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Etymology and origin of the Aromanian word pri

Aromanian has two words spelled pri: the preposition “on” and the intensifying adverb “too, very”, which Papahagi and Cunia head separately.[1][2][3][4]

pri1 on

Confidence
Established
Formation
Inherited
First attested
1894 Weigand's glossary
Inherited from
Latin per
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *péri
Etymology tree of pri1
inherited borrowed derived
Latin per
Aromanian pri
French par
Italian per
English per
German per
From the same root · pri1
Aromanian pristi ← per
French parmi ← par
French partout ← par
Italian dappertutto ← per
Italian percento ← per
Italian perché ← per
Italian perciò ← per
Italian persino ← per

Forms

pri[5]

  • A preposition;[3][5] Cunia gives pre beside pri, and Wiktionary the alternative forms pi and pre.[3][5]
  • Other spellings: PRI in Papahagi's dictionary;[1] pri in Dalametra's Romanian-based spelling;[6] pri, and pre in pre fund “on the bottom”, in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • Bara gives pri and pi side by side.[8]

Etymology

The preposition is inherited from Latin per (“through, across”).[1][5] It is the same word as Romanian pe (older pre), Megleno-Romanian pri and Istro-Romanian pre;[9][10] Pușcariu and Candrea–Densusianu set beside them Albanian për, Italian per, French par and Portuguese por.[9][10][11] De Vaan traces Latin per to Proto-Italic *peri (“through, across”) and Proto-Indo-European *péri (“across”), with cognates such as Sanskrit परि (pári, “around, about”), Ancient Greek περί (perí, “round about, around”) and Lithuanian per̃ (“over, through”).[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weigand's glossary of 1894 translates pri with German auf “on”, as in pri un munte “on a mountain”.[7]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin sense “through, across” the Aromanian preposition came to mean above all “on, upon, over”, as in bágă píta pri meásă “he puts the pie on the table”.[1][13] It also marks time (“during, in the course of”), manner and comparison (“like, as”), and closeness (“beside, apart from”).[1][13] In oaths it means “by”: pri cáplu a tău “by your head”.[1][3] Cunia also records pri vimtu “in vain”, literally “on the wind”.[3] Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales has pri căsmete “by luck” and pri di nă parte “on the one hand”.[14]

Timeline

  • 1894 – pri “on” in Weigand's glossary.[7]
  • 1905 – pri “on”, with many set phrases, in Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales.[14]
  • 1906 – pri in Dalametra's dictionary, with pri casă “on the house”.[6]

Meanings

Preposition

  1. on, upon, over.[13][1][7]
  2. during, in the course of; at, in.[3][1]
  3. by (in oaths).[3][1]
  4. like, as; beside, apart from.[1]
  5. Marks the accusative in some uses;[3] Cunia notes that it is often left out.[3]

pri2 too, very

Confidence
Disputed
Formation
Borrowing
First attested
1813 Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu
Borrowed from
Old Church Slavonic прѣ-
Ultimate origin
Proto-Indo-European *per

Forms

pri (adverb)[4]

  • Other spellings: PRI² in Papahagi's dictionary;[2] pre in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[15]
  • Papahagi says that this pri belongs to the northern Aromanian varieties.[2]

Etymology

Papahagi takes the adverb as borrowed from Old Church Slavonic прѣ- (prě-, “over-, very”), the Old Church Slavonic particle compounded with verbs and nouns, and compares Bulgarian пре (pre).[2] Capidan derives the Megleno-Romanian adverb pri (“too”) from the same Old Slavonic word.[16] Pascu instead derives it from Latin prae (“before, in front of”), and holds that Romanian prea was influenced by Old Slavonic.[15] For Romanian prea the references also divide: Candrea–Densusianu and the REW give Latin prae under Slavic influence,[10][11] Pușcariu a blend of the Latin and the Slavonic word,[17] and Ciorănescu Latin prae, finding the Slavic etymology a poor fit in sense.[18] The Slavic word is the prefix Proto-Slavic *per (“over, through, very, exceedingly”), from Proto-Indo-European *per;[19] Derksen compares Lithuanian per̃ (“through”), Ancient Greek περικαλλής (perikallḗs, “very beautiful”) and Latin permagnus (“very big”).[19] Vasmer describes the Old Church Slavonic prefix as intensifying, the Church Slavonic counterpart of native Russian пере- (pere-).[20] Latin prae goes back to Proto-Italic *prai and Proto-Indo-European *preh₂i (“before”).[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pascu quotes pre “too” from Boiagi's grammar of 1813.[15]

Semantic evolution

The adverb strengthens an adjective or adverb: “too, too much”, and also “very, most”.[4][2] Papahagi quotes pri amínát “too late”, pri múltu “too much” and the doubled am s' pri am “I have, and more than enough”.[2] Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales has s-hărisi pri multu “he was very glad”.[14]

Timeline

  • 1813 – pre “too” in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.[15]
  • 1905 – pri “too, very” in Papahagi's glossary to his folk tales.[14]
  • 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin prae.[15]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. too, too much; excessively.[4][2][15]
  2. very, most.[4][2]
  • Romanian pe
  • Romanian prea

Usage notes

Papahagi notes that Aromanian, unlike Romanian pe, does not normally put pri before a personal direct object, and his examples have the bare pronoun (míne “me”, tíne “you”).[1] Cunia, by contrast, describes pri as a preposition that often forms the accusative and is often dropped.[3]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 876
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 877
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 851
  4. ^ 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. 852
  5. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  6. ^ a b Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 175
  7. ^ a b c d Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 326
  8. ^ Bara, Mariana (2024), Dictsiunarlu ti cathi dzuuã, online at dixionline.net
  9. ^ a b Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 113
  10. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
  11. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
  12. ^ a b 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 c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
  14. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 684
  15. ^ 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, 146
  16. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 232
  17. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 120
  18. ^ Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001)
  19. ^ a b Derksen, Rick (2008), Etymological Dictionary of the Slavic Inherited Lexicon, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 4, Leiden / Boston: Brill
  20. ^ Vasmer, Max (1964–1973), Ètimologičeskij slovar' russkogo jazyka, transl. and suppl. by O. N. Trubačev, 4 vols., Moskva: Progress

Related etymologies

  • izvur · also from Old Church Slavonic
  • featã · also from Latin
  • cu · also from Latin
  • cã · also from Latin
  • tu · also from Latin
  • shi · also from Latin
  • di · also from Latin
  • am · also from Latin
Cite this entry

“Pri.” Etymologically, 26 Oct. 2026, etymologically.com/rup/pri. Accessed 26 Oct. 2026.

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