cântec

Forms

cântec n (plural cântece)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin canticum (“song”).^{[2][3][4][5][1]} It survives south of the Danube: Aromanian cãntic and Megleno-Romanian cǫntic.^[2][4][6] The REW records the inherited word only in Romanian and Aromanian, where it means “lullaby”; the Italian, Logudorese, French and Ibero-Romance forms such as Italian cantico and Spanish cantiga are listed apart.^[7] Ciorănescu and Pușcariu compare Albanian këngë.^[2][4] The verb cânta is of the same family.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (c. 1500–1520), in the sense “song”.^[8][5] In Mardarie's lexicon of 1649 it glosses Slavonic pěsnĭ “song” and church hymns.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Beside a song sung or played, the word names the singing of birds and the buzzing of insects.^[10][3] It also means a lyric poem, often sung: cântec bătrânesc is an old folk ballad, cântec de leagăn a lullaby, cântec de dor a song of longing.^[10][5] Set phrases include cântecul lebedei “swan song” and vorba cântecului “as the saying goes”;^[10][5] lucrul are cântec means that the matter has a story of its own.^[10][5]

Aromanian made a verb cântic “to sing lullabies”.^[4] Romanian diminutives are cântecel and cântecaș.^[5][2]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – cântec and cântecele in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki.^[8]
• c. 1551–1558 – the plural cântece in the Psaltirea de la Voroneț.^[8]
• 16th century – cântec in the Psaltirea Scheiană.^[5]
• 1649 – cântec glossing Slavonic pěsnĭ in Mardarie's lexicon.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A song: a vocal or instrumental piece with words; by extension, an instrumental piece.^[10][1]
2. The singing of birds; the buzzing of insects.^[10][3]
3. A lyric poem in verse, often set to a tune: cântec bătrânesc “folk ballad”.^[10][5]

Word family

• cântecel
• cântecaș

Related words

• cânta
• descântec
• Aromanian cãntic
• Latin canticum

Usage notes

Older and regional variants are cântic and a feminine cântecă.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. cîntec
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, 341
4. ^ a b c d Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 31
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cântec
6. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 1618
8. ^ a b c Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro
9. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro
10. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 163