sfârteca

Forms

sfârteca (first-person singular present sfârtec, third-person singular present sfârtecă, past participle sfârtecat, third-person subjunctive sfârtece) 1st conjugation^[1][2] The variant sfârtica is the headword of MDA2 and DLR;^[3][4][5] Vlahuță wrote sferticând: Medea, „sferticându-i trupul”, “tearing his body to pieces”, threw the parts on the waves.^[3][4][5] Other variants are sferteca, șferteca, spârtica and spârtiga.^[3][5]

Etymology

DEX takes it as inherited from Vulgar Latin *exfracticō, from fractus (“broken”), an etymology Ciorănescu credits to Candrea.^[2][6][1] Ciorănescu treats it as a derivative of sfert “quarter”, comparing Spanish descuartizar “to quarter”, and Wiktionary gives that as the alternative.^[6][1] Tiktin thought it probably belonged to parte “part”, influenced by sfărâma, sfâșia and the word for “quarter”.^[5] MDA2 and DLR call it of unknown origin.^[3][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is from 1785, with the sense “to tear to pieces”.^[5] MDA2 starts with Șincai's chronicle, where a man who fell under the horses was trampled, l-au sfărticat caii, and died on the third day.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

The verb is used of wolves, dogs and other beasts tearing their prey, then of shells and bullets tearing soldiers apart.^[4] Figuratively it can mean “to criticize savagely”: Sadoveanu's village women set on a priest, sfârticându-l în toate felurile, “tearing him to shreds in every way”.^[5][7] Rare or regional senses are “to scratch”, the old reflexive se spârtica “to scatter”, and of hooves, “to wear down”.^[3]

Timeline

• 1785 – first record, according to Tiktin.^[5]
• 1853 – sfărticat in the printed edition of Șincai's chronicle.^[3][4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To tear to pieces, mangle, rip apart.^[2][3][1]
2. (transitive, figurative) To criticize savagely.^[7]
3. (transitive, rare) To scratch.^[3]

Related words

• sfâșia
• sfert

Usage notes

DEX makes sfârteca the headword and sfârtica its variant;^[2][3][4] MDA2 and DLR do the reverse.^[2][3][4] A Maramureș example has the reflexive s-a sfârtica “it will tear”.^[8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1011
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, 874
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. sfârtica
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. sfârtica
6. ^ 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. sfert
7. ^ a b Macrea, Dimitrie; Petrovici, Emil (coord.) (1955–1957), Dicționarul limbii romîne literare contemporane, 4 vols., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 4, 116
8. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. sfârtecá