îmbia

Forms

îmbia (third-person singular present îmbie, past participle îmbiat), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

Its origin is disputed.^[2][1] The usual view, given by DEX 2009 and NODEX, is that it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *inviō (“to compel”).^[3][4] The DA explains that verb, after Pușcariu, as formed on the stem of Latin vīs (“strength, force”), with a first sense “to push towards something, to urge by force”, and compares German drängen and nötigen.^[5] DEX 1998 and the DA call it probable, and MDA2 marks the etymology as uncertain while comparing the Latin form.^[6][5][7]

Ciorănescu prefers ambīre (“to go round; to court, solicit”), whose sense of soliciting is already Classical, in Tacitus.^[2] The change of conjugation to *ambiāre would match that of aciua from accīre;^[2] Philippide had proposed this etymon before him.^[2] Wiktionary also thinks it the more likely source.^[1] Ciorănescu rejects invitāre, proposed by Körting.^[2] Tiktin found the word apparently inherited, but saw that neither that Latin verb, which survives as învita, nor the Vulgar Latin form fits the sounds.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin and MDA2 date the first record to 1643, in Varlaam's Cazania: „îmbiiară soțiile ce eră într-alte corabii, ca să vie să le agiute” “they urged their companions who were in the other boats to come and help them”.^[8][7][5]

Semantic evolution

In the old language the verb meant “to call on, invite”: a 17th-century law code condemns whoever urges a servant to leave his master.^[8] With cu it means “to offer someone something”, as in a folk tale: Primește cu ce te îmbiem “accept what we offer you”.^[8] The reflexive could mean “to offer oneself”, and in folk poetry a girl offers herself as a daughter-in-law.^[8][7]

The DA notes that in Wallachia the verb has largely given way to pofti.^[5] Modern dictionaries add the reflexive “to let oneself be urged” and the figurative “to attract”.^[3][7] Ciorănescu lists the derivatives îmbieală “invitation, entreaty”, îmbietor “attractive”, îmbietură and îmbiecios “who has to be asked twice”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1643 – îmbiiară in Varlaam's Cazania, the first record.^[8][7]
• 1688 – îmbie in the Bucharest Bible (Zechariah 6:7).^[9]
• 1929 – Șăineanu glosses it “to invite” and derives it from Latin inviare.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To urge someone insistently to do or to accept something; to invite: Gazda ne-a îmbiat la masă.^[3][7][1]
2. To offer someone something (construed with cu).^[2][8]
3. (reflexive, rare) To let oneself be urged; to offer oneself.^[3][7]
4. (figurative) To attract, to tempt.^[3][1]

Word family

• îmbietor
• îmbietură
• îmbiecios
• îmbieală

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Ciorănescu, Alexandru (1958–1966), Diccionario etimológico rumano, La Laguna: Universidad de La Laguna (Romanian ed.: Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române, București: Saeculum, 2001), p. s.v. îmbia
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 530
4. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. îmbia
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1913–1949), Dicționarul limbii române (DA), ed. Sextil Pușcariu, tom I (A–B, C, D–De) and tom II (F–I, J–Lojniță), București: Socec / Universul / Monitorul Oficial și Imprimeriile Statului; page scans at cflr-scans.solirom.ro, p. s.v. îmbia
6. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan” (1998), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române, 2nd ed., București: Univers Enciclopedic, p. 513
7. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1181
8. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. îmbia
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Zah 6:7
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 305