mqar
Maltese
Alternative forms
- imqar (after a consonant, mostly also after a pause)
Etymology
The same word as Greek μακάρι (makári), Romanian măcar, Italian magari, Spanish maguer, Andalusian Arabic مكار (ma(k)kār, “even, at least”). Probably from Ancient Greek μακάριος (makários), perhaps through the interjection ὦ μακάριε (ô makárie, “lucky you!”). While this etymology is generally accepted, compare also Persian مگر (magar, “but, unless, perhaps”), whence Ottoman Turkish مگر (meger).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /(ɪ)mˈʔaːr/
Adverb
mqar
- even
- at least
References
- Corriente, F. (1997) A Dictionary of Andalusi Arabic (Handbook of Oriental Studies. Section 1 The Near and Middle East; 29), Leiden, New York, Köln: Brill, →ISBN, LCCN 96052434, page 507
- Čéplö, Slavomír (2017), “Focus particles in Maltese: A corpus survey”, in Saade, Benjamin; Tosco, Mauro, editors, Advances in Maltese Linguistics (Studia Typologica; 21), Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Mouton, DOI:, ISSN 1617-2957, page 107