# (Old) Greek words in Romanian



## robbie_SWE

*Mod edit - split from **this thread**.*



OldAvatar said:


> *ă* is pronounced like _e_ from English article _the._
> There are very few words in Romanian which have Greek origin. There are much more in Aromanian, for example...
> 
> However, most of the Romanian words related with classic fabric manufacturing are of Latin origin (aţă = line, iţă = shaft, lână = wool, pânză = cloth, fir = stitch etc.) (non-neologisms, of course). Some of the newest materials are of other origins (especially Turkic) but I can't figure out any of Greek origin, as far as I know.


 
Well this is news! Very many basic words in the Romanian language are of Greek origin, so your first statement doesn't really add up. But that's probably a different thread. 

 robbie


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## OldAvatar

robbie_SWE said:


> Very many basic words in the Romanian language are of Greek origin.
> 
> robbie


 
Like what?

Edit: Only 1.7% of Romanian words have a Neo-Greek origin. That's a few, considering the vocabulary standards. There are not words of Old Greek origin in Romanian, at least, not officialy.


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## modus.irrealis

I think it depends on your perspective. I checked words like biserică, preot, înger at that dexonline site and it seems to only mention Latin as the origin, but all three Latin words are borrowed from Greek. In fact, there were a lot of Greek words in later Latin that are widespread in the Romance language that are therefore both inherited and loanwords from Greek, but again, it depends on how you look at it.


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## robbie_SWE

Depends on the Greek, I'm mostly talking about neo-Greek (contemporary) and if you want I can create a list. 

As it was pointed out by Modus.irrealis, many words attested to Latin are actually of Greek origin or have Greek cognates. And by the way; 1,7 % is still a significant number especially regarding the Romanian vocabulary (this means that appr. 5250 Romanian words are of Greek origin, a number that is probably much higher than any other Romance language) (N.B. this is probably disregarding the myriad of Greek terminology used in psychology, medicine, law and other domains and sciences).

Respectfully,

 robbie


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## OldAvatar

robbie_SWE said:


> Depends on the Greek, I'm mostly talking about neo-Greek (contemporary) and if you want I can create a list.
> 
> As it was pointed out by Modus.irrealis, many words attested to Latin are actually of Greek origin or have Greek cognates. And by the way; 1,7 % is still a significant number especially regarding the Romanian vocabulary (this means that appr. 5250 Romanian words are of Greek origin, a number that is probably much higher than any other Romance language) (N.B. this is probably disregarding the myriad of Greek terminology used in psychology, medicine, law and other domains and sciences).
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> robbie



Well, many of the Latin words have old-Greek origins. If you put it that way, then, of course, you'll probably significantly raise the number. But that's not the point, isn't it?


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## robbie_SWE

> Like what?


 
Like: 

*VERBS*
_folosi (+ folosire, folosit, folositor, folos)_ = to use
_ofta (+ oft, oftare)_ = to sigh
_lipsi (+ lipsit, lipsă, lipsire)_ = to miss, to lack
_pedepsi (+ pedeapsă, pedepsit)_ = to punish 
_diafendisi_ = (old word) to defend
_călăuzi (+ călăuză) _= to lead

*NOUNS*
_patimă (+ compătimi, pătimi)_ = deep love
_aht_ = sigh
_ora__ş (N.B. cognate with the Old Greek baros) = city_
_polite = city_
_hartă = map_
_drum (+ îndruma)_ = way (like a street)
_stol_ = flock (birds)
_cărămidă_ = brick 
_pat_ = bed
_buzunar_ = pocket 
_pantalon_ = pants 
_măteasă_ (apparently) = silk 
_farfurie_ = plate 
_lin_ = a wooden barrel used for wine-making
_verighetă_ = a ring 
_chir (chiră)_ = sir (mrs.)
_cocon (cocoană)_ = sir (mrs.)

*ADJECTIVES*
_proaspăt_ = fresh
_ieftin_ _(+ ieftini)_ = cheap 

*ADVERB *
_agale_ = calmly 

*VEGETABLES, FRUITS, HERBS & PLANTS/TREES *
_sparanghel_ = asparagus 
_ţelină_ = celery 
_anghinare_ = artichoke 
_conopid__ă_ = cauliflower 
_fasole_ = (string) beans
_spanac_ = spinach 

_portocal__ă_ _(+ portocal, portocaliu)_ = (fruit) orange, orange (colour)
_caisă_ (+ cais) = apricot 
_agurid__ă_ = small grapes 
_lămâie_ _(+lămâi)_ = (fruit) leamon

_mărar_ = dill 
_cimbru_ = thyme 

_trandafir_ = rose 
_chiparos_ = cypress 
_castan_ (+ castanie) = chestnut 

In retrospect, many Romanian words have Greek counterparts due to derivations from other languages or Greek words that have entered the Romanian language through other languages e.g. 

