anumit

Forms

anumit m or n (feminine singular anumită, masculine plural anumiți, feminine/neuter plural anumite)^[1][2]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian anume + -it, on the model of German bestimmt (“determined, certain”).^[2][3][4] The adverb anume “namely, specially” is itself a compound of the preposition a and nume “name”,^[2][1] which Romanian inherited from Latin nōmen (“name”).^[5]

The DA calls the word a new formation, born of the need to use the adverb as an adjective, and thinks it arose first in Transylvania in imitation of the German word.^[6] Petru Maior tried to bring in a whole set of words with the senses of German bestimmen (“to determine, to name”): a verb a anumi, a noun anumare and the adjective; according to the DA these did not take hold.^[6] Tiktin explains the word as the participle of that rare verb, which the Lexicon de la Buda records and which is itself a new formation from the adverb.^[7] MDA2 simply derives it from the adverb.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is the Lexicon de la Buda of 1825.^[7] It glosses anumit with Latin certus, destinatus and German gewiß, bestimmt: “definite, fixed”.^[9] MDA2's first record is an undated folk text quoted by Hasdeu, in which a horse and its master reach „casa anumită” “the house in question”.^[8][6]

Semantic evolution

The first sense is “fixed, determined”, used above all with words for time: într-o anumită zi “on a certain day”.^[6][10] From it come “known, the one in question” and “special, particular”, as in într-un anumit fel “in a particular way”.^[10][2] A third use names someone or something the speaker can't or won't name: unor anumiți oameni “to certain people”, close in sense to oarecare and niște.^[6][8] MDA2 also records an adverbial use, “surely”.^[8]

Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 gives German gewiß, bestimmt, namentlich for it,^[11] and Damé's of 1893 French déterminé, précis.^[12] In Bukovina the word also means “special”.^[13]

Timeline

• 1825 – anumitu “definite, fixed” in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[9][7]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary lists anumitŭ and refers to anume.^[14]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German gewiß, bestimmt.^[11]
• 1939 – Scriban classes it as an indefinite pronoun and prescribes the genitive plural anumitor.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Fixed, determined, settled beforehand: la o anumită oră “at a set hour”.^[2][8]
2. Known, the one in question.^[8][10]
3. Special, particular, distinct: Vorbea pe un anumit ton. “He spoke in a particular tone.”^[2][15]
4. (chiefly plural) certain, some, not named: anumiți colegi “certain colleagues”.^[2][8][1]

Related words

• anume
• nume
• German bestimmt

Usage notes

Wiktionary treats the word as a determiner,^[1] Scriban as an indefinite pronoun; for that reason he wanted the genitive plural anumitor (unor anumiți), not anumiților.^[13] DEX and MDA2 class it as an adjective.^[2][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 52
3. ^ Academia Republicii Populare Romîne (1958), Dicționarul limbii romîne moderne, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 34
4. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
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. nume
6. ^ a b c d e 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. anumit
7. ^ 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. anumit
8. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 76
9. ^ a b Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 23
10. ^ a b c Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 98
11. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 27
12. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État
13. ^ a b c Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 109
14. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 52
15. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. anumit