trei

Forms

trei m^[1]

• Wiktionary gives tre as an alternative form.^[1]
• With the article, treilji “all three”, feminine treili or treile; the ordinal is a treia (feminine) and treilu (masculine) “the third”.^[2][3]
• Other spellings: Τρέϊ in the Greek script of Kavalliotis's word list, read trei by its editor;^[4] tréi in Daniil's Tetraglosson, as Leake printed it;^[5] τρέϊ (trei) in Nikolaidis.^[6]
• Regional forms: trei in Papahagi's tales from Samarina.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin trēs (“three”),^[1][6] from Proto-Italic *trejes and Proto-Indo-European *tréyes (“three”).^[7][1] The Latin word is cognate with Oscan trís, Ancient Greek τρεῖς (treîs) and English three.^[8][7]

The numeral is shared by the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian trei, Megleno-Romanian trei and Istro-Romanian tréi̭.^[9][10][11] Capidan also records triaj in Liumnița.^[10] Further west, the Latin word gave Italian tre, Spanish tres, Portuguese tres and French trois.^[9][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Kavalliotis's Greek–Aromanian–Albanian word list of 1770 has Τρέϊ for Greek τρεῖς "three".^[4] Daniil's Tetraglosson has ma tréi mési for μόνον τρεῖς μῆνες "only three months".^[5]

Semantic evolution

The sense "three" has not changed.^[2][3] Set phrases include pãnã tu treilji "until the third time", la treilji anj "every three years" or "when someone turns three",^[2] and a treia oarã "the third time".^[13] In Papahagi's tales, pîn tu trei is "up to three, until the third time".^[3]

Timeline

• 1770 – Τρέϊ “three” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[4]
• 1794–1802 – tréi in Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson.^[5]
• 1894 – trei, with a treia oarã “the third time”, in Weigand's glossary.^[13]
• 1909 – Nikolaidis derives it from Latin trēs.^[6]

Meanings

Numeral

1. three.^[2][1][3]
2. (articled, treilji) All three.^[3][2]

Related words

• Romanian trei
• Istro-Romanian tréi̭

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 1027
3. ^ a b c d e f Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 718
4. ^ 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. 116
5. ^ a b c Leake, William Martin (1814), Researches in Greece, London (prints Daniil of Moscopole's Tetraglosson), p. 386
6. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 542
7. ^ 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
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
9. ^ 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)
10. ^ a b Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română
11. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
13. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 333