_bamă_ (= okra), _bostan_ (= pumpkin), _maghiran_ (= marjoram), _dafin_ (= laurel), _afin_ (= blueberry), _zmeur/zmeură_ (= raspberry), _cedru_ (= ceder), _hamamelis_ (= witch-hazel), _amigdală_ (= amygdala), _cale_ (= road), _săpun_ (= soap), _caimac_ (= cream), _sictir_ (= to buzz off), _babă_ (= crone), _bălaur_ (= dragon), _căpcăun_ (= mythical creature with a dog’s head), _apatrid_ (= stateless), _cadă_ (= bathtub), _bumbac_ (= cotton), _baltă_ (= puddle), 
_hai/haide_ (= “come on”)

(-the months were passed on from Greek through the Eastern Orthodox Church, along with a lot of religious terminology

(-many animals e.g. _elefant_, _delfin_, _rinocer_, _hipopotam_ etc.) 

*Conclusion*: apparently many vegetables, fruits, herbs and plants in the Romanian language come from Greek, alongside with many everyday words. 

Aaah…quite exhausted now!  These are only some of the words I could think of from the top of my head. There are many more! 

Hope this cleared things up OldAvatar! 

Respectfully, 

 robbie


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## OldAvatar

No, it doesn't clear it up at all. By contrary, I'm a bit disapointed by your conclusion.
Some of the Romanian words presented don't have Greek etymology (oraş, a ofta, hartă, drum, haide, căpcăun, caimac, cedru, bumbac, afin, balaur, zmeu and many others...), others don't exist at all (diafendisi; polite -  what language is this?).
I found your list being, at least, a form of sophism (just to keep the discussion in the field of Greek words 
I agree with the fact that some of the vegetables and fruits names are of Greek origin because this kind of food was brought by Greek traders. But that doesn't mean there are a lot of Greek words in Romanian. They are  just a few, considering the fact that Greek princes (Fanariots) ruled Vallachia for almost 200 years.


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## modus.irrealis

OldAvatar said:


> Well, many of the Latin words have old-Greek origins. If you put it that way, then, of course, you'll probably significantly raise the number. But that's not the point, isn't it?


What did you mean then by saying that "There are not words of Old Greek origin in Romanian, at least, not officialy?"


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## OldAvatar

modus.irrealis said:


> What did you mean then by saying that "There are not words of Old Greek origin in Romanian, at least, not officialy?"



Romanian dictionaries do not use Old-Greek as reference when it comes to etymology because there is a huge gap in history between the use of Old Greek and the appearance of Romanian language, as a separate Romance language (probably about 1000 years). So, that's why, for any word of Greek origin, they especially mention that it comes from New Greek and not from the Old Greek.


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## robbie_SWE

I don't know what more to say to make you see that the Greek language is a vital part of basic Romanian. The list just keeps going!

I speak the same language you do OldAvatar! 




> *POLITÍE*, _politii, _s.f. (_Înv_.) *1.* Activitate, practică politică, afaceri politice. *2.* Oraş. – Din _ngr._ politía.


 

Sorry for my typo, didn't realise it until now. Kind of ate an “i”. 



> *diafendisi* (-sesc, -it), vb. – A apăra, a proteja. – Var. _diafendefsi._ _Ngr._ διαφεντεύω, aorist διαφεντευσα (Gáldi 169; Tiktin).


 
They might be “livresc”, but they still exist.

_oraş_ = could be from Hungarian *város*, but acording to this article it's still open for discussion (Greek *baros*). 
_a ofta_ = from *oft*, which is derived from *aht* (Greek *áhti*) 
_hartă_ = Greek *hártis*
_drum_ = according to the English Wiktionary *δρόμος* (_drómos_)
_haide_ = Cf. Greek *áide*
_căpcăun_ = from *cap*+ *câine* (after Greek *kinokefalos)* 
_caimac_ = Cf. Greek *ϰ**α**ï**μά**ϰ**ι* (_kaimáki_) 
_cedru_ = Cf. *kedros* 
_bumbac_ = Cf. *βόμβυξ*
_afin_ = derived from the Greek word *δάφνη* (_dáfin_)
_balaur_ = Cf. *πελώριον* (_pelórion_) 
_zmeură_ = Cf. *σμέουρον*_ (sméuron)_

I never stated that all the words I presented were inherently Greek. Many of them are actually Turkish but exist in both Romanian and Greek, making the 1,7 % you mentioned in one of your previous posts quite fallacious. 

