telefon

Forms

telefon n (plural telefoane)^[1] Regional pronunciations include tilifon, telifon, talifon, tălifon and tălăfon.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French téléphone, the source that Ciorănescu, DEX and the neologism dictionaries give, and according to MDA2 and the DLR it is also borrowed from German Telefon.^{[3][4][5][2][6]} Wiktionary gives both the French and the German word.^[1]

The word was coined from the Greek elements Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “far off”) and φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”), after the model of the word for the telegraph.^[1][7][8] In French it named an acoustic device in 1809, Reis's apparatus in 1866 and Bell's telephone from 1876, after the English word.^[7] Kluge dates the German word to 1796.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first Romanian record is from 1875, in a description of the apparatus invented by Gray: „Aparatul inventat de către Gray și care a fost numit telefon se compune din trei părți” “the apparatus invented by Gray and named telephone consists of three parts”.^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

The telephone was installed in Bucharest in 1885 and in Iași in 1886.^[3] The word soon named the call and the subscriber's number as well as the apparatus and the network: a da un telefon is “to make a call”, and carte de telefoane “telephone directory”.^[2][4] The late 20th century brought telefon mobil, and the press of the 2000s telefon inteligent “smartphone”, after English.^[4][9] In slang a telefon is a slap across the ear, and Ciorănescu records the sense “hearing, ear”.^[10][3]

Timeline

• 1875 – the first record, in a description of Gray's apparatus.^[6][2]
• 1885 – the telephone installed in Bucharest.^[3]
• 1886 – the telephone installed in Iași.^[3]
• 1890s – Damé's dictionary enters telefon, plural telefoane.^[11]
• 2005 – telefon inteligent “smartphone” in the press.^[9]

Meanings

Noun

1. telephony: the system of talking at a distance over wires, and the installations it uses.^[4]
2. A telephone, the apparatus with a transmitter and a receiver: telefon mobil “mobile phone”.^[4][2]
3. A phone call: Am primit un telefon de la mama.^[4][2]
4. A subscriber's telephone number: Dă-mi telefonul tău.^[4]
5. (slang) A slap across the ear.^[10]

Word family

• telefonic
• telefona
• telefonie
• telefonist

Related words

• telegraf
• French téléphone

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1192
3. ^ a b c d e 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. telefon
4. ^ a b c d e f g DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1113
5. ^ Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. telefon
6. ^ a b c Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. telefon
7. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. téléphone
8. ^ a b Kluge, Friedrich; Seebold, Elmar (2011), Etymologisches Wörterbuch der deutschen Sprache, 25th ed., Berlin / Boston: De Gruyter, p. 912
9. ^ a b Dimitrescu, Florica (1997), Dicționar de cuvinte recente, 2nd ed., București: Logos (with the 3rd ed., 2013, in CLRE), p. s.v. telefon
10. ^ a b Volceanov, George (2007), Dicționar de argou al limbii române, București: Niculescu, p. s.v. telefon
11. ^ Damé, Frédéric (1893–1895), Nouveau dictionnaire roumain-français, 4 vols., Bucarest: Imprimerie de l'État, p. s.v. telefon