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 adoption of early Slavic /ь/ and /ъ/ as /i/ and /u/ respectively is also reflected in the Romanian sticlă, sută as well as numerous early borrowings into other languages.[1]

For /l/~/r/, note the Istro-Romanian métulę~méturę. The variable change of /l/ to /r/ can also be seen in Romanian măgulă~măgură (another borrowing). A possible reason for this “adjustment” is that unstressed /-ulə/ is entirely absent from the native word-stock, whereas unstressed /-urə/ is quite common (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 otherwise unmotivated.
  • 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] It is perhaps suspicious that there are no less than four Arbëreshë towns nearby (Castroregio, Farneta, San Costantino Albanese, San Paolo Albanese) and that no such word for “broom” appears 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), 2004–2025
  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 common Italian term ([ˈskɔːpə] < Latin scōpa).
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