altcineva

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian alt (“other”) + cineva (“someone”).^[2][3][4][1] cineva is itself formed from cine “who” and va.^[5] Beside it the old language had altcinevași, from alt and cinevași.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is in Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581, with the sense “another person”.^[2] MDA2 cites Varlaam's Cazania of 1643.^[3] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 has it in Genesis 19:12.^[6]

Semantic evolution

The meaning has not changed: another person, someone else.^[2][4] DEX also gives the stress on the first syllable, áltcineva, and the synonym altcareva.^[4][2]

Timeline

• 1581 – first record, in Coresi.^[2]
• 1643 – in Varlaam's Cazania.^[3]
• 1688 – altcinevași and altcineva in the Bucharest Bible.^[2][6]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (indefinite) someone else, another person: Întreabă pe altcineva. “Ask someone else.”^[4][3][1]

Related words

• cineva
• alt
• altceva
• altcareva

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2011–), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române (DELR), vol. I: A–B (2011), vol. II: C (2015–2018), București: Editura Academiei Române; continued online at delr.lingv.ro, p. s.v. cine
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 45
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 31
5. ^ DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 185
6. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Genesis 19:12