Re: Italo-Albano-Romanian Parallels

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

> >>> _Penso_ 'think'is a learned reintroduction - the
> >>> normal form is _peso_ 'weigh'.
> >>
> >> The Romanian reflex: as a noun: <pãs> [p&s], plur. <pãsuri>
> >> ['p&surj] "anger / suffering, pain". As a verb: <pãsa/-re>
> >> (+ the dative) "to care; be concerned; pay heed / to
> >> hang/fall because heavy." (There is a further <pãsa/-re>
> >> verb, "go," but this one < Lat. passare; it is old-fashioned.)
> >
> > The verb 'passen' in German (loan from Low German?) and Dutch
> > has the sense "to care; be concerned; pay heed", but is
> > usually explained as a loan from French 'passer'. But does
> > that French word really have that sense?
> >
> > Torsten
>
> In German, <passen> needs the separable prefix auf- to
> be able to cover the meaning "take care of:" <aufpassen>.
> (actually primordialy, if I ain't wrong: "watch out")

Dutch too: oppassen

> Otherwise, the simple <passen> keeps staying within the
> frame of "to fit; be compatible" (plus the specialized
> case of the poker game: <passe!>). (dialectal prefs: aaf-,
> uff-, op-, up-) (note, esp. in the Southern parts of the
> Reich, "passt scho'!" = "awright," "okay")


> The German dictionary Wahrig says: < frz. _passer_ for
> both German verbs <passen> and <passieren> "(A) to pass,
> to go past s.th. + (B) to happen" (for the latter verb,
> it also says that the meanings "gehen (go), vorbeigehen
> (go past)" of French <passer> were relevant).
>

Yes, that's what I said. I wondered if the source might be some
Nordwestblock cognate of Lat. penso (similarly to what happened in
Romanian); no dictionary today would suggest such an etymology,
since the idea that Nordwestblock languages existed hasn't gotten
through to dictionary editors yet.


Torsten