Respectfully, 

** robbie


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## modus.irrealis

OldAvatar said:


> Romanian dictionaries do not use Old-Greek as reference when it comes to etymology because there is a huge gap in history between the use of Old Greek and the appearance of Romanian language, as a separate Romance language (probably about 1000 years). So, that's why, for any word of Greek origin, they especially mention that it comes from New Greek and not from the Old Greek.


Thanks -- I see what you mean, although it still seems to me like an odd way to look at things -- I mean Romanian has a direct link to Latin and it's fairly arbitrary to decide when it stopped being Latin and started being Romanian (compare Greek where the same word is used for the entire history of the language) so I don't see why you wouldn't say Romanian borrowed the words from Greek -- it's not like it borrowed them from Latin (since it is Latin and hence just kept them). But now that you've explained it, I understand that point of view.


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## OldAvatar

robbie_SWE said:


> _oraş_ = could be from Hungarian *város*, but acording to this article it's still open for discussion (Greek *baros*).
> _a ofta_ = from *oft*, which is derived from *aht* (Greek *áhti*)
> _hartă_ = Greek *hártis*
> _drum_ = according to the English Wiktionary *δρόμος* (_drómos_)
> _haide_ = Cf. Greek *áide*
> _căpcăun_ = from *cap*+ *câine* (after Greek *kinokefalos)*
> _caimac_ = Cf. Greek *ϰ**α**ï**μά**ϰ**ι* (_kaimáki_)
> _cedru_ = Cf. *kedros*
> _bumbac_ = Cf. *βόμβυξ*
> _afin_ = derived from the Greek word *δάφνη* (_dáfin_)
> _balaur_ = Cf. *πελώριον* (_pelórion_)
> _zmeură_ = Cf. *σμέουρον*_ (sméuron)_
> 
> I never stated that all the words I presented were inherently Greek. Many of them are actually Turkish but exist in both Romanian and Greek, making the 1,7 % you mentioned in one of your previous posts quite fallacious.
> 
> Respectfully,
> 
> ** robbie



Well, the fact that those words are in both languages, Greek and Romanian doesn't mean they are of Greek origin*:*

*a ofta, oftare* is from an onomatopoeia (of)
*căpcăun* is from _Cap _(Latin origin)+ _câine_ (Latin origin)
*hartă* is from Latin _carta_
*cedru *is from Latin _cedrus_, actually it is a neologism, it was borrowed via French
*caimac* is Turkish
*afin *hasn't got anything to do with *dafin *
and so on...

The presence of Greek words in Romanian is insignificant. Well, if we're talking about Aromanian, that is indeed, a different story. Aromanian language has been much more influenced by Greek language and it is now hardly recognisable as a Romance language.

Edit: Now I see that you consider the Greek contribution in basic Romanian as being vital. Well, I guess it's time for me, then, to leave the discussion as it is ...


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## OldAvatar

modus.irrealis said:


> Thanks -- I see what you mean, although it still seems to me like an odd way to look at things -- I mean Romanian has a direct link to Latin and it's fairly arbitrary to decide when it stopped being Latin and started being Romanian (compare Greek where the same word is used for the entire history of the language) so I don't see why you wouldn't say Romanian borrowed the words from Greek -- it's not like it borrowed them from Latin (since it is Latin and hence just kept them). But now that you've explained it, I understand that point of view.



It is not necesarily my point of view. I just noticed that fact in Romanian dictionaries and I asked myself the same thing you did. Some gave me that reason and I took it as it is...


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## jaxlarus

I was quite intrigued by this list of Greek loans, to be honest... Some I did recognize as Greek, but others are of foreign origin. I'll try to take them one by one, if this is possible...


