Dacian Words

A more recent, newer list of likely Dacian words is an opportunity to look back at a few issues with Meta Marioara.

Varianta în limba română pe FaṭăCarte Meta Zamolxis.

• A few additions to Meta Marioara.
• Summarizing the new list of Dacian words.

A few things still bug me about Meta Marioara, or, more precisely, the many messages a seemingly senior Romanian lady sent me about having written in English. I have started making sense of her special orthography and translating to English her words in a separate document, though I also linked the screenshots of her messages in the original article.

First, I was both annoyed and sorry for this lady. For one thing, I had answered her questions before and made one of the most detailed FAQ lists (English and Romanian) in the blogosphere on the old blog. I had not yet moved them to the new one because some updating is needed and I haven’t had the time yet. And I was sorry, because it became apparent that she might not have been able to go through it and make sense of it all. And she was after all a reader, making a valiant effort to communicate with me, in her own way. I wish I had the time to interact with her, especially since she made me curious. I’ve found it difficult to get over the (very!) numerous misspellings, so I pointed them out, which resulted in her making silly threats and, feeling that this conversation is not recoverable, I had to ban her from my page.

It seems to me that the tribe of Dacologists is comprised of mostly men, as it is men who are most likely to adhere to such obscure rules of grouping – freemasonry is a similarly coalesced crew. I’m guessing the irritation of not understanding this seeming contradiction between the name of the page on Facebook and that of the blog (whatever it meant) was too much.

But in my defense I had (and still have) a lot of things to fix and transition, not least of all fixing the results of censorship. I prefer to spend my time catching up on things I needed to write but haven’t had the time to finish. Regardless, FWIW, I’ll be publishing the updated FAQ pages shortly. Until then, let me reiterate:

• This blog is called “Also Sprach Zamolxis”, after a book by philosopher Nietzsche (English, Romanian, German)
• Zamolxis (old spelling, correct: Zalmoxis) was the supreme deity of Dacians, who lived in the present-day Romania before the Roman conquest
• I started this blog in Romanian with a .com domain name, but after switching to .ca, and having found difficulties following Romanian media (see fake and adevarul), I resolved to just write directly in English; most of the content I consume is English and so is most of the business I conduct

On the subject of the Romanian language, I prefer to listen to specialists, rather than some medical doctor, and here’s what I could find recently. (By the way, I took the illustration of that article and “anthropomorphosized” it with my favorite public persons, mostly politicians.)

Sure words

Let’s start with the words “sure” to be traco-dacian, currently 90, as compiled (much like the others) by Grigore Brâncuș, who passed away in 2022:

