stâng

Forms

stâng m or n (feminine singular stângă, plural stângi)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *stancus (“tired”).^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]} It is compared with Italian stanco (“tired”) and with the old Italian phrase mano stanca (“left hand”), and with Old French estanc (“weak, exhausted”).^[2][4][7] DEX equates the form with *stanticus, and Wiktionary takes that form from Latin stāns (“standing”).^[6][1] The REW calls its origin unknown, and notes that Romanian /g/ against Italian /k/ is striking.^[7]

The word survives south of the Danube: Aromanian stãngu and Megleno-Romanian stǫng.^[2][8][9] Pușcariu in 1905 still called the etymology unknown; he thought of the privative ex- with tangō (“to touch”), “the hand that does not touch”, or of a blend with mancus (“maimed”).^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin's first record is a Gospel book of 1551–1553, at Matthew 6:3.^[4] MDA2 dates the word to the Codicele Voronețean, of about 1563–1583.^[3] The Palia of 1581 has Joseph take his sons, Ephraim in his right hand and Manasseh „în mâna stângă” “in the left hand”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

Șăineanu explains the meaning as “the tired, the lazy hand”, opposed to the active right hand, and notes that unfavourable ideas attach to the left.^[11] As a feminine noun, stânga is the left hand and the left side, and in modern politics the left; the masculine stângul is the left foot.^[6][3] The old language said de-a stânga or din a stânga for “on the left”.^[4]

The derivatives are stângaci “left-handed; clumsy” and stângăcie “clumsiness”.^[2]

Timeline

• 1551–1553 – in a Gospel book, at Matthew 6:3.^[4]
• c. 1563–1583 – in the Codicele Voronețean.^[3]
• 1581 – mâna stângă “the left hand” in the Palia.^[5]
• 1825 – the Lexicon de la Buda glosses it with Latin laevus and sinister.^[12]

Meanings

Adjective

1. left: of parts of the body, on the side where the heart is.^[6][1]
2. On the side of the left hand, for someone facing the way a thing or being faces: aripa stângă a clădirii “the left wing of the building”.^[6][13]

Noun

1. (feminine, with the article, stânga) The left hand; the left side or direction.^[6] A ține stânga is to keep to the left.^[6]
2. (masculine, with the article, stângul) The left foot.^[6]
3. (feminine, with the article) The political left, the socialist parties;^[6] de stânga “left-wing”.^[6]

Word family

• stângaci
• stângăcie

Related words

• Aromanian stãngu

Usage notes

A călca cu stângul “to step off with the left foot” is to start something badly.^[3][13] Să nu știe stânga ce face dreapta asks for complete discretion.^[3] A trage la stânga is colloquial for “to steal”.^[6]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d 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. stâng
3. ^ a b c d e f Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 980
4. ^ 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. stâng
5. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. stâng
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1048
7. ^ a b c Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8225
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 972
9. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 967
10. ^ Pușcariu, Sextil (1905), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der rumänischen Sprache I: Lateinisches Element, Heidelberg: Carl Winter, p. 151
11. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 612
12. ^ 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. 672
13. ^ a b Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. stâng