indokra

Maltese

Alternative forms

ndokra (chiefly informal, after a vowel)

Etymology

Probably from a variant of Sicilian aducchiari (“to have an eye on”), derived from occhiu, from Latin oculum (“eye”). The appropriate form ^?nducchirari is cited in Maltese literature. Otherwise the incorporation of the Sicilian infinitive ending in the Maltese verb would be unusual.

An alternative suggestion derives it from riguardari (“to watch”). This would plausibly have been borrowed as *rgorda, but the further development requires several steps of dissimilation and metathesis (e.g. *rgodra → *ngodra → *ndokra), which ultimately makes this derivation unlikely. Aquilina, finally, proposes ndagari (“to investigate”), which however involves the same problem concerning the -r- as aducchiari and is semantically further off.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /ɪnˈdɔːk.ra/

Verb

indokra (imperfect jindokra, past participle indokrat)

to care for, look after
Synonym: ħa ħsieb
to watch, guard, supervise
Synonym: ħares

Conjugation

Conjugation of indokra

		singular			plural
		1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person	1^st person	2^nd person	3^rd person
perfect	m	indokrajt	indokrajt	indokra	indokrajna	indokrajtu	indokraw
perfect	f	indokrajt	indokrajt	indokrat	indokrajna	indokrajtu	indokraw
imperfect	m	nindokra	tindokra	jindokra	nindokraw	tindokraw	jindokraw
imperfect	f	nindokra	tindokra	tindokra	nindokraw	tindokraw	jindokraw
imperative			indokra			indokraw