vatër

See also: váter, vàter, Vater, and Väter

Albanian

Alternative forms

votër — Gheg

Etymology

Likely inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁ter- (“fire”), whence also Proto-Iranian *HáHtr̥š (“fire”) and Latin āter (“black, darkened *(by fire)”), ātrium (“room *(where the fireplace is)”).^[1]^[2]^[3] Also found in Balkan Romance and most Slavic languages, although the presence of va- ~ vo- originating from earlier *o (cf. vadhë, varfër, vesh, etc.), itself from earlier *ā, reveals it as an originally Albanian term, later borrowed in its Tosk form into the other languages.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] It arrived in some Slavic languages likely through Balkan Romance.^[4]^[9]^[10] An early borrowing from Latin āter, ātrium, although it cannot be entirely ruled out,^[1] is improbable,^[11] while a borrowing from Iranian^[4] is deemed unlikely due to geographical-historical reasons and the semantic field of the term.^[11]^[1]

Compare French foyer and German Fokus, Brennpunkt for the scientifical senses.

Pronunciation

(Tosk) IPA^(key): /ˈvätəɾ/
(Gheg) IPA^(key): /ˈvɔtəɾ/
Rhymes: -ätəɾ

Noun

vatër f (plural vatra, definite vatra, definite plural vatrat)

hearth, fireplace
vatër zjarri ― fireplace
hearth, hearthstone (of an oven, stove, etc.)
vatër furre ― hearth of the oven
small patch, strip of land
Synonyms: lehe, vulla
(figurative) home, birthplace; family
Synonyms: vendlindje; familje
(figurative) cradle, hotbed
Synonyms: çerdhe, djep

vatër kulture ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

vatër malarieje ― hotbed of malaria
(geometry) focus (of a conic)
(optics) focus, focal point
(anatomy) nerve centre
(medicine) main location of an infection or disease
a lot, many
Synonyms: shumë, tufë

një vatër miq ― a lot of friends

Declension

Declension of **vatër**
	singular		plural
	indefinite	definite	indefinite	definite
nominative	vatër	vatra	vatra	vatrat
accusative	vatër	vatrën	vatra	vatrat
dative	vatre	vatrës	vatrave	vatrave
ablative	vatre	vatrës	vatrash	vatrave

Derived terms

Descendants

(All related terms placed here for convenience, the exact trajectory is most likely more complex. See § Etymology for more details.)

→ Balkan Romance:
- Aromanian: vatrã, veatrã
- Istro-Romanian: votrę
- Megleno-Romanian: vatră
- Romanian: vatră
  - → Gagauz: vatra
→ Hungarian: vatra (dialectal)
→ Romani:
Balkan Romani: vatra — Crimean

Carpathian Romani: vatra — East Slovak

Vlax Romani: vatra — Kalderaš, Lovara
→ Slavic:
- Bulgarian: ва́тра (vátra) (dialectal)
- Czech: vatra
- Polish: watra (dialectal)
- Serbo-Croatian: vȁtra / ва̏тра
- Ukrainian: ва́тра (vátra) (dialectal)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), “vát/ër,-ra”, in Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies: […]] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)‎^[1] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 410ff.
^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European Culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 263
^ Curtis, Matthew C. (2018), “Chapter XV: Albanian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), volume 3, Berlin; Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The dialectology of Albanian, page 1805
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Orel, Vladimir (1998), “vatër ~ votër”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden; Boston; Cologne: Brill, →ISBN, page 495f.
^ Domosileckaja, M. V. (2002), Albansko-vostočnoromanskij sopostavitelʹnyj ponjatijnyj slovarʹ: Skotovodčeskaja leksika [Albanian – Eastern Romance Comparative Conceptual Dictionary: The Pastoral Vocabulary] (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Nauka, →ISBN, page 457
^ Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “ватра”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 123
^ Nikolaḯdis, K. (1909), “βάτρᾰ”, in Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της Κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης [Etymologikón lexikón tis Koutsovlachikís glóssis] (in Greek), Athens: Τύποις Π. Δ. Σακελλαρίου [Týpois P. D. Sakellaríou], page 114
^ “vatër”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2026
^ Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “ватра”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova dumka
^ Brückner, Aleksander (1927), “watra”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 Meyer, G. (1891), “vatrɛ”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 464f.