Albanian edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

Unclear. Orel suggests a borrowing from Bulgarian сапът (sapǎt, axe-handle), which does not account for its prevalence in both dialects.[1] Meyer suggest an indirect borrowing from Vulgar Latin *sappata from Latin sappa (mattock), comparing it with Romance descendants Italian zappa (hoe), French sape (scythe, hoe), Romanian sapă (hoe, mattock).[2] Topalli suggests a possible borrowing from Italian spada (sword), contaminated by shpatë (sword).[3]

Pronunciation edit

Noun edit

sëpatë f (plural sëpata, definite sëpata, definite plural sëpatat)

  1. axe
  2. hatchet

Synonyms edit

Derived terms edit

References edit

  1. ^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “sëpatë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 34
  2. ^ Meyer, G. (1891) “sëpatë”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language]‎[1] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI
  3. ^ Topalli, K. (2017) “sëpatë”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe, Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 1311