mira

Forms

a mira (third-person singular present miră, past participle mirat); first conjugation, usually reflexive (a se mira).^[1][2] Moldavian and Banat speech has the variant miera: „Mă mier că dumneta nu-mi scrii nimică” “I am surprised that you write me nothing” in Kogălniceanu.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin mīror (“to wonder, be amazed”), in the popular active form mirāre that replaced the deponent.^{[4][2][5][6][1]} The Latin verb is formed on mīrus (“astonishing, remarkable”).^[1][7]

It survives in all four branches: Aromanian njir, Megleno-Romanian mir and Istro-Romanian mir.^[4][8][9] Its Romance cognates are Italian mirare, French mirer, Occitan mirar, Catalan mirar, Spanish mirar and Portuguese mirar, and Albanian mërej has been compared.^[4][6] Only Romanian kept the sense “to be amazed”; the other languages developed “to look at, observe” from “to look at with admiration”.^[10]

Pușcariu explained the reflexive use by a crossing with the Slavonic verb for “to wonder”, which Ciorănescu finds unnecessary, comparing Spanish admirarse.^[4] Graur's derivation of the variant miera from a Latin form with /e/ is doubtful to Ciorănescu;^[4][10] Candrea and Densusianu explained it as a blend of the forms stressed on the root and those stressed on the ending.^[4][10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century: „Aceia așea mirară-se” “they marvelled so”.^[5][3] The Codicele Voronețean has „Frații miei, nu vă mirareți” “My brothers, marvel not”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The core sense since the 16th century is to be surprised or puzzled: in Coresi's Gospel the disciples „se mirară că cu muiarea grăiia” “marvelled that he talked with the woman”.^[3][11] The old language also used it for “not to know what to do”: „stau de mă mir ce voi face” in Antim.^[11] MDA2 lists further old senses, “to be anxious” and “to fear”, and a regional one, “to look at closely”.^[5] In Transylvania it can mean “to see to, take care of”.^[4][1]

The impersonal phrases te miri cine, te miri ce, te miri unde and te miri cum (“who knows who, what, where, how”) became indefinite expressions.^[2][11]

Timeline

• c. 1500–1520 – mirară-se in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki, the first record.^[5][3]
• c. 1563–1583 – nu vă mirareți in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3]
• c. 1618 – „Nu iaste a să mira” “it is no wonder” in a manuscript printed by Gaster.^[11][3]
• 1688 – mirară in the Bucharest Bible.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (reflexive and transitive) To be surprised or puzzled; to surprise, astonish: Mă mir că n-a venit nimeni.^[2][13][1]
2. (reflexive) To show one's surprise or admiration.^[2]
3. (reflexive) To wonder, ask oneself.^[2][1]
4. (regional, Transylvania) To see to, take care of.^[4][1]

Word family

• mirăzenie
• mirare

Usage notes

Te miri ce means “a trifle” and te miri cine “a nobody”;^[2] mă miram eu să nu… means “I was sure that…”.^[2] DEX records a separate obsolete verb mira (present mirez), “to look at oneself as in a mirror”, a Gallicism taken from French mirer used by Alecsandri and Asachi.^[2][3]

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 DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 659
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. mira
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. mira
5. ^ 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. 2, 22
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5603
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 798
9. ^ Capidan, Theodor (1935), Meglenoromânii III: Dicționar meglenoromân, București: Academia Română, p. 191
10. ^ a b c Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. mira
11. ^ 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. mira
12. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Mt 7:28
13. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. mira