GABRIELA VIOLETA ADAM
DOI: 10.33993/dr.2025.1.9.19
Author's coordinates: Institutul de Lingvistică și Istorie Literară „Sextil Pușcariu” al Academiei Române Cluj-Napoca, str. E. Racoviță, nr. 21
Email: gabriela.adam@acad-cj.ro
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0004-3223-6648
THE LEXICO-GRAMMATICAL STATUS
OF THE DIALECTAL WORD CÂTA ‘A LITTLE’ IN BANAT TYPE IDIOMS
(Abstract)
In this paper, we aim to establish the status of the lexeme câta ‘a few, a little’ used in semantic contexts indicating duration, quantity, proportion. From the point of view of its territorial distribution, this word is attested only in Banat type idioms: in southern Banat and in the Romanian dialects spoken in the territory located between Morava, Danube and Timoc rivers.
The morphological behaviour of the lexeme câta (adjective, adverb) is similar to the indefinite adjective atât(a), invariable in the singular forms, but variable in the plural, masculine and feminine forms. The expansion of the form câta ‘puțin’ in southern Banat type idioms is due to the restricted use of other quantifiers, which occur with a much lower frequency.
Keywords: câta‘a little’, quantifier, adjective, adverb, Banat type idioms..
Cuvinte-cheie: câta ‘puțin’, cuantificator, adjectiv, adverb, graiuri de tip bănățean.