1. „abur(e)“ – steam
2. „argea“ (bordei) – tiny home :)
3. „baci“ – shepherd
4. „bală“ (ființă fabuloasă) – faboulous being
5. „balaure“ – dragon
6. „balegă“ – manure, dung
7. „baltă“ – puddle (illustrated: CG w/ poop emoji w/ crown)
8. „barz“ (folosit azi pentru a desemna barza) – used today to designate the stork
9. „bască“ (lâna tunsă de la o oaie) – wool sheared from a sheep
10. „bâlc“ (mlaștină, mocirlă) – swamp, mire, marsh
11. „bâr“ (strigăt cu care sunt mânate oile) – cry for sheep handling
12. „brad“ – fir tree (illustrated: Brad Pitt in Fight Club)
13. „brânză“ – cheese
14. „brâu“ – girdle, belt (illustrated: burta / Ciolacu)
15. „brustur(e)“ – burdock
16. „buc“ (pleavă) - chaff
17. „bucura“, „bucurie“ („bucur“ = frumos) – joy / beautiful
18. „bunget“ (pădure deasă de stejar, desiș, stejăriș) – dense oak forest, oak grove
19. „buză“ – lip
20. „căciulă“ – cap, hat
21. „călbează“ (boală de ficat la oi, gălbează) – boils (liver disease in sheep, yellow)
22. „căpușă“ - tick
23. „cătun“ – hamlet
24. „ceafă“ – nape, head
25. „cioară“ – crow (illustration: Sosoaca aka Scrofoaca)
26. „cioc“ – beak
27. „ciucă“ (vârf de deal, pisc) – hilltop, peak (illustrated: Iohannis / sfinx?)
28. „ciuf“ (moț) – hairtop (?)
29. „ciump“ (rest dintr-un obiect căruia i s-a tăiat vârful) – the remains of an object with a cut off top
30. „ciupi“ – pinch
31. „ciut“ (fără coarne, fără urechi), „ciută“ – without horns, without ears
32. „coacăză“ - currant
33. „copac“ – tree (illustrated: Nicusor Dan)
34. „copil“ – child
35. „curpen“ (planta agățătoare, vrej) – hanging plant
36. „cursă“ (capcană pentru animale) – animal trap
37. „droaie“ – drove, multitude
38. „druete“ (lemn gros și scurt) – thick and short piece of wood (whisk?)
39. „fărâmă“ – sprig, crumb
40. „fluier“ – whistle
41. „gard“ – fence
42. „gata“ – ready (jack?)
43. „ghimpe“ – thorn
44. „ghionoaie“ – wattles (stepmother :)
45. „ghiuj“ (bunic, bătrân) – grandpa, old man
46. „grapă“ – harrow
47. „gresie“ – tiles
48. „groapă“ – pit
49. „grumaz“ - neck
50. „grunz“ (bucată de materie tare și sfărâmicioasă) – piece of hard and crumbling matter
51. „gușă“ – goiter
52. „hameș“ (lacom, mâncăcios) – greedy, glutton
53. „jumătate“ – half
54. „lete“ (încet, ușor) – slowly, easy
55. „leurdă“ – “Allium Ursinum” plant (bg: levurda)
56. „mal“ (munte, loc înalt) – mountain, high place
57. „mare“ (înalt) – high (tall)
58. „mazăre“ – pea
59. „măgar“ – donkey (illustrated: cg-riding)
60. „măgură“ – hillock (isolated large hill)
61. „mărar“ – dill
62. „mânz“ – foal
63. „moș“ – old man
64. „mugur(e)“ – bud
65. „murg“ (întunecos, negru, sur), „amurg“ (derivat) – dark, black sur / twilight (derived)
66. „mușcoi“ (catâr) – mule
67. „năpârcă“ – lizard species anguis fragilis
68. „noian“ (suprafață întinsă de apă) – large stretch of water
69. „pârâu“ – stream (brook)
70. „pupăză“ – hoopoe (illustration: Ms CG)
71. „rață“ – duck (illustration: Lasconi)
72. „rânză“ (pipotă, stomac de animal, cheag) – gizzard, animal stomach, rennet, clot
73. „searbăd“ (acru, fad, brânzit) – sour / bland / cheesy
74. „sâmbur(e)“ – kernel
75. „scăpăra“ – spark
76. „scrum“ – ash
77. „spânz“ (planta erbacee toxică) – toxic herbacious plant
78. „strepede“ (vierme în brânză) – worm in cheese
79. „strugure“ – grape
80. „strungă“ (la stână, deschizătură prin care trec oile pentru a fi mulse), „strungăreață“ – lathe (the narrow opening through which the sheep go to be molded; also for teeth)
81. „șopârlă“ – lizard
82. „știră“ (stearpă, nerodnică) – stud (sterile female goat)
83. „țap“ – male goat (illustrated: ctp)
84. „țarc“ – pen (illustrated: Toni Grebla)
85. „țeapă“ – stake
86. „urdă“ – sweet cheese similar to ricotta
87. „vatră“ – hearth, fireplace
88. „viezure“ – badger
89. „zară“ (lapte bătut din care s-a scos untul) – whipped milk w/ butter removed
90. „zgardă“ – collar

Some of the above were unknown to me (both English and Romanian). The same goes for the following.

The "probable" words are more numerous, while the toponyms are better found on a map.

