cășuna

Forms

cășuna (third-person singular present cășunează, past participle cășunat), first conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *occāsiōnō, a verb formed on occāsiō (“opportunity, chance”).^[2][3][4][1] Ciorănescu, following Ascoli and Pușcariu, thinks the form was changed early to *accāsiōnō by a confusion of prefixes, and DELR gives both forms.^[3][2] MDA2 starts from the second.^[5] The Latin noun is formed on occidō with the suffix -tiō.^[1][6]

Candrea and Densusianu rejected this etymon, because Vulgar Latin would have had to lose its first syllable very early; they derived the verb from *cāsiōnō, built on a noun *cāsiō from cāsus (“fall, chance, misfortune”), whose senses “unforeseen circumstance, misfortune” fit the Romanian meanings.^[7][2] Wiktionary calls this view less likely.^[1] Tiktin only says that the verb probably belongs with the Latin noun for “opportunity”.^[8]

Its Romance parallels are Italian accagionare and cagionare (“to cause”), and Old French achoisoner (“to accuse, vex”).^[3][2][1] Wiktionary notes that these may have been formed in each language on the nouns cagione and achoison, so that the Romanian verb could come from a lost noun as well.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1805, in a source he cites as Crișan;^[8][2] DELR dates the verb from 1813.^[8][2] MDA2 takes its first example from the chronicle of Zilot Românul.^[5] A Moldavian named Lupul Cășun is recorded in 1665, a name Constantinescu files under the verb.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The DA explains the senses from Latin occasio “chance, favourable occasion”: the verb meant both “to come about by chance, without one's will”, which accounts for its impersonal use, and “to give occasion to, cause”.^[10] In the impersonal construction the unexpressed subject is a thought or a craving: i-a cășunat să… “it took his fancy to…”.^[10][4]

With pe the verb came to mean “to take against someone, to pick on someone”: Tiktin glosses the Muntenian a cășuna pe cineva as “to have one's eye on someone, to make someone one's victim”.^[8] The transitive sense “to cause (a misfortune)” is mainly literary and old.^[8][4] Regional uses include coming uninvited to someone's house, reproaching someone and foreboding evil, and in Transylvania the reflexive i s-a cășunat “she miscarried (from fright)”.^[5][8][10] In the Banat it is used of an idea that comes to mind.^[11]

The derivatives are cășunătură “a sudden pain; a whim”, from 1825, and cășunător “causing (something unpleasant)”, from 1928.^[2][3]

Timeline

• 1805 – the first record of the verb cited by Tiktin.^[8]
• 1813 – DELR's first date for cășuna, with the variant cășina.^[2]
• 1825 – cășunătură “sudden pain; whim”.^[2]
• 1928 – cășunător “causing harm”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive, impersonal) To get a sudden odd whim or craving: I-a cășunat să-și vopsească gardul în albastru. “He suddenly took it into his head to paint his fence blue.”^[4][5]
2. (intransitive, with pe) To take a persistent dislike to someone, or a sudden excessive liking.^[4][5]
3. (intransitive) To fall upon or pounce on someone, with blows or accusations.^[4][5]
4. (transitive, popular) To cause, bring about: Seceta le-a cășunat mari pagube. “The drought caused them great losses.”^[4]
5. (reflexive, Transylvania) Of a woman, to miscarry from a fright.^[5][8]

Word family

• cășunător
• cășunătură

Related words

• ocazie
• Latin occāsiō

Usage notes

Besides the regular present cășunez, popular speech has cășun.^[5][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. cășuna
3. ^ a b c d 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. cășuna
4. ^ 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. 161
5. ^ 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, 334
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. cășuna
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. cășuna
9. ^ Constantinescu, N. A. (1963), Dicționar onomastic romînesc, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. s.v. cășuna
10. ^ a b c 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. cășuna
11. ^ Costin, Lucian (1926–1934), Graiul bănățean, 2 vols., Timișoara / Turnu-Severin, p. 65