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- Title
ANALOGIA SEMASIOLOGICĂ. UNELE CONSECINŢE ALE ÎMPRUMUTULUI ÎN RELAŢIA LIMBĂ - MENTALITATE. BOGĂŢIA SEMANTICĂ A CUVÂNTULUI LUME.
- Authors
MARIAN, RODICA
- Abstract
The present article investigates the special semantic situation of some Romanian words: lume [usu. "world "], with the meaning "light", lege [usu. "law"] with the meaning "religion", a ţine [usu. "to hold", "to keep"] with the meaning "to rule over", a situation also described by Lazăr Şăineanu. Unlike the other words mentioned above, whose filiation of the senses is only partially influenced by meanings from another language than the one they etymologically derive from, the lemma lume has developed an exceptionally rich range of senses which cannot be traced back to its Latin etymon. While the Romanian word lume is derived from the Latin lumen, meaning "light", its etymological sense was mainly preserved in old religious writings and only rarely in dialects or the general language. Instead, the word has come to incorporate all the meanings of the Latin mundus (the senses one finds, for instance, in the French word monde). This surprising development is described by Şăineanu as an addition of Church Slavonic nuances. Slavonic nuances are originally individual innovations, which nevertheless illustrate the mentality of the Romanian people. The examples are telling. In Romanian one can identify a specific meaning deriving from the opposition this world/the other world. As compared to the French, ce bas monde, in Romanian the certainty of the continuity of life beyond the threshold of this world generates a host of highly creative phrases and idioms that describe life after death: lumea drepţilor [the world of the just], lumea spiritelor [the world of the spirits], lumea (cea) luminată [the lighted world], alt rând de lume [another kind of world], lumea de apoi [the world to come], lumea (cea) de sus [the world from above]. In the case of the verb a ţine [usu. "to hold", "to keep"], the borrowed meaning "to rule over" - frequent in the old Romanian writings due to the influence of Church Slavonic - is equally relevant for the mentality of that age.
- Publication
Dacoromania, 2016, Vol 21, Issue 1, p60
- ISSN
1582-4438
- Publication type
Article