neașteptat

Forms

neașteptat m or n (feminine singular neașteptată, masculine plural neașteptați, feminine/neuter plural neașteptate)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Romanian ne- + așteptat, the negative of așteptat, the past participle of aștepta “to wait, to expect”.^{[2][3][4][1][5]}

Earliest recorded meaning

The feminine neașteptată is recorded in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of 1649, where it renders a Slavonic word for “unexpected”; the other 17th-century lexicons have the word too.^[6][7] MDA2's first record is in Gheorghe Șincai's chronicle, which it cites in its 1853 edition: „face pace neașteptată cu craiul Sapore” “he makes an unexpected peace with King Sapore”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The first sense, “not expected”, extended to “coming as a surprise, sudden” and to “beyond what was hoped for”.^[2][4] The adjective is often used as an adverb, and before de with another adjective or adverb it heightens it: neașteptat de repede “surprisingly fast”.^[3][8] The adverbial phrase pe neașteptate “unexpectedly, all of a sudden”, which DEX treats as a separate neuter noun, goes back to the same participle.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1649 – neașteptată in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[6]
• 1660 – neașteptate in a Slavonic–Romanian lexicon of the 1660s.^[9]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda glosses it with Latin inexspectatus, Hungarian váratlan and German unerwartet.^[10]
• 1853 – MDA2's first record, Șincai's chronicle in its edition of that year.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. unexpected: not foreseen, happening or appearing suddenly.^[3][2]
2. Beyond one's expectations, unhoped-for.^[2][4]
3. (adverbial) Unexpectedly; before de + adjective or adverb, “surprisingly”.^[3][8]
4. In the phrase pe neașteptate: suddenly, without warning.^[3][2]

Related words

• așteptat
• aștepta

Usage notes

DEX gives pe neașteptate a headword of its own, neașteptat¹, a neuter noun found only in this phrase; the adjective is its neașteptat².^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 115
3. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 697
4. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. neașteptat
5. ^ Wikționar (Romanian Wiktionary), ro.wiktionary.org
6. ^ a b Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. neașteptată
7. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. neașteptat
8. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 179
9. ^ Ungureanu, Mădălina; Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Moruz, Alexandru (eds.), eRomLex: The First Romanian Bilingual Dictionaries (17th century), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. s.v. neașteptate
10. ^ Lesicon românescu-latinescu-ungurescu-nemțescu quare de mai mulți autori, în cursul a trideci și mai multor ani s-au lucrat (1825), Buda: Typographia Universității (the Lexicon of Buda, ed. Petru Maior et al.), p. 419