vatër

See also: váter, vàter, Vater, and Väter

Albanian

Alternative forms

votër — Gheg

Etymology

Likely inherited from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eh₁ter- (“fire”), whence also Proto-Iranian *HáHtr̥š (“fire”) and Latin āter (“black, darkened *(by fire)”), ātrium (“room *(where the fire is)”).^[1]^[2]^[3] Also found in Balkan Romance and most Slavic languages, although the presence of va- ~ vo- originating from earlier *o (cf. vadhë, varfër, vesh, etc.), itself from earlier *ā, reaveals it as an originally Albanian term, or more generally a Paleo-Balkan one, then evolved into the Tosk Albanian form before being borrowed in the other languages.^[4]^[5]^[6]^[7]^[8] It arrived in some Slavic languages likely through Balkan Romance.^[4]^[9]^[10] An early borrowing from Latin āter, ātrium, although it cannot be entirely ruled out,^[1] is improbable,^[11] while a borrowing from Iranian^[4] is deemed unlikely due to geographical-historical reasons and the semantic field of the term.^[11]^[1] Compare French foyer and German Fokus, Brennpunkt for the scientifical senses.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ˈvatəɾ/
Rhymes: -atəɾ

Noun

vatër f (plural vatra, definite vatra, definite plural vatrat)

hearth, fireplace
vatër zjarri ― fireplace
hearth, hearthstone (of an oven, stove, etc.)
vatër furre ― hearth of the oven
small patch, strip of land
Synonyms: lehe, vulla
(figurative) home, birthplace; family
Synonyms: vendlindje; familje
(figurative) cradle, hotbed
Synonyms: çerdhe, djep

vatër kulture ― (please add an English translation of this usage example)

vatër malarieje ― hotbed of malaria
(geometry) focus (of a conic)
(optics) focus, focal point
(anatomy) nerve centre
(medicine) main location of an infection or disease
a lot, many
Synonyms: shumë, tufë

një vatër miq ― a lot of friends

Derived terms

Descendants

(All related terms placed here for convenience, the exact trajectory is most likely more complex. See § Etymology for more details.)

→ Balkan Romance:
- Aromanian: vatrã, veatrã
- Istro-Romanian: votrę
- Megleno-Romanian: vatră
- Romanian: vatră
  - → Gagauz: vatra
→ Hungarian: vatra (dialectal)
→ Romani:
Balkan Romani: vatra — Crimean

Carpathian Romani: vatra — East Slovak

Vlax Romani: vatra — Kalderaš, Lovara
→ Slavic:
- Bulgarian: ва́тра (vátra) (dialectal)
- Czech: vatra
- Polish: watra (dialectal)
- Serbo-Croatian: vȁtra／ва̏тра
- Ukrainian: ва́тра (vátra) (dialectal)

References

↑ ^1.0 ^1.1 ^1.2 Demiraj, B. (1997) “vát/ër,-ra”, in Albanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies: […]] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)‎^[1] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page 410ff.
^ Mallory, J. P., Adams, D. Q., editors (1997), Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture, London, Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn Publishers, page 263
^ Curtis, Matthew C. (2017–2018) “Chapter XV: Albanian”, in Klein, Jared S., Joseph, Brian D., Fritz, Matthias, editors, Handbook of Comparative and Historical Indo-European Linguistics: An International Handbook (Handbücher zur Sprach- und Kommunikationswissenschaft [Handbooks of Linguistics and Communication Science]; 41.2), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, →ISBN, § The dialectology of Albanian, page 1805
↑ ^4.0 ^4.1 ^4.2 Orel, Vladimir E. (1998) “vatër ~ votër”, in Albanian Etymological Dictionary, Leiden, Boston, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, page 495f.
^ Domosileckaja, M. V. (2002) Albansko-vostočnoromanskij sopostavitelʹnyj ponjatijnyj slovarʹ: Skotovodčeskaja leksika [Albanian – Eastern Romance Comparative Conceptual Dictionary: The Pastoral Vocabulary] (in Russian), Saint Petersburg: Nauka, →ISBN, page 457
^ Georgiev, Vladimir I., editor (1971), “ватра”, in Български етимологичен речник [Bulgarian Etymological Dictionary] (in Bulgarian), volume 1 (А – З), Sofia: Bulgarian Academy of Sciences Pubg. House, →ISBN, page 123
^ Nikolaḯdis, K. (1909) “βάτρᾰ”, in Ετυμολογικόν λεξικόν της Κουτσοβλαχικής γλώσσης [Etymologikón lexikón tis Koutsovlachikís glóssis] (in Greek), Athens: Τύποις Π. Δ. Σακελλαρίου [Týpois P. D. Sakellaríou], page 114
^ “vatër”, in Hrvatski jezični portal [Croatian language portal] (in Serbo-Croatian), 2006–2024
^ Melnychuk, O. S., editor (1982–2012), “ватра”, in Етимологічний словник української мови [Etymological Dictionary of the Ukrainian Language] (in Ukrainian), Kyiv: Naukova Dumka
^ Brückner, Aleksander (1927) “watra”, in Słownik etymologiczny języka polskiego [Etymological Dictionary of the Polish Language] (in Polish), Warsaw: Wiedza Powszechna
↑ ^11.0 ^11.1 Meyer, G. (1891) “vatrɛ”, in Etymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner, →DOI, page 464f.