Uncertain. The-b- is most likely epenthetic to avoid the-mr- cluster. Theories that have put forward are:
Akin to Arbëreshzë(“soul”).[1][2] CompareRomanianinimă(“heart”),[3] fromLatinanima(“soul”), which is the only other Indo-European language to have supplanted the originalProto-Indo-European*ḱḗr ~ *ḱr̥dés. The morphemes involved and the ultimate etymology are not clear. Some proposals have been put forward:
From the verbzë /zâ(“to seize”),[1] although this has been doubted.[4]
Has been compared withAncient Greekεὐθηνέω(euthēnéō,“to thrive, bloom”),[5] itself of unclear origin.[6]
↑1.01.11.2Meyer,G. (1891), “1) zɛ̄”, inEtymologisches Wörterbuch der albanesischen Sprache [Etymological Dictionary of the Albanian Language] (in German), Strasbourg: Karl J. Trübner,→DOI,page483
Please seeModule:checkparams for help with this warning.Huld, Martin E. (1986), “Accentual Stratification of Ancient Greek Loanwords in Albanian”, inZeitschrift für vergleichende Sprachforschung, volume99, number 2,→JSTOR, page132f.
^Demiraj, Bardhyl (1997), “2. zë”, inAlbanische Etymologien: Untersuchungen zum albanischen Erbwortschatz [Albanian Etymologies:[…]] (Leiden Studies in Indo-European; 7)[1] (in German), Amsterdam, Atlanta: Rodopi, page426
^Jokl, Norbert (1937), “Ein Beitrag zur Lehre von der alb. Vertretung der idg. Labiovelare”, inMélanges linguistiques offerts a M. Holger Pedersen à l’occasion de son soixante-dixième anniversaire, page128
