întrerupe

Forms

întrerupe (third-person singular present întrerupe, past participle întrerupt, third-person subjunctive întrerupă) 3rd conjugation^[1] The older and Moldavian form întrerumpe occurs in Negruzzi: „Nu întrerumpe corespondența noastră” “do not break off our correspondence”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian între + rupe on the model of French interrompre, a loan translation of the French verb.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} It is conjugated like rupe.^[2] Wiktionary names Latin interrumpō as a second model,^[1] and Graur lists it among the Romanian neologisms of the family of rumpō (“to break”).^[6]

The French verb is a relatinised form of Old French entrerompre, made from entre and rompre; the modern form follows the Latin verb, made from inter- and the same verb “to break”.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1824, in a text by Nicoară.^[4] The DA's first quotation is Constantin Negruzzi's Nu întrerumpe corespondența noastră, in the form întrerumpe;^[2][5] MDA2 dates it by the 1872 edition of his writings.^[2][5]

Semantic evolution

The DA gives the senses as breaking something in the middle and making it stop, suspending a continuous action, ceasing to speak or read, and cutting someone short.^[2] Șăineanu's dictionary of 1929 still puts “to break in the middle” first.^[8] By 1931 it was used of interrupting one's studies and the electricity supply, and the reflexive of an electric current that stops.^[9][5] In the law codes it is said of interrupting prescription.^[2]

The past participle întrerupt became an adjective, with its negative neîntrerupt “continuous”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1824 – first record, in Nicoară.^[4]
• before 1872 – întrerumpe in Constantin Negruzzi's writings.^[2][5]
• 1929 – Șăineanu lists “break in the middle”, “cut short” and “stop halfway”.^[8]
• 1931 – CADE has it of studies and of the electricity supply.^[9]

Meanings

Verb

1. To stop or suspend for a time the course of an action or work; reflexive, to stop in the middle of an activity: Lucrările s-au întrerupt din lipsă de bani. “The works stopped for lack of money.”^[3][5]
2. To interrupt someone who is speaking, to cut someone short.^[3]
3. Reflexive, of an electric current: to stop suddenly.^[5]

Word family

• întrerupt
• neîntrerupt
• întrerupător

Related words

• rupe
• între
• French interrompre

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. întrerupe
3. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 557
4. ^ a b c Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. întrerupe
5. ^ 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, 1259
6. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 82
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 338
9. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Adamescu, Gh. (1926–1931), Dicționarul enciclopedic ilustrat „Cartea Românească”, București: Cartea Românească, p. s.v. întrerupe