răspundere

Forms

răspundere f (plural răspunderi)^[1] Older texts also spell it respundere: „iară respunderea lină frânge mânia” “but a gentle answer breaks anger”.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is the long infinitive of răspunde (“to answer”), formed from Romanian răspunde + -re, and used as a noun.^[4][2][3][1] The verb continues Latin respondeō (“to answer”).^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a glossary of about 1580.^[6] In Coresi's Carte de învățătură of 1581 it means “answer”: „am putea cineva răspundere să nemerim?” “could anyone find an answer?”.^[2][3] The same work also uses it for “meaning” and “promise”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like the verb, the noun first meant “answer”, and in the old language also “meaning, interpretation”, “promise” and the decision of an authority.^[2][3] The 17th-century Slavonic–Romanian lexicons gloss it with Slavonic words for answer and for allegory.^[7] The Lexicon de la Buda of 1825 gives both “answer” and “responsibility”.^[8]

The sense “responsibility”, from the verb's sense “to vouch for, to be answerable for”, is recorded from 1812, in a document, and spread in the language of law and administration.^[2][6] The old language also had the senses “excuse”, “punishment” and “payment”, the last recorded in documents of 1804–1848.^[2][6] From 1848 the expression a trage la răspundere “to call to account” appears, and in the 20th century simț de răspundere “sense of responsibility”.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1580 – the first record, in a glossary.^[6]
• 1581 – “answer”, “meaning” and “promise” in Coresi's Carte de învățătură.^[2][3]
• 1649 – in Mardarie's Slavonic–Romanian lexicon.^[7]
• 1688 – in the Bucharest Bible (Acts 22:1).^[9]
• 1804 – “payment” of soldiers' wages in a document.^[6]
• 1812 – “responsibility”, a rămâne la răspundere.^[2]
• 1848 – a trage la răspundere “to call to account”.^[2]

Meanings

Noun

1. responsibility: the duty to answer for carrying out a task or action;^[4][3] pe răspunderea mea “on my responsibility”.^[4][3]
2. A trage (or a chema) la răspundere: to call someone to account for their deeds;^[4][3] simț de răspundere: a sense of duty about one's tasks.^[4][3]
3. (law) liability: the consequence of failing to fulfil a legal obligation.^[4][3][1]
4. (obsolete) An answer; also a meaning, a promise, an excuse, a punishment, a payment.^[3][2]

Related words

• răspunde
• răspuns
• răspunzător
• Latin respondeō

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. răspundere
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 643
4. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 918
5. ^ 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. răspunde
6. ^ 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. răspundere
7. ^ 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. răspundere
8. ^ 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. 586
9. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Acts 22:1