tărăgăna

Forms

tărăgăna (third-person singular present tărăgănează, past participle tărăgănat) 1st conjugation^[1]

Etymology

In the view of Tiktin, Pușcariu, the REW, Rosetti and Candrea it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *tragīnō (“to drag along”), a derivative of trahō (“to draw, drag”), through the older form trăgăna, the only one of the old language.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} On this view the change of ⟨gi⟩ to ⟨gă⟩ is analogical, as in leagăn and mesteacăn, and the extra syllable of the headword is a sound-symbolic lengthening.^[2][3] The Romance cognates are Italian strascinare, French traîner, Spanish trajinar and Portuguese trajinar.^[3][5][1]

Ciorănescu finds this insufficient and prefers a Romanian formation from trage with the expressive suffix ⟨-na⟩, as in clătina.^[3] MDA2 calls the origin unknown and compares the same verb.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Tiktin dates the first record to about 1670, in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[2] In Miron Costin's chronicle the reflexive meant “to descend, originate”: he asks from where the people of Moldavia „să trăgănează”.^[2][6]

Semantic evolution

Besides the obsolete “to descend from”, the old language used the verb for “to drag on”: Nicolae Costin writes that a quarrel „s-au trăgănat” until Troy was destroyed.^[2][6] From “to draw out” came the modern senses “to put off”, “to drag one's feet” and “to drawl”.^[2][4] The noun tărăgănare is recorded from 1810.^[2] Popular and regional uses include “to sing slowly and sadly”, “to lament”, and, of the wind, “to blow gently”.^[6][4]

Timeline

• c. 1670 – the first record, in the Anonymus Caransebesiensis.^[2]
• 1810 – the noun tărăgănare “delay”.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To put off from one day to the next; to delay, drag out a matter: Au tărăgănat răspunsul câteva luni.^[4][6][1]
2. (transitive) With mersul or pașii: to walk slowly, dragging one's feet.^[4][6]
3. (transitive) To drawl, speaking slowly and drawing out the syllables.^[4][6][1]
4. (reflexive, of time) To last, drag on.^[4][6]
5. (intransitive, regional) To sing slowly and sadly; of the wind, to blow gently.^[4][6]

Related words

• trage
• trăgăna

Usage notes

DEX gives the variants tărăgăia, trăgăna and tărăgăni;^[7] MDA2 adds străgăna, trăgâna and other regional forms.^[4][6]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. tărăgăna
3. ^ 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. trăgăna
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1108
5. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8837
6. ^ 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, 1171
7. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1175