“Probable” traco-dacian words

1. „aică“ (smântână, unsoare, materie grasă) – cream, butter, fat
2. „băiat“ – boy
3. „băl“ (blond, alb), „bălai“, „bălan“ – blond, white
4. „borț“ (burta femeii gravide), „borțoasă“ – pregnant woman’s belly
5. „brâncă“ (umflătură, boală la vite) – swelling / cattle disease
6. „căpută“ (parte a încălțămintei care acoperă piciorul de la gleznă la degete) – part of footwear covering the foot from the ankle to the toes
7. „chelbe“ (boală a părului, calviție, chelire) – baldness
8. „codru“ (pădure mare/bătrână, munte; bucată de pâine) – large/old forest, mountain / piece of bread
9. „Crăciun“ – Christmas
10. „creț“ – curly
11. „cruța“ (a păstra, a feri, a ierta) – spare (to preserve, to keep, to forgive)
12. „curma“ (a tăia, a lua viața, a întrerupe) – to cut off, to take life, to interrupt
13. „daltă“ – chisel
14. „daș“ (miel) – lamb
15. „dărâma“ (a tăia crengile unui copac, spre a da de mâncare la animale, a doborî, a fărâmița) – to cut the branches of a tree to feed animals, to knock down, to crumble
16. „fluture“ – butterfly
17. „gardină“ (șănțuleț făcut la capetele interioare ale doagelor butoaielor) – fence (a small fence made on the inner ends of barrel staves)
18. „gogă“ (strigoi, ființă imaginară care le face rău copiilor) – undead, an imaginary creature that harms children
19. „lai“ (negru, cu pete negre, sur) – black, with black spots, sur
20. „lehăi“ (a lătra, a vorbi fără niciun rost) – to bark, to talk pointlessly
21. „mătură“ – broom
22. „mire“, „mireasă“ – groom / bride
23. „mură“ (stomac de animal rumegător) – stomach of a ruminating animal
24. „negură“ – dense fog (morning)
25. „oacără“ (despre oaie – albă cu pete negre pe bot) – white sheep with black spots on the muzzle
26. „păstaie“ – pod
27. „pielm“ (făină de bună calitate) – good quality flour
28. „pururi“ – permanence
29. „sarică“ (haină țărănească) – peasant coat
30. „scorbură“ – tree hollow
31. „spuză“ (cenușă fierbinte) – hot ashes
32. „stăpân“ (baci, proprietar de turme) – herd owner
33. „stână“ – sheepfold
34. „sterp“ (nerodnic, necultivat) – barren (uncultivated)
35. „traistă“ – purse
36. „vătui“ (ied, miel de un an; pui de iepure) – calf, yearling lamb, baby rabbit
37. „zârnă“ (plantă otrăvitoare din familia solanaceelor, lăsnicior, moartea-porcilor; oaie cu lâna neagră) - a poisonous plant of the solanaceous family, nightshade, hogweed; black-coated sheep
38. „zgâria“ – scratch

It would be interesting to also list the etymology of these words, but unfortunately that takes quite a bit of time.

Toponyms

These are names of rivers which then birthed cities and even counties.

Rivers:

1. Ampoi: A river in western Romania, a tributary of the Mureș River.

2. Argeș: A major river in southern Romania, flowing into the Danube.

3. Bârzava: A river in western Romania, flowing into the Timiș River.

4. Buzău: A river in eastern Romania, flowing into the Siret River.

5. Cerna: A river in southwestern Romania, flowing into the Danube near the town of Orșova.

6. Criș Alb: A river in western Romania, flowing into the Tisa River.

7. Dunăre: The second-longest river in Europe, forming part of Romania's southern border with Bulgaria and flowing into the Black Sea.

8. Lotru: A river in central Romania, a tributary of the Olt River.

9. Motru: A river in southwestern Romania, flowing into the Jiu River.

10. Mureș: A major river in Transylvania, flowing into the Tisa River in Hungary.

11. Nistru: A river in Eastern Europe, partially forming the border between Moldova and Ukraine.

12. Olt: A major river in central Romania, flowing into the Danube.

13. Prut: A river forming part of Romania's eastern border with Moldova and Ukraine, flowing into the Danube.

14. Siret: A major river in eastern Romania, flowing into the Danube.

15. Someș Mare: A river in northwestern Romania, merging with Someșul Mic to flow into the Tisa River.

16. Timiș: A river in western Romania, flowing into the Danube in Serbia.

17. Tisa: A major river in Central Europe, flowing through Romania, Hungary, Serbia, and Ukraine.

18. Vedea: A river in southern Romania, flowing into the Danube.

Geographical Features:

• Carpați (Carpathian Mountains): A major mountain range in Romania, divided into the Eastern, Southern, and Western Carpathians.

I suspect that most of the above are based on common nouns; a map showing them might be useful but that’s for another article.

This is all part of the work for the new dictionary, building on the older DOOM.

Sources / More info: nm-cuvinte, imdb-dk, ms-cg, cg-riding,

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