] Ocljul di oi is the best sheep of a flock.[14] Papahagi's folk tales use cu patru ocl'i, "with four eyes", for a learned man, and ocl'i lăi, "black eyes", for pretty black-eyed girls.[4]

Timeline

  • 1770 – ΄Οκλλιου “eye” in Kavalliotis's word list.[5]
  • 1894 – oklu “eye” in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • 1905 – ocl'u, with cu patru ocl'i “learned”, in Papahagi's glossary of folk tales.[4]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin oculus.[3]

Meanings

Noun

  1. An eye.[14][3][1]
  2. (figurative) Sight, eyesight.[14][3]
  3. A kiss on the eye.[14][3]
  4. Each of the two pockets of a saddlebag.[14][4]
  5. A millstone.[14][3]
  6. The best sheep of a flock.[14]
  7. (plural) Spectacles.[3]
  • Romanian ochi

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 772
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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, 136
  4. ^ a b c d e Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 669
  5. ^ a b c 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. 83
  6. ^ Бара, Мариана; Каль, Теде; Соболев, Андрей Н. (2005), Южноарумынский говор села Турия (Малый диалектологический атлас балканских языков, серия монографий 1), p. 334
  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. 323
  8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
  9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1165
  10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
  11. ^ 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)
  12. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
  13. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  14. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)