tsi

Forms

tsi (interrogative)^[1]

• tse and tsi are both used;^[2] Cunia heads the word tsi/tse.^[2] Capidan describes the split: tse among the southern Aromanians, tsi among the northern.^[3]
• Other spellings: ȚE in Papahagi's dictionary,^[4] which also has ȚI as a northern form;^[5] ȚI and țe in Pascu's dictionary;^[6] ți and țe in Dalametra's dictionary;^[7] Ţi in the glossary to P. Papahagi's folk tales;^[8] tsi in Weigand's glossary.^[9]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin quid (“what”).^[4][6][1] Latin quid is the neuter of the interrogative quis (“who”), from Proto-Italic *kʷid and Proto-Indo-European *kʷid (“what”).^[10][1]

The word is common to the four Eastern Romance languages: Romanian ce, Megleno-Romanian ți and Istro-Romanian če.^[11][12][13] Its western cognates include Italian che, French que, Spanish que and Portuguese que.^[14][12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Pascu's sources for the pronoun include Boiagi's grammar of 1813, where the word also serves as a conjunction meaning "that".^[6]

Semantic evolution

From the Latin interrogative "what?" the word kept its interrogative use and became also the general relative pronoun "who, which, that", used for persons and things, and an adverb "why?".^[6][4][9] Papahagi's examples include ți dimî'ndzí, doámne? ("what do you command, master?").^[5] As a conjunction it means "but".^[8][5]

Timeline

• 1813 – recorded in Boiagi's grammar, as cited by Pascu.^[6]
• 1894 – tsi as relative and interrogative pronoun in Weigand's glossary.^[9]
• 1906 – ți, țe in Dalametra's dictionary.^[7]
• 1925 – Pascu derives it from Latin quid.^[6]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (interrogative) What?^[1][6]
2. (relative) Who, which, that.^[2][4][9]
3. Why?^[6][7]

Conjunction

1. But.^[8][5]

Related words

• Romanian ce

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 1038
3. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1932), Aromânii: dialectul aromân. Studiu lingvistic, București: Academia Română (Academia Română, Studii și cercetări XX), p. 249
4. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Tache (1974), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd augmented ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. 1216
5. ^ a b c d Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1069
6. ^ a b c d e f g h 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, 176
7. ^ a b c Dalametra, I. (1906), Dicționar macedo-român, București: Academia Română, p. 203
8. ^ a b c Papahagi, Pericle (1905), Basme aromâne și glosar, București: Academia Română, p. 722
9. ^ 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. 334
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ Popovici, Iosif (1909), Dialectele romîne din Istria II: texte și glosar, Halle a. S.
12. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București
13. ^ Kovačec, August (1998), Istrorumunjsko-hrvatski rječnik (s gramatikom i tekstovima), Pula
14. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter