azi-noapte

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian azi (“today”) + noapte (“night”), literally “today night”.^[1] Ciorănescu and the dictionaries treat it as a fixed phrase under its first part.^[2][3][4] Both parts are inherited: the first probably from Latin hodiē (“today”), with its vowel remade after diēs (“day”), or from hāc diē (“on this day”), and the second from Latin nox (“night”).^[5][2][6] The phrase astă-noapte “this night” uses the demonstrative instead.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Lexicon de la Buda (1825) has azi noapte as an adverb, glossed with Latin hac nocte, Hungarian az éjjel and German heute Nacht, “this night”.^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the standard language it means the night that has just passed, “last night”, not the coming one, for which Romanian says la noapte.^[7][4] The DLR quotes Minulescu: „Azi noapte a plouat, ca de obicei” “last night it rained, as usual”.^[7] In Muntenia a reduced az-noapte also means “during that night”, of a night in a story.^[9] Ciorănescu, MDA2 and DEX list the parallel phrases azi-dimineață “this morning” and azi după-amiază “this afternoon”.^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1825 – azi noapte in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[8]
• 20th century – azi noapte “last night” in Minulescu.^[7]

Meanings

Adverb

1. last night: in the night that has just passed.^[4][3][1]
2. (regional, Muntenia) During that night.^[9]

Related words

• azi-dimineață
• astă-noapte

Usage notes

Older dictionaries write it as two words, azi noapte; the hyphen is the modern spelling.^[2][7][1]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. azi
3. ^ a b c Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 150
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 82
5. ^ 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. azi
6. ^ 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. noapte
7. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. noapte
8. ^ 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. 5
9. ^ a b Marin, Maria; Mărgărit, Iulia, Glosar dialectal. Muntenia, București: Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti”, p. s.v. azi-noapte