modalitate

Forms

modalitate f (plural modalități)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French modalité.^[2][3][4][1] DN gives the French word only as a comparison, and Scriban derives it from the adjective modal with the French as model.^[5][6] Wiktionary notes that by surface analysis it is the same adjective with the suffix -itate.^[1] The source word is formed from French modal + -ité.^[1] Laurian and Massim gave Italian modalità beside the French word.^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is Pontbriant's Romanian–French dictionary of 1862, which glosses it with French modalité and manière d'être “manner of being”, and also notes the musical sense “indication of the mode in which a piece is played”.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

In the 19th-century dictionaries it was a learned term of philosophy, logic and music: a manner of being (albeața e o modalitate a zăpezii “whiteness is a modality of snow”, Laurian and Massim's and Scriban's example), the grading of a judgement as necessary, possible or impossible, and the mode of a musical phrase.^[7][6][9] For the everyday sense “way, means of doing something” the DLR quotes Maiorescu on discussing the modalitățile of buying back a railway line.^[4] MDA2 adds a legal sense, a clause that restricts an act, and NODEX a grammatical one, the speaker's attitude to what is said.^[2][10]

Timeline

• 1862 – Pontbriant's dictionary, the first record.^[8][2]
• 1869 – Barițiu gives modalitate for Hungarian módozat “manner, mode”.^[11]
• 1870 – Costinescu's dictionary, as a term of logic.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. A procedure, means or method used to achieve an aim; a way: Am găsit o modalitate de a-l ajuta. “I found a way to help him.”^[3][2][1]
2. (logic) The determination of a judgement as necessary, contingent, possible or impossible.^[3][2]
3. (music) The character of a musical phrase given by the intervals between its notes.^[5][12]
4. (law) A restrictive clause added to a legal act.^[2]

Related words

• mod
• modal

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. 2, 37
3. ^ a b c DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1, 664
4. ^ a b Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. modalitate
5. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. modalitate
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 824
7. ^ a b Laurian, A. T.; Massim, I. C. (1871–1876), Dictionariulu limbei romane, 2 vols., Bucuresci: Noua Typographia a Laboratoriloru Romani, p. 2, s.v. modalitate
8. ^ a b Pontbriant, Raoul de (1862), Dictiunaru romano-francesu, Bucuresci: A. Ulrich / Göttingen: Dieterich, p. 444
9. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 108
10. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. modalitate
11. ^ Barițiu, George (1869), Dictionariu unguresc-romanescu, Brașov, p. 380
12. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. modalitate