dramatic

Forms

dramatic m or n (feminine singular dramatică, masculine plural dramatici, feminine/neuter plural dramatice)^[1] The earliest forms, in Eustatievici's grammar of 1757, are the noun dramaticon “the dramatic genre” and the adjective dramaticesc.^[2][3] Negulici's vocabulary of 1848 glosses it with Latin dramaticus.^[4]

Etymology

It is a learned word with several sources.^[2][5] The DEX, MDA2, the DLR and the MDN give borrowed from French dramatique and Latin dramaticus.^[5][6][7][8] DELR puts first Modern Greek δραματικός (dramatikós), the source of the earliest forms, and adds the French word and possibly Italian drammatico and German dramatisch; the old ⟨dramaticon⟩ is the Greek neuter δραματικόν (dramatikón).^[2] Tiktin also gives the French and Greek words, and Scriban only the Greek one.^[3][9]

The Greek adjective is from Ancient Greek δραματικός (dramatikós), from δρᾶμα (drâma, “drama, play”), the source of dramă.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Eustatievici's grammar of 1757 has the noun dramaticon for the dramatic genre and the adjective dramaticesc.^[2][3] The form dramatic appears in 1831, in poezia dramatică “dramatic poetry” in Heliade Rădulescu's grammar.^[2][7][6]

Semantic evolution

At first the adjective belonged to the theatre: dramatic poetry, plays and the art of acting.^[7][10] Barcianu's dictionary of 1886 already glossed it also as “full of action”, and Șăineanu gave the figurative sense of something that moves or grips the reader.^[11][12] The DEX now gives a second main sense, of events and situations full of contrasts and conflicts, shocking or moving.^[5] Of a singer's voice it means full and intense, fit for tense scenes.^[5]

Derivatives followed: dramaticește “in a dramatic way” (1842), dramaticitate (c. 1870, in Eminescu's manuscripts) and the loans dramatist (c. 1832) and dramatism (1875).^[2]

Timeline

• 1757 – dramaticon and dramaticesc in Eustatievici's Romanian grammar, the first records.^[2][3]
• 1831 – dramatic in Heliade Rădulescu's grammar.^[2]
• c. 1832 – dramatist “playwright” in I. Golescu.^[2]
• 1842 – the adverb dramaticește in Asachi.^[2]
• 1848 – in Negulici's vocabulary of neologisms.^[4]
• c. 1870 – dramaticitate in Eminescu's manuscripts.^[2]
• 1875 – dramatism, from French.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Relating to drama or the theatre: un autor dramatic.^[5][6]
2. (of a singer's voice) Full, intense and grave, fit to express tense scenes.^[5][6]
3. (figurative, of events or situations) Full of contrasts and conflicts; shocking, moving: o salvare dramatică.^[5][6]

Related words

• dramă
• dramatism
• dramatiza
• Ancient Greek δρᾶμα (drâma)

Usage notes

Set phrases include artă dramatică “the art of staging and acting”, artist dramatic “actor”, gen dramatic “the dramatic genre” and cronică dramatică “theatre review”.^[5][6] As a neuter noun, dramaticul means the dramatic side of a situation.^[5]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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. drámă
3. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. dramátic
4. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. s.v. dramatic
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 330
6. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 1, 753
7. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. dramátic
8. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. dramatic
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 445
10. ^ Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 1, 359
11. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 194
12. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 220