abà

See also: Appendix:Variations of "aba"

Sassarese

Alternative forms

• abari
• abali (Sedini)
• avali (Castelsardo)

Etymology

From earlier abari, abali, from an adverbial use of Classical Latin aequālis (“equal; comparable; coeval”). Compare Old Italian avale, aguale (“now”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /aˈβa/

Adverb

abà

1. now, right now
   • 1926 November, Gildo Motroni, Giubintura [Youth]‎^[1]:

     Abà chi sei buradda, giubintura, / senz’assemmi assazzaddu, in un lamentu / iscumenza lu cantu e cun tristhura…

     Now that you've flown away—o youth—without having satisfied myself, the song begins in a lament, and with sadness...

   • 1957, Salvator Ruju, “Abà ch'è ischurighendi [Now that it's getting dark]”, in Sassari véccia e nóba [Old and new Sassari]; republished as Caterina Ruju, editor, Sassari véccia e nóba, Nuoro: Ilisso edizioni, 2001, →ISBN, page 347:

     Abà ch'è ischurighendi, / e l’ócci di lu sòri s’è cuadu / in fond’a l’aribari, / mi posu aizaréddu / inòghi i l’utturinu.

     Now that it's getting dark, and the sun's eye has hidden itself at the end of the olive grove, I'll sit down for a bit, here on the path.

2. just, just now
3. now, right away, at once

Derived terms

• abarabà
• d'abà
• par abà

 

References

• Ugo Solinas (2016) “abà”, in Vocabolario sassarese-italiano fraseologico ed etimologico, volume 1, Sestu: Domus de Janas, →ISBN, page 6
• Giosue Muzzo (1981) “abà”, in Vocabolario del dialetto sassarese, Chiarella Editore, →ISBN; republished, Sassari: Carlo Delfino editore, 2018, page 25