semnal

Forms

semnal n (plural semnale)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French signal reshaped after the native semn “sign”, as DEX and the DILF put it.^[2][3][4] The DLR and MDA2 describe the same process from the Romanian side: a formation on that noun after the French word and German Signal.^[5][6] Marcu and Maneca also compare Italian segnale, and Wiktionary treats it as a calque of the French word.^[7][1] Gabinschi lists it among the words made on a French model from a native word, here the noun Romanian inherited from Latin signum.^[8]

The French word goes back to Late Latin signāle (“sign”), the noun use of signālis (“serving as a sign”), from the Latin noun.^[9] The German word was borrowed from the French word in the 17th century.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first dictionary record is Negulici's of 1848, which defines semnal as a sign given to let someone know something.^[11] MDA2's first record is in Gheorghe Asachi's historical drama Petru Rareș (1853).^[6]

Semantic evolution

Costinescu (1870) still gave signal beside semnal, and the form with -i- lasted into the 20th century: the DLR quotes signal in Lăcusteanu and Agârbiceanu.^[12][5] Popular speech has țignal and regional speech țicnal.^[6]

The word first named a conventional sign given at a distance, in armies, in the hunt and on the railway: the DLR quotes Odobescu on the hunting calls, “like military signals”, Brătescu-Voinești on an army bugle call and Agârbiceanu on a train.^[5] The figurative sense, what starts an action, appears in Scriban's example “Caesar's death was the signal for a new civil war”, which Șăineanu has too.^[4][13] Technical uses followed: a device that gives signals, the alarm brake of a train (semnal de alarmă), the call sign of a radio station, and in psychology a stimulus that sets off a conditioned reflex.^[6][2]

Timeline

• 1848 – first dictionary record, in Negulici.^[11]
• 1853 – in Asachi's drama Petru Rareș.^[6]
• 1862 – in Pontbriant's dictionary.^[5]
• 1870 – semnal and signal side by side in Costinescu's dictionary.^[12]
• 1886 – glossed German Zeichen, Signal by Barcianu.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A conventional sign, or a series of signs, sound or visual, used to send a notice, a warning or an order at a distance: semnal luminos “light signal”, semnal rutier “road sign”, semnal orar “time signal”.^[2][6]
2. A device or installation that gives such signals;^[6] semnal de alarmă, the emergency brake of a train or an alarm system.^[6]
3. (rare) A small metal whistle for giving signals, or the signal given with it.^[2]
4. (figurative) Whatever announces or sets off an action: a da semnalul “to take the lead, to set the tone”.^[2]
5. (psychology) A stimulus that triggers a conditioned reflex.^[2]

Related words

• semn
• French signal
• Latin signum

Usage notes

The phrase a trage semnalul de alarmă means to draw attention to a danger.^[6] The plural is semnale;^[6][15] Damé gave semnaluri, which MDA2 marks as rare.^[6][15]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1004
3. ^ Costăchescu, Adriana; Dincă, Daniela; Dragoste, Ramona; Popescu, Mihaela; Scurtu, Gabriela (2009–2010), Dicționar de împrumuturi lexicale din limba franceză (DILF), 2 vols., Craiova: Universitaria, p. s.v. semnal
4. ^ a b Scriban, August (1939), Dicționaru limbii românești (etimologii, înțelesuri, exemple, citațiuni, arhaizme, neologizme, provincializme), Iași: Presa Bună, p. 1, 1187
5. ^ a b c d Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. semnal
6. ^ 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, 856
7. ^ Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. semnal
8. ^ Gabinschi, Marcu (2001), Dicționar de dublete etimologice ale limbii române, 2nd ed., Chișinău: Litera, p. 160
9. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. signal
10. ^ Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 849
11. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. 358
12. ^ a b Costinescu, Ion (1870), Vocabularu romano-francesu, 2 vols., Bucuresci, p. 2, 502
13. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 1, 583
14. ^ Barcianu, Sava Popovici (1886), Dicționar român-germân și germân-român, revised by D. P. Barcianu, part I: român-germân, Sibiu: Institut tipografic, p. 580
15. ^ a b Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. semnal