Re: Romanian verbal paradigm

--- In cybalist@yahoogroups.com, george-st@... wrote:

>> On the other hand, _brãTarã_ 'bracelet' is feminine in Romanian,
>> so perhaps it is a new formation.

Gender change is by no means surprising, especially for things
without clear reason to be more likely masculine than feminine:
Lat. F arbor > Rom. M. arbore, Lat. F. fagus > Rom. M. fag but
Lat. M. dolor > Rom. F. durere, etc.
Thank you for the examples.

> I myself would be tempted to deem it an internal concoction:
> bratz + -ar (plus the umlautization of the a in bratz). This one
> can be masc. (plur: brãtzãri or brãtzari) or neutr (brãtzare).
> Then adding of the 2nd ending: -ã, which is feminine. But, if
> academic the wise guys once made a diff. judgment, they must've
> have had their reasons, I suppose. :o)

Of course. Normal derivation would yield a neuter as in obraz +
-ar > obrãzar (pl. obrãzare) or piept + -ar > pieptar (pl. pieptare).
Different ending indicates different origin, that is: not Romanian
internal construct but Latin inherited in this case.

Regards,
Marius Iacomi