Reconstruction:Latin/peturnicula
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This Latin entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence. |
Latin[edit]
Alternative reconstructions[edit]
- *perturnīcula, *pōturnīcula, *quaturnīcula, *quōturnīcula
Etymology[edit]
Blend of perdīx (“partridge”) + cōturnīx (“quail”) and suffixed with -ula (diminutive ending).
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
*peturnīcula f (Proto-Balkan-Romance)
Reconstruction notes[edit]
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Some sources give the reconstruction as *perturnīcula, implying that it took on the /r/ of perdīx. If so the sound would have been lost early on, perhaps via dissimilation, to judge by its absence in the descendants. Some follow an alternative etymology *quōturnīcula < *quōturnīx < cōturnīx (“quail”). The problems are as follows:
Others have proposed *pōturnīcula < *pōturnīx, a supposed Oscan variant of Latin cōturnīx, and *quaturnīcula < cōturnīx, a modification by onomatopoeia (cf. quaccola "quail" or the English quack). Both proposals run into the aforementioned semantic and vocalic issues.[3] |
Descendants[edit]
- Aromanian: pitruniclji, peturiclji
- Romanian: potârniche, pătârniche
References[edit]
- Candrea-Hecht, Ion Aurel. 1902. Les éléments latins de la langue roumaine: Le consonantisme. Paris: Bouillon. Pages 39–40.
- Papahagi, T. (1974) “pitrunícl'e”, in Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, 2nd edition (overall work in Romanian and French), Bucharest, page 986
- potârniche in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language)
- Puscariu, Sextil. 1905. Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element. Heidelberg: Winter. Page 120.
Notes[edit]
- ^ “Little quail” seems an unlikely nickname for a partridge, which is by far the larger bird.
One could assume, ignoring the phonological issues, that once */kw/ developed to /p/, the word could be associated with perdīx (“partridge”), or some derivative thereof, and that there followed a semantic blending. If however one is prepared to admit that level of influence from perdīx, it would inevitably be more economical to attribute the initial /p/ to it as well and start with, say, *pe(r)turnīcula. - ^ For elaboration on the Romanian sound-changes and regional variation, see potârniche.
- ^ An original */a/ in the first syllable would not explain the Aromanian /i~e/, while an original */o/ would explain neither the former nor the variation with /ə/ in Romanian.