microfon

Forms

microfon n (plural microfoane)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French microphone, with German Mikrophon as a second model, as Romanian lexicography often records for technical loans.^{[2][3][4][5][6]} Wiktionary gives only the French word, and Wikționar agrees.^[1][7] Within Romanian the word can be analysed as from Romanian micro- + -fon.^[1] The French word is built on Ancient Greek μικρός (mikrós, “small”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice”), as Scriban and the neologism dictionary note.^[8][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Scriban's dictionary of 1939 has the word, as an instrument that amplifies sound, which he says was invented by Hughes.^[8] The Academy dictionary quotes it from the press of 1953 and 1954, in front of the microphones of the radio and in a headset fitted before a speaker's mouth.^[3] MDA2 dates its first record to Iorgu Iordan's Limba romînă contemporană of 1956.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Scriban still described the microphone as a device that makes sound louder, while the dictionaries of the 1950s define it by what it does to sound: it turns sound vibrations into an electric current, for the telephone and for broadcasting.^[8][10] Today it is the device that changes sound into electrical oscillations, in radio, television and telecommunications.^[2][5] Romanian slang has also used it for the erect penis.^[11]

Timeline

• 1939 – in Scriban's dictionary, as an instrument that amplifies sound.^[8]
• 1953 – in the newspaper Scînteia, of radio speakers in front of the microphones.^[3]
• 1955 – defined in DLRLC, with a quotation from a physics textbook.^[10]
• 1956 – in Iorgu Iordan's Limba romînă contemporană, MDA2's first record.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A microphone: a device that turns sound vibrations into electrical oscillations, used in radio, television and telecommunications.^[2][5][1]
2. (slang) The erect penis.^[11]

Related words

• telefon

Usage notes

The plural is microfoane.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 650
3. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. microfon
4. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România
5. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual
6. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria
7. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
8. ^ a b c d Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 805
9. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 4
10. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 71
11. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu