Reconstruction:Latin/medalia

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

Etymology

Substantiviation of mediālia (with loss of the first /j/ via dissimilation), neuter plural of Late Latin mediālis ("middle", adj.), from Classical Latin medius +‎ -ālis. First surfaces in a ninth-century gloss with the sense of 'half a denarius', the predominant meaning in Romance. Non-numismatic senses remain, however, in Sardinian and regional Catalan, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /meˈdalʲa/

Noun

*medālia f (oblique *medālia) (Proto-Romance)

that which is in the middle
type of coin worth half a denarius

Descendants

Italo-Romance:
- Old Italian: medalgla
  - Italian: medaglia (see there for further descendants)
  - → Old Sardinian: metagia
North Italian:
- Friulian: medaie
- Old Ligurian: meaia
- Old Lombard: megaglia
- Old Venetian: medaie (pl.)
Gallo-Romance:
- Old Franco-Provençal: mealla
- Old French: meaille, maaille
  - French: maille
  - → Neapolitan: maglia (Agnone)
Occitano-Romance:
- Old Catalan: mesala, mealla, maalla
  - Catalan: malla
- Old Occitan: mezailha, mialha
Ibero-Romance:
- Portuguese: mealha
- Spanish: meaja
Insular Romance:
- Old Sassarese medaça
- Sardinian: meadza (“unit of capacity”) (Logudorese)

References

Walther von Wartburg (1928–2002), “medialis”, in Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch (in German), volume 6/1: Mabile–Mephitis, page 571
Wagner, Max Leopold (1960–1964), “meádza”, in Dizionario etimologico sardo, Heidelberg

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