tsãn

Forms

tsãn (third-person singular tsãni or tsãne, participle tsãnutã)^[1]

• Verb of the second conjugation: third person singular tsãni or tsãne, participle tsãnutã;^[1] aorist tsãnui, infinitive tsãneari in Cunia.^[2]
• Other spellings: tsãnu and tsen in Wiktionary;^[1] ȚÎN, aorist țînui, in Papahagi's dictionary;^[3] ţănu, aorist ţănui, in Mihăileanu's Romanian-based spelling;^[4] τσᾶνου or τσίνου in the Greek script of Nikolaidis;^[5] in Kavalliotis's word list its editor reads tsänu.^[6]
• Regional forms: tsî´nu, aorist tsănúi or tsînúi, in Metsovo;^[7] ţânŭ in the glossary of the Aromanian dialect atlas;^[8] tsin in Weigand.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin teneō (“to hold”).^{[3][10][5][1]} De Vaan traces it to Proto-Italic *t(e)nē- and Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”).^[11]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian ține, Megleno-Romanian țǫn and Istro-Romanian țir.^[12] Further west it gave Italian tenere, French tenir and Spanish tener.^[12][5] Papahagi compares the parallel range of senses of Modern Greek κρατώ (krató) "to hold".^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

In Kavalliotis's word list of 1770 the word translates Modern Greek κρατώ (krató, “to hold”); its editor reads it as tsänu.^[6]

Semantic evolution

From "to hold", Papahagi lists five senses: to hold and maintain, to support or assert, to last or resist, to dare, and (reflexive) to control oneself.^[3] Pascu adds from Dalametra tsãn minte "to remember" and the reflexive "to be afraid".^[10] Cunia also gives "to stop someone", "to abstain from food or drink", "to side with someone" and "to love".^[2]

Timeline

• 1770 – tsänu (Meyer's reading) “to hold” in Kavalliotis's word list.^[6]
• 1894 – tsin “I hold” in Weigand's glossary.^[9]
• 1901 – ţănu in Mihăileanu's dictionary.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. To hold, keep (in the hand, in the house).^[2][3][1]
2. To support, maintain; to assert.^[3]
3. To last, endure; to resist.^[3][4]
4. To dare.^[3][10]
5. (reflexive) To control oneself; to abstain.^[3][2]
6. (in tsãn minte) To remember.^[10][7]

Related words

• tsãneari
• tsãnut
• Romanian ține

Usage notes

Wiktionary also has a verb tsãn "to dine", from Latin cēnō,^[1] which Papahagi heads as a first-conjugation verb "to have supper", from Latin cenare.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 1034
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1074
4. ^ a b c Mihăileanu, Ștefan (1901), Dicționar macedo-român, București, p. 496
5. ^ a b c Νικολαΐδης, Κωνσταντίνος (1909), Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης, Αθήνα, p. 545
6. ^ 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. 73
7. ^ a b Δασούλας, Φώτης (2013), Το βλαχικό ιδίωμα του Μετσόβου, 2nd ed.
8. ^ Saramandu, Nicolae (2023), Glosar aromân, Fonetică și dialectologie XLII: 103–176, p. 170
9. ^ a b Weigand, Gustav (1894), Die Aromunen: ethnographisch-philologisch-historische Untersuchungen, vol. II: Volksliteratur der Aromunen (with a glossary), Leipzig: J. A. Barth, p. 334
10. ^ a b c d 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, 177
11. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
12. ^ 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)
13. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1071