*VERBS*
folosi < όφελος = profit, use
ofta < Probably from 'of' but can't claim is Greek
lipsi < έλλειψη = lack
pedepsi < παιδεύω, παίδευσις = to torture, originally to educate
diafendisi < διαφεντεύω, διαφέντευση < lat. defendo < gr. δια+αφέντης
călăuzi < κολαούζος < tur. kılavuz = guide [not Greek]

*NOUNS*
patimă < πάθημα? (mısfortune); πάτημα? (footstep). Anyway, far from meaning 'deep love'
          aht = can't claim the exclamation 'ah' is of Greek origin!
oraş < tur. varoş = city suburb [not Greek]
polite < πόλις = city
hartă < χάρτης = map, originally paper.
drum < δρόμος = street
stol < στόλος = fleet
cărămidă < κεραμίδι < κεραμίς = tile
pat < ?
buzunar < ? 
pantalon < fr. pantalon
măteasă < μετάξι = silk
farfurie < ?
lin - the only connectıon I could make is with λινός (wine or olive press). The word however is only used in Cyprus as far as I know and its etymology is of classical Greek, I suppose.
verighetă < ? Sounds of Italian origin
chir (chiră) < κύριος = lord, sir, mr.
cocon (cocoană) < κοκόνα < rom. cocoană [not Greek!]

*ADJECTIVES*
                  proaspăt < πρόσφατος = recent
ieftin < φτηνός < ευθηνός = cheap

*ADVERB *
agale < αγάλι = slowly, calmly

*VEGETABLES, FRUITS, HERBS & PLANTS/TREES *
sparanghel < σπαράγγι < ασπάραγος
ţelină < σέλινο
anghinare < αγκινάρα
           conopidă < κουνουπίδι
fasole < φασόλι < φάσηλος < lat. phaselus, of Umbric origin
spanac < σπανάκι < lat. spinaceum < pers. aspanah

portocală < πορτοκάλι < it. portogallo
caisă < καϊσί < tr. kayısı [not Greek]
aguridă < αγουρίδα = sour (not ripe yet) grape
lămâie < λεμόνι < it. limone < pers. limun

mărar < μάραθος? = fennel. Dill is άνηθος.
cimbru < ? Thyme is θυμάρι < θύμος

trandafir < τριαντάφυλλο
chiparos < κυπαρίσσι < κυπάρισσος
castan < κάστανο

As for the other words, some of them are actually Greek:
bamă - μπάμια < tur. bamya
bostan - μποστάνι = (vegetable) garden < tur. bostan 
maghiran - μαντζουράνα < ven. mazorana < lat. maiorana < lat. amaracus < αμάρακος
dafin < δάφνη
afin - ? I can't think of a word used in Greek for 'blueberry' sounding like that.
zmeur - σμέουρο < ? sounds slavic
cedru < κέδρος
hamamelis < αμαμηλίς
amigdală < αμύγδαλο
cale - ? I can't think of a word used in Greek for 'road' sounding like that. *Kal*dırım in Turkish however means sidewalk / pavement. Kale is a castle, but quite irrelevant.
săpun < σαπούνι < σάπων < lat. sapo, of Celtic origin.
caimac - καϊμάκι < tur. kaymak
sictir - σικτίρ < tur. siktir [Not as light as 'buzz off' in Turkish, mind you. The mainland Greeks use it 'lightly', but it's extremely offensive if used in Cyprus]
babă - μπάμπω < slavic babo (of baba)
bălaur - the only world I found sounding like this μπαλαούρο, not meaning dragon but store-room of a ship.
căpcăun - no Greek counterpart, no idea of origin.
apatrid < άπατρις
cadă < κάδος = tub, bucket
bumbac - βαμβάκι < pers. pampa(k)
baltă - μπαλτάς < tur. balta = axe (not meaning puddle)
hai/haide - άντε < άιντε < άιτε < άετε < άγετε < άγω. Used in many languages in the region, but originally Greek

The animals are Greek yes.


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## robbie_SWE

OldAvatar said:


> Well, the fact that those words are in both languages, Greek and Romanian doesn't mean they are of Greek origin*:*
> 
> *a ofta, oftare* is from an onomatopoeia (of) (well, it depends...look here)
> *căpcăun* is from _Cap _(Latin origin)+ _câine_ (Latin origin) (agree, but the mythical creature and its name is Greek)
> *hartă is from Latin carta *(no, you're confusing it with *carte* "book")
> *cedru *is from Latin _cedrus_, actually it is a neologism, it was borrowed via French (the Latin got if from Greek)
> *caimac* is Turkish (yes, the Cf. stands for "confer", meaning that it exists in both langauges)
> *afin hasn't got anything to do with dafin* *AFIN* Arbust scund cu fructe comestibile. – Mr. _afin_. Lat. _daphne_, din gr. δάφνη „laur“ *(still hasn't?)*
> and so on...
> 
> The presence of Greek words in Romanian is insignifiant. Well, if we're talking about Aromanian, that is indeed, a different story. Aromanian language has been much more influenced by Greek language and it is now hardly recognisable as a Romance language


