Les ainsi nommées « reliques » lexicales d’origine latine des psautiers roumains du XVIe siècle

Abstract

Abstract This paper discusses the hypothesis of a Latin source involvement in the process of translating and transmitting the sixteenth century Romanian Psalters. This hypothesis is based on a few words of Latin origin, called “lexical relics”, that might have been selected by etymological attraction under the influence of a Latin source. The methodological issues, arguments and examples referred to by the supporters of this theory are subjected to a critical analysis based on a textual comparison of the Romanian Psalters and their Slavonic and presumed Latin sources. The complete analysis of such lexemes shows that there are no arguments in favour of this view because: (1) among the “lexical relics” are included words inherited from Latin which do not etymologically overlap with their corresponding word in the Latin versions of the Psalter; (2) if there are etymological concordances between the Romanian and Latin versions, they are always doubled by semantic concordances with the Slavonic source(s), which points to the fact that the etymological concordances can be explained simply by choosing the Romanian semantic correspondent for the Slavonic word; (3) if there are minor semantic differences, they prove a semantic, even etymological, concordance with the Slavonic versions; (4) there is no case of semantic inconsistency between the Romanian lexemes and their corresponding words in the Slavonic sources which a Latin version of the Psalter might explain.