încurca

Forms

încurca (third-person singular present încurcă, past participle încurcat, third-person subjunctive încurce) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *incolicō (“to wind onto the distaff”), a verb formed on colus (“distaff”).^[2][3][4][5] Giuglea proposed this etymology, and the DA and Rosetti accepted it.^[6][4] The DA holds that the verb was first a spinners' term for tangling the thread.^[4]

Ciorănescu calls the origin uncertain and rejects this reconstruction on grounds of meaning.^[6] If the first sense was “to deceive”, as in Coresi, he suggests a derivative of currō (“to run”) of the type *curricō, compare curriculum, just as cursă “trap” comes from the participle of the same verb; he also allows an expressive formation like îngurga.^[6] Wiktionary gives the same two Latin explanations.^[1]

Older proposals have been abandoned.^[6] Pușcariu derived the verb from descurca, which he took from *deobscūricō (“to make clear”), but the DA gave this up.^[6][4] Ciorănescu and Wiktionary think that the derivation ran the other way.^[6][1] Cihac's inculcō (“to tread in, force upon”) is difficult in both sound and meaning, though Șăineanu still gave it.^[6][7] Diculescu's Greek source is hard to accept as well.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură of 1581.^[2][8] Ciorănescu quotes Coresi's „hitlenia de încurcăm unul spre alaltu” “the cunning with which we ensnare one another”, where the verb means to trick or deceive.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The concrete sense is the tangling of threads, yarn or the heddles of a loom, which the DA records in Transylvania;^[4][3] a încurca ițele “to tangle the heddles” means to make a muddle of things.^[4][3] In Transylvanian folk verse the verb is used of trampling hay meadows, whose grass is compared to threads.^[4] Odobescu used it of the hare and the fox that tangle their tracks to mislead the hounds.^[4][9]

The reflexive meant getting caught: the Bucharest Bible of 1688 has a foot caught in a net (Job 18:8).^[8] From there the verb came to mean hindering someone, confusing them, and losing one's thread or stammering: L. Negruzzi's „încurcai nu știu ce scuze” is “I stammered out some excuses or other”.^[8][3] Colloquial senses are getting caught in an affair one can't get out of, having a love affair, and lingering, especially at parties.^[3]

Timeline

• 1581 – Coresi's Evanghelie cu învățătură, the first record.^[2][8]
• c. 1660-1670 – a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon glosses Slavonic вѧзаю “I bind” with încurc.^[10]
• 1688 – a foot caught in a net, in the Bucharest Bible.^[8][11]
• 1893 – Damé gives a încurca o afacere “to muddle a business”.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To tangle threads or yarn so that they cannot easily be undone;^[3] (popular) to trample hay meadows or crops.^[3]
2. (transitive) To keep changing one's way so as to throw off pursuers;^[3] (transitive and reflexive) to lose one's way.^[3]
3. (transitive) To hinder someone's walking or action;^[3] (reflexive) to stumble.^[3] A încurca lumea “to be in everyone's way”;^[3] a i se încurca limba “to have one's tongue trip”, from drink or emotion;^[3] încurcă-lume “a good-for-nothing who gets in other people's way”.^[3]
4. (transitive and reflexive) To confuse, to make someone lose the thread of their thoughts.^[3] A o încurca “to get into a mess; to do a job badly”;^[3] a încurca vorba “to speak confusedly to hide the truth”.^[3]
5. (figurative) To catch someone in one's net;^[3] (reflexive) to get involved in an affair that is hard to get out of;^[3] (familiar) to have an affair with someone.^[3]
6. (reflexive, figurative) To linger, to waste time, especially at parties.^[3]

Word family

• încurcătură
• încurcat
• încurcare
• încurcă-lume
• încurcală
• încurcător
• descurca

Related words

• Latin colus

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 1219
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 543
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. încurca
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. încurca
7. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 319
8. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. încurca
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 613
10. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. încurc
11. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Iov 18:8
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État