aminti

Forms

aminti (third-person singular present amintește, past participle amintit), fourth conjugation^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian aminte + -i, on the adverb meaning “in mind”, which is a and minte “mind”.^[2][3][4][1] The noun comes from Latin mēns (“mind”), and Ciorănescu lists the adverb and the verb among its derivatives.^[5] Tiktin calls the verb a new formation that gave a shorter expression for the phrase aduce aminte “to bring to mind”, and thinks French mentionner influenced the sense “to mention”.^[6] Graur lists it as a Romanian formation in the family of the Latin noun.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from Constantin Negruzzi, in 1852: „Turnul acesta, care ne amintește de niște timpuri de barbarie” “this tower, which reminds us of times of barbarism”.^[6][8] MDA2 also gives Negruzzi as the first source, quoted by Hasdeu.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The verb took over the senses of the phrase a(-și) aduce aminte: “to remind someone of something” and, reflexively, a-și aminti “to remember”.^[6][2] The sense “to mention” followed, perhaps under French influence.^[6] An old first person singular amint was later replaced by amintesc.^[6][3] Pontbriant in 1862 glossed it “to remember, to call to mind”.^[9] The noun amintire “memory, recollection” is recorded from 1872.^[3]

Timeline

• 1852 – the first record, in Constantin Negruzzi.^[6]
• 1862 – aminti in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[9]
• 1872 – amintire “memory”.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To remember, to recall: Îmi amintesc de vacanța aceea.^[2][3][1]
2. (transitive) To remind someone of something.^[2][3][1]
3. (transitive) To mention someone or something.^[2][6][1]
4. (intransitive, with de) To be reminiscent of, to call to mind: Clădirea amintește de un castel.^[8][1]

Word family

• aminteală
• amintire
• amintitor

Related words

• aminte
• minte
• Latin mēns

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 37
3. ^ 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, 55
4. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 26
5. ^ 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. minte
6. ^ 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. aminti
7. ^ Graur, Alexandru (1980), Cuvinte înrudite, București: Editura Științifică și Enciclopedică, p. 61
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 79
9. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 29