fotograf

Forms

fotograf m (plural fotografi)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French photographe (“photographer”), as DEX, MDA2 and the neologism dictionaries give it.^[2][3][4][1] Scriban derived it from fotografie.^[5] The French word is formed from Ancient Greek φῶς (phôs, “light”) and γράφω (gráphō, “to write”); in Romanian it can be analysed as foto- + -graf.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Antonescu's Romanian–French dictionary of 1875 has fotografu “photographer”.^[6] MDA2's first record, from Klopștock, is undated in its bibliography.^[3] Barcianu's German dictionary of 1886 glosses fotograf as Photograph.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its one sense, a person who takes photographs, as a trade or as a hobby.^[2][3] The feminine is fotografă.^[2][5] Compounds such as fotograf-artist “art photographer” are recorded in the press from 1978, after French photographe artiste.^[8]

Timeline

• 1875 – fotografu in Antonescu's dictionary.^[6]
• 1886 – fotograf in Barcianu's Romanian–German dictionary.^[7]
• 1978 – fotograf-artist in the press.^[8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A photographer: a person who takes photographs; a specialist in photographic technique;^[2] fotograf amator “amateur photographer”.^[2][3][9][1]

Related words

• fotografie
• fotografia
• French photographe

References

1. ^ a b c d 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. 409
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, 934
4. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. fotograf
5. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 523
6. ^ a b Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 106
7. ^ a b Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 236
8. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. fotograf
9. ^ Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 2, 321