 
You can't call over 5250 words insignificant! I agree that Aromanian has a greater influence, but for a Romance language, Romanian IS highly influenced by Greek even in basic words like _cheap_, _road_, _use, punish_, _miss/lack_ etc. And as I said, a lot of the academic terminology is not present in that number so the lexical similarity would probably be even greater. 

robbie


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## OldAvatar

robbie_SWE said:


> You can't call over 5250 words insignificant! I agree that Aromanian has a greater influence, but for a Romance language, Romanian IS highly influenced by Greek even in basic words like _cheap_, _road_, _use, punish_, _miss/lack_ etc. And as I said, a lot of the academic terminology is not present in that number so the lexical similarity would probably be even greater.
> 
> robbie



As I said, I leave it as it is. Your judgement is based too much on presumtions and I don't want to go on with this.

Edit: See Swadesh list for Aromanian and Romanian words and see the etymology, for example:

http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lista_Swadesh_a_limbii_aromâne


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## robbie_SWE

jaxlarus said:


> I was quite intrigued by this list of Greek loans, to be honest... Some I did recognize as Greek, but others are of foreign origin. I'll try to take them one by one, if this is possible...
> 
> 
> *VERBS*
> folosi - doesn't ring a bell _(from *ófelos*)_
> ofta - either... _(what about *áhti*?)_
> lipsi < έλλειψη = lack
> pedepsi < παιδεύω, παίδευσις = to torture, originally to educate
> diafendisi < διαφεντεύω, διαφέντευση < lat. defendo < gr. δια+αφέντης
> călăuzi < κολαούζος < tur. kılavuz = guide [not Greek] _(but Romanian took it from Greek )_
> 
> *NOUNS*
> patimă < πάθημα? (mısfortune); πάτημα? (footstep). Anyway, far from meaning 'deep love' _(nono...it's from *páthima*)_
> aht = can't claim the exclamation 'ah' is of Greek origin!
> oraş < tur. varoş = city suburb [not Greek]
> polite < πόλις = city
> hartă < χάρτης = map, originally paper.
> drum < δρόμος = street
> stol < στόλος = fleet
> cărămidă < κεραμίδι < κεραμίς = tile
> pat < ? _(from *pátos*)_
> buzunar < ? _(from *buzunára*)_
> pantalon < fr. pantalon
> măteasă < μετάξι = silk
> farfurie < ? _(from *farfuri*)_
> lin - the only connectıon I could make is with λινός (wine or olive press). The word however is only used in Cyprus as far as I know and its etymology is of classical Greek, I suppose.
> verighetă < ? Sounds of Italian origin _(yeah, it exists in Italian too, but there should be a Greek word *verghéta*)_
> chir (chiră) < κύριος = lord, sir, mr.
> cocon (cocoană) < κοκόνα < rom. cocoană [not Greek!]
> 
> *ADJECTIVES*
> proaspăt < πρόσφατος = recent
> ieftin < φτηνός < ευθηνός = cheap
> 
> *ADVERB *
> agale < αγάλι = slowly, calmly
> 
> *VEGETABLES, FRUITS, HERBS & PLANTS/TREES *
> sparanghel < σπαράγγι < ασπάραγος
> ţelină < σέλινο
> anghinare < αγκινάρα
> conopidă < κουνουπίδι
> fasole < φασόλι < φάσηλος < lat. phaselus, of Umbric origin
> spanac < σπανάκι < lat. spinaceum < pers. aspanah
> 
> portocală < πορτοκάλι < it. portogallo
> caisă < καϊσί < tr. kayısı [not Greek] _(came to Romanian from Greek though)_
> aguridă < αγουρίδα = sour (not ripe yet) grape
> lămâie < λεμόνι < it. limone < pers. limun
> 
> mărar < μάραθος? = fennel. Dill is άνηθος.
> cimbru < ? Thyme is θυμάρι < θύμος _(from Greek *thymbra*)_
> 
> trandafir < τριαντάφυλλο
> chiparos < κυπαρίσσι < κυπάρισσος
> castan < κάστανο
> 
> As for the other words, some of them are actually Greek:
> bamă - μπάμια < tur. bamya
> bostan - μποστάνι = (vegetable) garden < tur. bostan
> maghiran - μαντζουράνα < ven. mazorana < lat. maiorana < lat. amaracus < αμάρακος
> dafin < δάφνη
> afin - ? I can't think of a word used in Greek for 'blueberry' sounding like that. _(there shouldn't be...it's an indigenous creation )_
> zmeur - σμέουρο < ? sounds slavic _(well, the Romanian word is said to be indigenous, but similar words exist in all the Balkans)_
> cedru < κέδρος
> hamamelis < αμαμηλίς
> amigdală < αμύγδαλο
> cale - ? I can't think of a word used in Greek for 'road' sounding like that. *Kal*dırım in Turkish however means sidewalk / pavement. Kale is a castle, but quite irrelevant. _(in my dictionary it says that the Latin *callis* entered Greek as *ϰαλειά*)_
> săpun < σαπούνι < σάπων < lat. sapo, of Celtic origin.
> caimac - καϊμάκι < tur. kaymak
> sictir - σικτίρ < tur. siktir [Not as light as 'buzz off' in Turkish, mind you. The mainland Greeks use it 'lightly', but it's extremely offensive if used in Cyprus]
> babă - μπάμπω < slavic babo (of baba)
> bălaur - the only world I found sounding like this μπαλαούρο, not meaning dragon but store-room of a ship. _(the Greek word *πελώριον*)_
> căpcăun - no Greek counterpart, no idea of origin. _(what about *kinokefalos*?)_
> apatrid < άπατρις
> cadă < κάδος = tub, bucket
> bumbac - βαμβάκι < pers. pampa(k)
> baltă - μπαλτάς < tur. balta = axe (not meaning puddle)
> hai/haide - άντε < άιντε < άιτε < άετε < άγετε < άγω. Used in many languages in the region, but originally Greek
> 
> The animals are Greek yes.


