asuma

Forms

asuma (third-person singular present asumă, past participle asumat, third-person subjunctive asume), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French assumer and Latin assūmō, the Latin verb as a learned borrowing;^[2][3][4][5] DELR, DEX, MDA2 and MDN name both sources.^[2][3][4][5] Tiktin and the DA say it was formed after the French verb.^[6][7] The Latin verb is made of ad- and sūmō (“to take”).^[2] DELR adds that the logical sense “to accept as a hypothesis” follows the English verb assume.^[2] In French the logical sense also came from English, in 1924.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR dates the first record to 1871, in Laurian and Massim's Latinist dictionary, under the form asume.^[2] MDA2 and Tiktin cite Hasdeu's Istoria critică a românilor (1875), where a province takes for itself the epithet “Greater”: „assumând epitetul”.^[4][6][7]

Semantic evolution

Hasdeu's sense “to claim for oneself, to arrogate” is now dated.^[7][4] The usual sense is “to take upon oneself”, above all a responsibility: Tiktin records a asuma răspunderea unui fapt “to take responsibility for a deed”.^[6][3] The logical sense “to accept a proposition as a hypothesis” is given by DELR and the neologism dictionaries.^[2][9]

Timeline

• 1871 – asume in Laurian and Massim's dictionary.^[2]
• 1875 – „assumând epitetul” in Hasdeu's Istoria critică.^[4][7]
• 1929 – Șăineanu gives a asuma răspunderea faptului.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To take upon oneself; to undertake to do something: Ministrul și-a asumat vina pentru întârziere.^[3][4]
2. (dated) To claim for oneself, to arrogate.^[4][7]
3. (philosophy, logic) To assume, to accept a proposition as a hypothesis in order to draw its consequences.^[9][4]

Related words

• consuma
• rezuma
• French assumer

Usage notes

It is mostly used with a reflexive dative: a-și asuma o răspundere.^[3][11] The present is asum;^[4][7] asumez is rare and old.^[4][7]

References

1. ^ 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. asuma
3. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 70
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 117
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. asuma
6. ^ 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. asuma
7. ^ a b c d e f g 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. asuma
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. assumer
9. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. asuma
10. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 42
11. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 1, 149