--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "Joao" wrote:
> What are the origins of Neolatin words for small: Pequeno
(Portuguese),
> Pequen~o (SPanish), Piccolo (Italian) and Petit (French). Is there
any
> relation between them.
There seem to be two roots for these various Romance "small-words"
but
the issue is still doubtful.
Italian "piccolo" is given by Devoto as diminutive of "picca"
`(needle)
point` which comes ultimately from the onomatopoeic sequence "p...k"
associated to `pricking/stinging`; others suggest a French
intermediate
for Italian "picca" (< "pique" `point, sharp extremity`); compare also
with Romanian "pic" `small quantity (of something)` assumed
onomatopoeic,
Catalan "xic" `id.`("d'origen expressiu, relacionat amb el ll[atì]
ciccum
'membrana que separa els grans de la magrana; cosa insignificant'").
One
might want to check also previous discussion on cybalist about
Romanian
word "mic" (`small`) and Sicilian counterpart "nicu" (`id.`) related
to a Greek word, possibly through a VL intermediate *miccus; also
Catalan and Italian "mica" `small quantity, nothing` (< Lat. "mic(c)
a")
fit in here.
Spanish "pequeño" is given with "unsure origin" but related with the
bunch of Italian "picc-" words.
French and Catalan "petit" point towards VL forms like "pititus"
(attested a.D. 775), "pitinnus" or "pitullus" (Antoninus Placentinus),
formed on a root /pitS/ "exprimant la petitesse"; Catalan dictionary
hints a VL "pittittus, de creació expressiva, com altres formes
pitinnus,
pitulus, piccinus, pikkinnus, pitikkus, reflectides en altres parlars
romànics amb valor de 'petit'". To be noted Romanian "pitic" `dwarf`,
correlated by DEX authors with (OC) Slavic "pitikU", word in fit also
with Romances.
A relationship between the two roots is of course plausible, but it's
difficult to trace back a precise picture of "where and when" because
phonetics doesn't help too much and onomatopoeic formations are always
a very sneaky affair. :-) But I would let Miguel say his word on this.
Regards,
Marius Iacomi