Re: Zestre

From: m_iacomi
Message: 23604
Date: 2003-06-19

In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "altamix" wrote:

> I was just curious how you will transalte them:
> inzestrare= psyhical/mentaly capacity of someone (skillness?);
> having a skill for something
> inzestrat= skilled, having something

"a înzestra" means `to endow`, `to give`, `to dower`
"înzestrare" and "înzestrat" (`skilled`, `gifted`, `endowed`) are
obvious derivatives of the verb.

> These derivatives shows that they derive from something which you
> possed. A derivation in the such meaning from Latin "dextera" it
> seems to me too blind.

It's "dextrae". Of course, "a înzestra" is at his turn a derived
word in Romanian language, from the already existing term "zestre"
meaning `dowry`. "în- + zestre" made verb should mean `to give
someone the dowry`, and, by extension `to give something of value
(some role might have been played by weak opposition between natural
gifts -- "dowry" from God -- and other humans' gifts, all of these
being summed up in a single word by the mentioned extension). This
process belongs to Romanian language, not to the transition from
Latin to (Proto-)Romanian.

Cheers,
Marius Iacomi