deci

Forms

deci (conjunction, invariable)^[2] The 16th-century texts write deaci: „Deaci preveghiați” “therefore watch” (Codicele Voronețean, Acts 20:31).^[3][4] DELR also lists the old variants dăci, deace, dece and dici.^[4]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian de (“from”) + aci (“here”), literally “from here, hence”; the older form was deaci.^[4][2][5][1] Tiktin also takes it as probably so formed, at first with the same meaning as deacii “thereupon”.^[3] Scriban explained it from de and ici.^[6] Wiktionary compares French d'ici.^[1]

aci “here” continues Latin eccum and hīc (“here”).^[7] Cihac's derivation from dē and quid is not followed.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELR's first record is deaci in the Codex Bratul of 1559–1560.^[4] In the Codicele Voronețean (c. 1563–1583) it renders Greek “therefore” in „Deaci preveghiați” and Greek “and then” in „Deaci se aproprie miiașul” “then the captain came near”.^[3][5]

Semantic evolution

The old sense “then, after that”, used to move a story on, is now obsolete.^[4][3] The conclusive sense, “so, therefore”, became the main one, and the conjunction still resumes an interrupted story: Deci, cum spuneam…^[5][2] Scriban illustrates it with Descartes' cuget, deci exist “I think, therefore I am”.^[6] The Bucharest Bible of 1688 already uses deci over four hundred times.^[9]

Timeline

• 1559–1560 – deaci in the Codex Bratul, the first record.^[4]
• c. 1563–1583 – deaci “therefore; then” in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3][5]
• 1649 – deci in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[10]
• 1688 – deci over four hundred times in the Bucharest Bible.^[9]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. so, therefore, consequently: introduces a logical conclusion or a consequence: Am întârziat, deci am pierdut trenul.^[2][5]
2. so, well then: resumes a story after an interruption.^[5]
3. (obsolete) then, after that.^[4]

Related words

• aci
• de

Usage notes

A separate element deci-, from French déci-, forms the names of units one tenth of the main unit (decilitru, decimetru); MDA2 records it from DEX 1975.^[2][5][11]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 277
3. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. deci
4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. deci
5. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 617
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 395
7. ^ 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. aici
8. ^ Cihac, A. de (1870), Dictionnaire d'étymologie daco-romane I: Éléments latins comparés avec les autres langues romanes, Frankfurt am Main, p. 48
9. ^ a b Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Facerea 8:20
10. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. deci
11. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. deci