Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK
larryt@cogs.susx.ac.uk
Tel: 01273-678693 (from UK); +44-1273-678693 (from abroad)
Fax: 01273-671320 (from UK); +44-1273-671320 (from abroad)
Anyway, the chief reason that I would "eliminate mili- as a Basque word" is that no such word exists in Basque. ;-)
> But I do not remember, and cannot find, how you explained mili-, presumably as a proto-Romance loanword.
No. I know of no Romance source for the word <-milikatu-> 'lick', and I can see no reason to regard it as a loan word. The word is native, but probably of no great antiquity. And I don't think there's any great mystery about its origin: it's an expressive formation, or, more
accurately, it's a derivative of an expressive formation. Let's look at the evidence.
A frequent type of expressive formation in Basque is the pattern I call 'm-reduplications'. On occasion, these things are constructed from ordinary lexical items. Examples: <-handi-> 'big', <-handi-mandi-> 'pompous, conceited, full of oneself'; <-ikusi-> 'see' <-ikusi-mikusi-> or <-ikusi- makusi-> 'a children's game resembling "I spy" '.
More often, however, these things are constructed out of thin air, because of their appealing sound. Examples: <-zirimiri-> 'drizzle'; <-karramarro-> 'crab'; <-zurrumurru-> 'whisper, murmur, rumor, gossip'; <-aiko-maiko-> 'pretext'; <-zarramarra-> 'trash, rubbish'. There are quite a few of these, usually with /m/ in the reduplication, though sometimes with /b/ or /p/ instead. (I should stress that /m/ is *very* frequent in expressive formations in Basque, probably because of its very rarity in the earlier language.)
Occasionally, we find /m/ in both parts. Example: <-mara-mara-> 'continuously'; <-marmar-> ~ <-marmara-> ~ <-marmarra-> 'muttering'. Very commonly, the adverb-forming suffix <-ka-> is added to these formations to obtain adverbs of manner, as in <-marmarka-> ~ <-marmaraka-> 'muttering' (adverb).
And that brings us to the item under discussion. We find the reduplicated adverb <-milika-milika-> ~ <-miliki-malaka-> in much of the country with the sense 'fussy, picky, peevish, picking at one's food'. The non-reduplicated form <-milika-> occurs widely, with such local senses as 'finicky, fussy', 'lacking in appetite', 'sipping, tasting', and also, less obviously, 'residue, detritus'.
Obviously related, and exhibiting again the kind of unsystematic variation typical of expressive formations, is the northern adverb <-milinka-> ~ <-milinga-> 'unenthusiastic, languid', and also 'eating little, frugal'.
Yet another variant is <-milizka-> 'nibbling (at food), sampling (food)', 'trying a bit of this and a bit of that (in eating)'.
Now, before we go further, it is already obvious that we are looking at a typical expressive formation containing adverbial <-ka->. This thing has a typical form for an expressive formation; it shows the kind of unsystematic variation in form we expect in an expressive formation; and it has the kind of meaning which is typical of an expressive formation. And it is *also* obvious that the central sense of the formation is 'picky, finicky, fussy'. OK?
Now, as in lots of other cases, this expressive formation gives rise to a variety of derivatives, by means of the ordinary machinery of the language. For example, with the common suffix <-(k)eria->, which derives nouns denoting vices, we have <-milikeria-> 'pickiness, childish fussiness or sulkiness'.
And, of course, there is a derived verb. This is commonly <-milikatu->, and it means, as we would expect, 'become fussy', 'become picky'. It also means 'sniff', and, finally, it also means 'lick'. This verb has several variants: besides <-milikatu->, we find also <-miliskatu->, <-milizkatu->, and <-miliztu->, at least. Of these, <-miliskatu-> is the earliest recorded (1745, 1761), with the other variants first recorded in the 19th or 20th century.
I don't think there's much to talk about here. The original formation is expressive, and unremarkable. The central sense is 'picky, finicky' — with particular extensions to food, along the lines of 'picking at one's food', 'lacking in appetite', 'nibbling, sampling, sniffing, licking', as opposed to eating wholeheartedly. Agreed?
By the way, in a part of the French Basque Country, <-milikatu-> has a local variant <-mihikatu->, a folk-etymology resulting from contamination from the local word <-mihi-> 'tongue'.
Larry Trask
COGS
University of Sussex
Brighton BN1 9QH
UK
larryt@cogs.susx.ac.uk
Tel: 01273-678693 (from UK); +44-1273-678693 (from abroad)
Fax: 01273-671320 (from UK); +44-1273-671320 (from abroad)
