shilji

Forms

shilji f^[1]

• Plural shilji or shilje;^[2] Cunia heads the word shilji/shilje.^[2] Wiktionary gives shilje as an alternative form.^[1]
• Other spellings: ȘÍL'E, plural șíl'e, in Papahagi's dictionary;^[3] sil'e in Weigand's glossary.^[4]

Etymology

Its origin is uncertain.^[3] Giuglea proposed that it is inherited from Latin exīlia (“fine stuff”), the neuter plural of exīlis (“thin, fine”);^[5][3] REW accepts this, glossing the Aromanian word "fine dust, rubbish".^[5][3] Wiktionary also takes it, probably, from exīlia, but connects it with exilium (“exile”), "what has been removed".^[1] The Latin adjective exīlis meant "thin, lean, slender";^[6] the OLD derives it, probably, from *ex-ag-lis, related to exigō (“to drive out”).^[6]

Papahagi lists an earlier derivation from Albanian, published in the journal Dacoromania, besides Giuglea's, and himself only compares Modern Greek σιούλι (sioúli, “ball of wool”), an Albanian word for "thread, cord" and a Turkish word for a skein of thread, without choosing.^[3] His etymological index files the word as of uncertain origin.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Weigand's glossary of 1894 glosses sil'e as "fluff, fine dirt".^[4]

Semantic evolution

The word names a tiny strand or bit: a single hair, a blade of grass or straw, a speck of chaff, feather or down, and a speck of dirt.^[8][3][1] From this it came to mean a trifle, a worthless thing.^[8] Set phrases build on it: di shilji-palji "of trifles", li dzãc pãnã la shilji "I tell them down to the last detail", lu-am shilji ntr-oclji "I cannot bear him" (literally "I have him as a speck in my eyes"), and nu voi nitsiunã shilji "I want nothing at all".^[8] Papahagi quotes the same uses in his notation, with pin' la șile "in every detail".^[3]

Timeline

• 1894 – sil'e “fluff, fine dirt” in Weigand's glossary.^[4]
• 1963 – Papahagi's dictionary heads it ȘÍL'E and leaves its origin open.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tiny strand: a single hair, a blade of grass or straw, a bit of chaff or down.^[8][3][1]
2. A speck of dirt or rubbish.^[8][4][10]
3. (figurative) A trifle, a worthless thing.^[8]

Word family

• nshilj

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 931
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 1093
4. ^ 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. 331
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1239
8. ^ a b c d e f Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net)
9. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1006
10. ^ Bara, Mariana (2024), Dictsiunarlu ti cathi dzuuã, online at dixionline.net