pentru

Etymology

It is a compound from Romanian pe (“on”) + întru (“in, into”), as MDA2 analyses it.^[2] DEX and Wiktionary derive it from the older printru, which MDA2 and the DLR take from pre and the same second element.^[3][4][5][1] Scriban also starts from the two prepositions; he names pintru as the direct result and prentru as an old dialect form, and judges the standard form no better than the first.^[6]

Ciorănescu lists the word among the compounds of the preposition meaning “in”, made with the preposition meaning “on” as in Aromanian pintru, and gives as a second possibility a direct origin in Latin per (“through”) plus intrō (“inside”), the view of Candrea–Densusianu and Pascu.^[7] Papahagi glosses the Aromanian word as “among” and traces it to an older form going back to the same Latin phrase.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The psalter index records the form pentru once in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, at Psalm 41:4.^[9] Tiktin's first record is the Codicele Voronețean, in the Acts of the Apostles (25:24).^[10] MDA2 dates it to before 1626, from a text in Gaster's chrestomathy.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Tiktin's material shows the two old senses side by side: “for, for the benefit of, in exchange for” and “because of, for the sake of”; the Bucharest Bible of 1688 has „Ochiu pentru ochiu, dinte pentru dinte” “eye for eye, tooth for tooth”.^[10] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons use it to render Slavonic words for “for the sake of” and “instead of”.^[11] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 glosses it with Latin pro, propter, ob and causa.^[12]

In the modern language it expresses cause, purpose, benefit, destination, opposition, relation, time and exchange, and with an infinitive or in compound conjunctions it introduces clauses.^[3][13]

Timeline

• c. 1500-1520 – pentru in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (Psalm 41:4).^[9]
• c. 1500-1520 – the older printru in the same psalter, MDA2's first record of that word.^[4]
• c. 1563-1583 – in the Codicele Voronețean, Tiktin's first record.^[10]
• 1589 – nineteen occurrences in Coresi's psalter of that year.^[14]
• before 1626 – MDA2's first record, from Gaster's chrestomathy.^[2]
• 1649 – used in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon to gloss Slavonic words for “instead of” and “for the sake of”.^[11]
• 1688 – „Ochiu pentru ochiu, dinte pentru dinte” in the Bucharest Bible (Exodus 21:24).^[10]
• 1825 – glossed with Latin pro, propter and ob in the Lexicon de la Buda.^[12]

Meanings

Preposition

1. because of, on account of: L-au certat pentru întârziere. “They scolded him for being late.”^[3][13]
2. For, introducing the thing one thanks for, asks for and the like;^[3] pentru puțin “don't mention it”, as an answer to thanks.^[3]
3. For, in order to: introduces the purpose of an action.^[3][13]
4. For, in favour of, on behalf of; in elliptic use, “for” as against “against” in a vote.^[3]
5. Intended for; bound for, with a destination: trenul pentru Brașov “the train for Brașov”.^[3][13]
6. Against, as a remedy for: un sirop pentru tuse “a cough syrup”.^[3][10]
7. As regards, as for; in relation to.^[3]
8. For a period of time: A venit pentru o săptămână. “He came for a week.”^[3][13]
9. In exchange for, instead of.^[3][13]
10. With an infinitive, (too …) to; in compound conjunctions: pentru că “because”, pentru ca “so that”, pentru ce “why”.^[3]

Related words

• întru
• printru
• pre
• pe

Usage notes

Old and regional variants are many: MDA2 lists among others pântru, păntru, pintru, prentru and pentu.^[2] Scriban says pintru is the eastern and pântru the western form.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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, 339
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 800
4. ^ 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, 546
5. ^ Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. printru
6. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 961
7. ^ 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. întru
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 845
9. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 41:4
10. ^ a b c d e Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. pentru
11. ^ 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. pentru
12. ^ a b 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. 495
13. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. pentru
14. ^ Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 3:1