prelung

Forms

prelung m or n (feminine singular prelungă, plural prelungi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin perlongus (“very long”), an intensive formed with per- on longus (“long”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][1][7]} Ciorănescu, who treats the word in the family of lung, gives first a formation from Romanian pre- + lung and names the Latin adjective as the view of Pușcariu, Candrea–Densusianu and the REW.^[8] Scriban also gives both explanations.^[9]

South of the Danube the word has a prefixed ⟨s-⟩: Aromanian spirlungu (“elongated, oblong”), which Pascu takes from the same Latin adjective^[10] and Papahagi from a *experlongus.^[11] The REW lists Agenais perlongo (“lean”) and Sicilian spirlongu (“very long”) beside the Romanian word, and the derivative Italian spilungone (“tall, lanky man”), whose initial it explains by spiedo (“spit”).^[12]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to 1632, in Eustratie's Pravila.^[5] MDA2 and the DLR start with a passage of Constantin Cantacuzino, „vremea prelungă îmi va fi a cheltui, ca acelea înșirând” “it will take me a long time to list such things”.^[3][2] Tiktin suggests that vreme prelungă there may be meant as vreme prea lungă “too long a time”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The DLR puts first the sense in time, “lasting long”, used above all of sounds: a long cry, the drawn-out whistle of a train, a prolonged call of a horn.^[2] The spatial sense “elongated, oblong” describes a face, the eyes, thin hands or the long body of an animal such as the weasel.^[13][5] DEX now gives the shape first and the duration second.^[4] Used as an adverb it means “at length”: bells ring prelung from the towers.^[5][3] A regional phrase în prelung means “on a gentle slope”.^[3]

Ciorănescu lists as derivatives the verb prelungi “to lengthen, prolong” and its own family, and the plant name pelungoasă “ground ivy” for an older *prelungoasă.^[8] Candrea–Densusianu explain the plant name by the long creeping stem of the plant.^[6]

Timeline

• 1632 – the first record, in Eustratie's Pravila.^[5]
• c. 1716 – vremea prelungă “a long time” in Constantin Cantacuzino.^[3][2]
• 1875 – Antonescu's dictionary glosses prelungu “oblong”.^[14]
• 1886 – Barcianu glosses it with German länglich “oblong”.^[15]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of a roughly long, elongated shape: o față prelungă “a long face”.^[4][3][13]
2. Lasting a long time, prolonged, especially of sounds: un fluierat prelung “a long whistle”.^[4][2]

Adverb

1. For a long time, at length: Sirena a sunat prelung. “The siren sounded long.”^[3][5]

Word family

• prelungi

Related words

• lung
• Aromanian spirlungu

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. prelung
3. ^ 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, 519
4. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 867
5. ^ a b c d e f g Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. prelung
6. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. prelung
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b 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. lung
9. ^ Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1039
10. ^ Pascu, Giorge (1925), Dictionnaire étymologique macédoroumain, 2 vols. (I: Les éléments latins et romans; II: Les éléments grecs, turcs, slaves, albanais, germaniques, magyars, néologismes, créations immédiates, obscurs), Iași: Cultura Națională, p. 1, 111
11. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 967
12. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6416
13. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 3, 549
14. ^ Antonescu, G. M. (1875), Dictionariu romanu-francesu, Bucuresci: Typografia Curții (Lucrători Associați), p. 242
15. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 500