Reconstruction:Latin/dominionem
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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
[edit]Etymology
[edit]The explanations offered to date are as follows, arranged in descending order of plausibility:
- Von Wartburg[1] favours a derivation from Latin dominus (“master, lord”; cf. *summiōnem < summum) with an original sense of “tower that dominates the entire castle” (similarly, “master tower” per Pfister[2]). This assumes a kind of figurative or anthropomorphic expression but is otherwise unproblematic.
- Gamillscheg[3] (among others) favours a derivation from a supposed Frankish cognate of Old Norse dyngja f (“house in the ground where women do their work”) and Middle High German tunc m (“underground chamber covered with dung for protection against the cold; women's weaving-room; crop storage room”). This runs into several formal issues with the Romance forms grouped below, which—pace Gamillscheg—do imply an original */mnj/. Cf. somniāre > Old French songier, soignier; Old Occitan somnhar, somjar, sonjar.[4] Likewise the ⟨m⟩ in the earliest documented reflex of *dominiōnem in the Oïl area: ⟨domnione⟩ in a Latin chronicle written in the 1040s in Mouzon.[5]
- Van Osta[6] posits a formation meaning “lord’s tower”. There exists no suffix with the required meaning and form.
Pronunciation
[edit]Noun
[edit]*dominiōnem m (Proto-Gallo-Romance)
- donjon (main tower of a castle)
Declension
[edit]| singular | plural | |
|---|---|---|
| nominative | */domˈɲons/ | */domˈɲon/ |
| oblique | */domˈɲon/ | */domˈɲons/ |
Descendants
[edit]- Old French: donjon, dognon, doignon, dongnon, dougnon (/duˈɲun/), doinjon, doion, dojon, donion, donjoun, donjun, dounggeon, doungeon, doungeoun, dunjon, dunjun, dongon, dongoun, dongun, dungon, dungoun, dungun, dangon (⟨g⟩ /d͡ʒ/), dangon, dangun, danjun, donjan, doungin
- Old Occitan: domnhon, domnon, domejon, dromnhom, dromon, donjon (likely from French)
- Occitan: donjon, jonjon
- → Medieval Latin: dominiōnus
References
[edit]- ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “*dominiō”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 3: D–F, page 130: “Es bezeichnet den turm als den das ganze schloss beherrschenden teil, eher denn als die wohnung des herrn.”
- ^ Pfister, M. (1973) “La répartition géographique des éléments franciques en gallo-romanz”, in Revue de linguistique romane, volume 37, Société de Linguistique Romane, , page 149
- ^ Gamillscheg, Ernst (1931) “Frz. donjon „Schloßturm"”, in Zeitschrift für französische Sprache und Literatur, volume 54, number 3/4, Franz Steiner Verlag
- ^ Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002) “somniāre”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, volumes 12: Sk–š, page 85
- ^ dominionus in Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften (1967– ) Mittellateinisches Wörterbuch, Munich: C.H. Beck
- ^ van Osta, Ward (1992) “Donk: Semantisch en Etymologisch”, in Naamkunde[1], volume 24, Leuven: Het Instituut voor Naamkunde: “fra. donjon teruggaat op vulg. lat. *dominio(nem) ‘toren van de heer’”