 
Very interesting! Thank you Jaxlarus! I made some changes, you might want to take a look.



OldAvatar said:


> As I said, I leave it as it is. Your judgement is based too much on presumtions and I don't want to go on with this.


 
I can only say that the feeling is mutual and I will leave it at that. I have many times had the same feeling towards your judgement in many questions concerning Romanian words of Slavic origin and the only thing we can do now is to agree to disagree.

 robbie


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## OldAvatar

robbie_SWE said:


> I have many times had the same feeling towards your judgement in many questions concerning Romanian words of Slavic origin...
> 
> robbie



What do you mean? Anyway, I guess that such statement's place is in private discussions and not in the public forum, but nevermind.


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## jaxlarus

ofta < άχτι < tur. ahd(etmek) < arabic ahd
patimă < πάθημα = misfortune
aht < again from tur. ahd(etmek) < arabic ahd
pat < πάθος = passion

 buzunar < ? _(from *buzunára*)_
farfurie < ? _(from *farfuri*)
_A mainland Greek, and specially one from the north of Greece could maybe shed some light on these two. Judging by their sounds, they are not of Greek origin. Buzunar reminds me of ζωνάρι (= girdle) though.
 
verighetă < ? Sounds of Italian origin _(yeah, it exists in Italian too, but there should be a Greek word *verghéta*)
_βέρα (= engagement ring) < venetian vera
 
cimbru < ? Thyme is θυμάρι < θύμος _(from Greek *thymbra*)
_Can't find the word anywhere 

cale - ? I can't think of a word used in Greek for 'road' sounding like that. _(in my dictionary it says that the Latin *callis* entered Greek as *ϰαλειά*)_
This is purely of latin origin, cf sp. calle. Καλειά could mean a road but it's only used rarely and only in the phrase 'πάω καλειά μου' - going my way, doing my business. Not listed in any dictionary.

bălaur - the only world I found sounding like this μπαλαούρο, not meaning dragon but store-room of a ship. _(the Greek word *πελώριον*)
_If indeed it derives from πελώριο = huge, well, it's a new one on me!
 
căpcăun - no Greek counterpart, no idea of origin. _(what about *kinokefalos*?)
_κυνοκέφαλος is purely Greek. But the word was inherited in Romanian by the latin counterpart.


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## Frank06

*Hi,*

*Cool down, guys. Nobody wins anything in this kind of discussions. Certainly not the members who are not involved in the ongoing quarrel (and that is everybody except you two).*

*If you really want to start to bicker and verbally kick each others' *ss, you can stuff each others' mail boxes, but not this forum.*

*This thread is closed until further notice.*

*Frank*
*Moderator EHL*


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