Etymologically
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tsãn

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Pronunciation

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]
  • 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