>Latin /d/ at the beginning of a word yields Romanian /d/, /z/
>(formerly /dz/)
That's right. "dz" even today in 2 northernmost subdialects (Maramuresh
and Northern Moldavia).
Is this parallel of any help? Rum. "tzarc" (a place surrounded/closed
by a fence) -- Albanian "thark". (I mean for the assumed *ð > tz.)
>It would be better if I had access to a list of Dacian loans into
>Romanian for comparison. I've read a quote of 230 loans from a sober-
>seeming source.
These are assumed to be pre-Latin words:
a acãtza, a adia, a ametzi, amurg, a anina, aprig, a arunca, baci(u) (?),
baier, barzã, a bãga, bãiat, beregatã, boare, bordei, brânduSã, brânzã,
buiestru (?), burlan (?), burtã, butuc, buturã, caier, carâmb, catzã,
cãciulã, cârlan, cârlig, copil, cretz, custurã, a (a)darari, a deretica,
a dezbãra (?), a descãþa [the opposite of acãtza], a (se) descurca, a
dezghina, dop, droaie, genune, ghes (?), ghearã, ghiont (?), gorun, grui,
a gudura, a încurca, a înghina [see dezghina], a îngurzi, a înseila (?),
a întrema, leagãn, a (se) lepãda, lespede, a leSina (?), mare, mãc(i)eS,
a mãdãri, mãrcat, melc, mieru, mire, mistretz, a miSca, morman, mununã,
muSat, nitzel, noian (?), pãstra, pânzã, prunc, a rãbda, r(e)azem &
a rezema, a ridica, a scurma, stãrnut (?) [older form of strãnut], strãghiatã,
strugure, a sugruma, a suguSa, Sir + a înSira, Soric, tare, tzarinã, tzãruS,
a (se) uita, undrea, a urca, urcior (?), urdã, a urdina, urdoare, a vãtãma,
viscol, zãr/zer, zarã, a zburda (+ a îmburda?), zestre, a zgâria (?), a zgârma.
and with Albanian correspondents:
abur(e), argea, baciu (?), balaur (balã), baligã/balegã, baltã, barzã, bascã,
brad, brâu, brusture, bucur-, bunget, buzã, cãciulã (?), cãpuSã, cãputã, cãtun,
copac (older copaciu), a crutza, a curma, curpãn/curpen, cursã, a dãrâma,
daS, druete, fãrâmã, gard, gardinã, gata, gãlbeazã, ghimpe, ghionoaie, grapã,
gresie, groapã, grumaz, grunz, guSã, mal, mazãre, mãgurã, mãrat, mãturã,
mânz, moS+moaSã, mugur(e), murg, nãpârcã, pârâu, pãstaie, pururea/pururi,
rânzã, s(e)arbãd, a scãpãra, scrum, a scula, sâmbure, spânz, sterp, strepede,
strungã, Sale, Sopârlã, Sut, tzap, tzarc, vatrã, vãtui, viezure, zgardã, a
zgâria.
Apud the author Ioan I. Russu. (He should have added "cioc". For some of these
words there have been proposed Latin etymologies.)
>Perhaps German borrowed the word with <sc-> = /ts/ and that affected
>some Eastern European pronunciations.
That would imply a Zellerie. But it's Sellerie /North & standard German
zell3ri,
South German sell3ri/. Hungarians say zeller /'zEllEr/ or, in English SAMPA
/'z{ll{r/. With a strong zed.
>German then purged French from
>the language - I know that happened, but I can't remember when;
Roughly 18th century. But Sellerie sounds quite French. (Only the stress is
put on the 1st syllable.)
>purged <c> from the language - I know that happened; and perhaps
>*scellerie became sellerie. That would change the start from /ts/
>to /z/. Can anyone comment on this hypothesis?
That'd be fine, Szellerie, then Zellerie. But there isn't any *Zellerie /ts/.
And I don't expect this variant to ever have existed (e.g. in Middle High
German). (I don't have any German source on the history of it at hand,
so I might be wrong -- I'd stand corrected).)
>Richard.
George