Reconstruction:Latin/metula

This Latin entry contains reconstructed terms and roots. As such, the term(s) in this entry are not directly attested, but are hypothesized to have existed based on comparative evidence.

Latin

Etymology

Presumably from Proto-Slavic *metъla “broom”. Compare Albanian nétull.

It has also been claimed to be a (convoluted) derivative of Latin matta “rush-mat”.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈmetulə/, /ˈmeturə/

Noun

*metula f (Proto-Balkan-Romance)

  1. broom

Reconstruction notes

The foreign adoption of early Slavic reduced vowels (/ь, ъ/ presumably /ɪ, ʊ/) as close vowels (/i, u/) is also reflected in Romanian sticlă, sută as well as numerous early borrowings into other languages.[1]

For the */l~r/, note the Istro-Romanian métulę~méturę. Such a variation is also found in the Romanian măgulă~măgură, another borrowing into Balkan Romance that originally had /l/. Perhaps the unstressed ending /-ulə/, not found in any native words, was variably adjusted to the rather common /-urə/ (cf. ghindură, păcură, scândură).

As for the attempts[2] to link *metula to Latin matta (“rush-mat”):

  • The /e/ of *metula has to be explained somehow, and the proposal of a crossing with Latin metō “reap, harvest” seems semantically weak.
  • There is no apparent attestation of a neuter reflex of *metula.
  • Of the cited forms in other branches of Romance, only one actually has the sense “broom”, namely the [mattˈɔrrə] recorded in the Italian town of Oriolo.[3][note 1] In light of the Albanian nétull (“broom”), it is perhaps of relevance that there are no less than four Arbëreshë towns near Oriolo— namely Castroregio, Farneta, San Costantino Albanese, and San Paolo Albanese. As of yet, no such word for “broom” has been cited elsewhere in Italy.

Descendants

  • Aromanian: meturã
  • Istro-Romanian: méturę, métulę
  • Megleno-Romanian: metură, mietură
  • Romanian: mătură, mătoră, mătără — regional or obsolete

References

  • Saenko, Mikhail. 2023. “Праславянские «Редуцированные» и Гласные u и i в словенском говоре Валбурги: Некоторые параллели”. Исследования по славянской диалектологии. 24: 5–39.
  1. ^ Saenko 2023: 21–2
  2. ^ “mătură”, in DEX online—Dicționare ale limbii române (Dictionaries of the Romanian language) (in Romanian), 2004–2026
  3. ^ AIS: Sprach- und Sachatlas Italiens und der Südschweiz [Linguistic and Ethnographic Atlas of Italy and Southern Switzerland] – map 1552: “la granata (scopa); la spazzatura (ill.)” – on navigais-web.pd.istc.cnr.it
  1. ^ Where, incidentally, it is recorded as competing with the general Italian type [skˈɔːpə] (< Latin scōpa).
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