daltë

Albanian

Etymology

Either an inherited term, or a Slavic borrowing. Çabej deems it as inherited from Proto-Indo-European, listing Proto-Slavic *dolto (“chisel”) and Latin dolō (“I hew”) as cognates, and linking it internally with deltinë (“clay”). Çabej's arguments are based on the lack of archaic borrowings from Slavic into Albanian; in this case, a borrowing would necessitate linguistic exchange prior to Slavic liquid metathesis. Omari disagrees with Çabej's parallels between daltë and deltinë due to semantic problems. Svane casts doubt on Çabej's arguments, suggesting that it may have been borrowed later from a South Slavic language (derived from Proto-Slavic *dolto), and the *dla- > *dal- metathesis could have occurred within Albanian for ease of articulation. Preserved in South Slavic as Bulgarian длато (dlato). Romanian daltă (“chisel”) is seen by some linguists as an Albanian borrowing.^[1]^[2]^[3]

Noun

daltë f (plural dalta, definite dalta, definite plural daltat)

chisel

Derived terms

daltoj, daltuar, daltues

References

^ Topalli, K. (2017) “daltë”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe, Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 355
^ Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “daltë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, pages 54-55
^ Omari, Anila (2012) “daltë”, in Marrëdhëniet Gjuhësore Shqiptaro-Serbe, Tirana, Albania: Krishtalina KH, pages 124-125

[1] Topalli, K. (2017) “daltë”, in Fjalor Etimologjik i Gjuhës Shqipe, Durrës, Albania: Jozef, page 355

[2] Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “daltë”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, pages 54-55

[3] Omari, Anila (2012) “daltë”, in Marrëdhëniet Gjuhësore Shqiptaro-Serbe, Tirana, Albania: Krishtalina KH, pages 124-125

[1]

[2]

[3]