ujë

Forms

ujë m (plural ujëra, definite uji, definite plural ujërat)^[1] Gheg has uj (Shkodër ūj), and the Arbëresh dialects of Italy also say uj; in the Gheg plural the word is ujna beside standard ujëra.^[2][3][4] Beside the masculine there is a neuter ujët, which keeps the word's old gender.^[5][2][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Proto-Albanian *udrjā, an old Albanian word for which three Proto-Albanian forms have been proposed.^[1][3][7] Hamp reconstructed *udr-jā, a zero grade of the Indo-European word for “water” with a suffix *-jā, and Huld and Orel follow him; on this view the word belongs with Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr), Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐍄𐍉 (watō), Sanskrit उदन् (udán) and Old Church Slavonic вода (voda), from *wed- (“water”).^[6][3][1][8]

Meyer had derived it from *ud-nio-, but Pedersen rejected this: a cluster /dn/ should have left a palatal nasal, and none appears in the oldest records or in the conservative Arvanitika and Arbëresh dialects.^[7][6] Pedersen and Çabej instead started from a short *ud- or *udā that lost its /d/, with /j/ inserted to fill the hiatus.^[7][6] Demiraj objects that a lost /d/ should have lengthened the root vowel in some dialects, as in be “oath”, and proposes a third root, *(H)u(e)h₁-r- (“water”), the root of Sanskrit वार् (vā́r), with a collective *(H)uh₁r-jo- giving *urjV-.^[7] Demiraj calls it a difficult word: the link with Indo-European “water” is accepted, but which root and which suffix are still argued.^[7][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is oie “water” among the Albanian words that Harff wrote down in 1497.^[7][4] Buzuku's book of 1555 has the word, and once uses it for a river or lake.^[7][4] Bardhi's dictionary of 1635 spells it uie.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

Besides the liquid itself, the word names a body of water such as a river, lake or the sea, and in the plural ujërat the waters of a state or of the ground.^[9][5] Da Lecce's dictionary of 1702 already lists many fixed phrases, among them uj i bēkuem “holy water” and uj n'detit “sea water”.^[10] Mann records Dita e Ujit të Bekuem “day of the blessed water” as a name for Epiphany.^[4]

Other senses grew from the liquid: a fluid of the body, the rings in the grain of cut wood, and, figuratively, padding in a piece of writing.^[9][5] Used as an adverb, ujë means “fluently, by heart”, as in e di ujë “he knows it perfectly”.^[5] The neuter ujët also became a euphemism for urine and a word for the tempering of steel.^[5][9]

Timeline

• 1497 – oie in Harff's record of Albanian words, the first record.^[7][4]
• 1555 – Buzuku's book, once in the sense “river, lake”.^[7][4]
• 1635 – uie in Bardhi's Latin–Albanian dictionary.^[2][7]
• 1702 – uj and phrases such as uj i bēkuem “holy water” in da Lecce's dictionary.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. water: the colourless liquid without smell that falls as rain and fills springs, rivers and seas.^[5][9][1]
2. A body of water: a river, a lake or the sea; in the plural, the waters of an area.^[9]
3. A solution or preparation made with water, such as rose water.^[5]
4. (figurative, pejorative) padding: needless material in a piece of writing.^[5][9]
5. A fluid of the body or of a plant.^[5]
6. The second part of names of animals and plants that live in water: gjarpër uji “water snake”.^[5]
7. (in the plural) the growth rings of a cut tree trunk, or a watered pattern on cloth.^[5][9]

Adverb

1. (colloquial) fluently, by heart: E mësoi mësimin ujë. “She learned the lesson perfectly.”^[5]

Word family

• ujit
• ujor
• ujshëm
• ujar
• ujëvarë
• ujësjellës
• nënujor

Related words

• Ancient Greek ὕδωρ (húdōr)
• Latin unda

Usage notes

The neuter ujët is used in some fixed phrases and as a euphemism for urine.^[5] The proverb uji lan gjithçka, veç faqen e zezë jo, “water washes everything except a blackened face”, means that dishonour cannot be undone.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Erat, Janez (2008), Etimološki slovar albanskega jezika / Albanian Etymological Dictionary, 2nd online ed. (completed 2000), p. 113
3. ^ a b c Orel, Vladimir (1998), Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden / Boston / Köln: Brill, p. 483
4. ^ a b c d e f Mann, Stuart E. (1948), An Historical Albanian–English Dictionary, London: Longmans, Green & Co. for the British Council, p. 2, 538
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Akademia e Shkencave e Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë (2006), Fjalor i gjuhës shqipe, Tiranë (text as on fjalorthi.com), p. s.v. ujë
6. ^ a b c d e Huld, Martin E. (1984), Basic Albanian Etymologies, Columbus, Ohio: Slavica, p. 121
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz, Amsterdam / Atlanta: Rodopi (Leiden Studies in Indo-European 7), p. 401–402
8. ^ Pokorny, Julius (1959), Indogermanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bern; Munich: Francke, p. 78–81
9. ^ a b c d e f g Akademia e Shkencave e RPS të Shqipërisë, Instituti i Gjuhësisë dhe i Letërsisë (1980), Fjalor i gjuhës së sotme shqipe, Tiranë, p. s.v. ujë
10. ^ a b da Lecce, Francesco Maria (1702), Dittionario italiano-albanese (manuscript), critical edition by G. Gurga (2009), Shkodër: Botime Françeskane (Biblioteka françeskane "At Gjergj Fishta" 30)