strămuta

Forms

strămuta (third-person singular present strămută, past participle strămutat, third-person subjunctive strămute), 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

It is probably inherited from Vulgar Latin *extrāmūtō (“to move elsewhere”), a Latin compound of extrā (“outside”) and mūtō (“to change, move”) that stands in place of Classical Latin trānsmūtō.^[2][3][4][1] Candrea and Densusianu proposed the Vulgar Latin form, and Șăineanu gave it as well.^[5][6][7] Ciorănescu lists the verb under muta instead, as a Romanian formation with the prefix stră-, and mentions Candrea's reconstruction beside it.^[7] Wiktionary adds that it is equivalent to the Romanian prefix plus the simple verb.^[1]

The verb survives south of the Danube: Aromanian strãmut means “to move, shift; to change”.^[8][9] Candrea and Densusianu compare Friulian stramudâ, and Wiktionary adds Sardinian stramudai.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki of the early 16th century, in Psalms 33 and 34.^[10] Tiktin cites it from the Psaltirea Scheiană (Psalm 59), where the other 16th-century psalters have the form strămută too.^[11][12] In his glossary of the Psaltirea Scheiană, Candrea renders that form with Latin nihili facere “to set at naught”.^[13] The spatial sense “to put in another place” is the one Tiktin gives first.^[11]

Semantic evolution

The core sense is moving something or someone to another place, and reflexively moving house or seat.^[3][4] A document of 1724 speaks of neighbours who “moved” the boundary of a hetman's land, and a note of 1778 forbids anyone to remove or steal a book bought with good money.^[4] Tiktin quotes I. Văcărescu for a figurative use: not to shift one's word and decisions.^[11] From this came the old sense “to change one's mind or feelings” and the popular sense “to transform”.^[3][2]

Reflexive a se strămuta de aici or din viață “to move from here, from life” means to die, and the transitive verb could mean to kill.^[3][2] In colloquial speech a strămuta cuiva fălcile “to shift someone's jaws” is to strike him hard in the face, and a-și strămuta fălcile is to yawn widely.^[3][2] MDA2 also records the regional sense “to rack wine” and the legal one “to order a change of venue” (strămutare).^[2] In Maramureș the reflexive verb also means “to turn pale”, as in a folk song: „Fața nu s-o strămutat” “her face did not change colour”.^[14][15]

Timeline

• early 16th century – forms of the verb in the Psaltirea Hurmuzaki (Psalms 33 and 34), the first record.^[10]
• 1570 – strămută in Coresi's Psalter, Psalm 59.^[12]
• c. 1573–1578 – the Psaltirea Scheiană, cited by Tiktin.^[11][12]
• 1688 – strămuta in the Bucharest Bible, Isaiah 49:19.^[16]
• 1724 – a document about moved boundaries, MDA2's first record.^[4][2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive and reflexive) To move or be moved to another place; to change one's place, seat or residence: Familia s-a strămutat la oraș.^[3][2][1]
2. (reflexive, in a se strămuta de aici or din viață) To die.^[3][2]
3. (law) To order the transfer of a case to another court.^[3][2]
4. (obsolete) To change one's thoughts, decisions or feelings; to go back on them.^[3]
5. (popular) To transform, turn into something else.^[3][1]

Word family

• strămutare
• strămutat
• nestrămutat

Related words

• muta
• Aromanian strãmut

Usage notes

MDA2 and the DLR also record a rare strămuta that is a variant of strănuta “to sneeze”.^[2][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1004
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1057
4. ^ 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. strămuta
5. ^ a b Candrea, I.-A.; Densusianu, Ov. (1907–1914), Dicționarul etimologic al limbii române: elementele latine (A–Putea), București, p. s.v. strămuta
6. ^ Șăineanu, Lazăr (1929), Dicționar universal al limbei române, 6th ed., Craiova: Scrisul Românesc, p. 619
7. ^ 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. muta
8. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1963), Dicționarul dialectului aromân, general și etimologic, București: Editura Academiei Republicii Populare Romîne, p. 979
9. ^ Cunia, Tiberius (2008), Dictsiunar a limbãljei armãneascã, Editsii Timpurarã (after T. Papahagi, Ș. Mihăileanu and I. Dalametra; online at dixionline.net), p. 974
10. ^ a b Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 33:5
11. ^ a b c d Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. strămutá
12. ^ a b c Gînsac, Ana-Maria; Ungureanu, Mădălina; Moruz, Alexandru et al., roPsalt: Re-evaluating the Sixteenth Century Romanian Psalters (aligned corpus), Iași: Universitatea „Alexandru Ioan Cuza”, https://scriptadacoromanica.ro, p. Ps 59:13
13. ^ Candrea, I.-A. (1916), Psaltirea Scheiană comparată cu celelalte psaltiri din sec. XVI și XVII traduse din slavonește, vol. II: Glosarele, București: Socec, p. 388
14. ^ Ștef, Dorin (2021), Dicționar de regionalisme și arhaisme din județul Maramureș, 3rd ed., Baia Mare, p. s.v. strămutá
15. ^ Papahagi, Tache (1925), Graiul și folklorul Maramureșului, București: Cultura Națională, p. 233
16. ^ Biblia, adecă Dumnezeiasca Scriptură a ceii vechi și a ceii noao leage, București, 1688 (ed. 1988, tricentennial edition), p. Isaia 49:19