tragedie

Forms

tragedie f (plural tragedii)^[1] In the 18th century the Greek form tragodie was usual: Axinte Uricariul calls Euripides „scriitorul de tragodii” “the writer of tragedies”.^[2][3] Old texts also have trăgedie and traghedie, and Șincai stressed it tragédie.^[4][2][3]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French tragédie, and at the same time borrowed from Latin tragoedia, according to DEX;^[5] MDA2 and the DLR name tragedia as well, and the dictionaries give several models in the way usual for Romanian neologisms.^[6][4][3][2] The older form ⟨tragodie⟩ comes from Modern Greek τραγωδία (tragodía), a doublet of the 18th century that Gáldi records among the Greek words of the Phanariote period, and ⟨traghedie⟩ from Russian трагедия (tragedija).^[7][5][3]

Latin took the word from Ancient Greek τραγῳδία (tragōidía), a derivative of τραγῳδός (tragōidós, “member of a tragic chorus”).^[8][1] That is a compound of τράγος (trágos, “male goat”) and ᾠδή (ōidḗ, “song”), but why a “goat song” is still disputed: ancient writers said a goat was the prize of the contest, and others think of the sacrifice of a goat to Dionysus.^[9][10][11]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is of 1703, in the form trăgediia.^[4][2][3] It named a dramatic play from the start: Axinte Uricariul speaks of Euripides as a writer of tragodii.^[2]

Semantic evolution

A periodical of 1830 hoped for a theatre where the finest tragedies of heroism would be staged in Romanian, and one of 1834 explained that they nearly always end in a death.^[3] Negulici's dictionary of neologisms has the modern form in 1848.^[12] From the play the word passed to a dreadful event, a catastrophe, and to inner torment.^[6][4][13] In familiar speech a face tragedie din ceva is to make too much of a mishap.^[4]

Timeline

• 1703 – trăgediia, the first record.^[4][2][3]
• 1819 – tragodie, the Greek form, in a document.^[5]
• 1830 – tragedii in a periodical, about a Romanian theatre.^[3]
• 1848 – tragedie in Negulici's dictionary.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. A tragedy: a dramatic work with strong characters in violent conflict and an unhappy ending; the genre of such works.^[6][4]
2. (figurative) A terrible event, a catastrophe.^[6]
3. (figurative) Inner torment, suffering.^[4][13]

Related words

• Latin tragoedia

Usage notes

Cantemir's tragodie “song of lament” is a different word, from Modern Greek τραγούδι (tragoúdi, “song”).^[14]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Tiktin, Hariton (2000–2005), Rumänisch-deutsches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., revised by Paul Miron and Elsa Lüder, 3 vols., Cluj-Napoca: Clusium, p. s.v. tragedie
3. ^ 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. tragedie
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1250
5. ^ a b c Gáldi, Ladislas (1939), Les mots d'origine néo-grecque en roumain à l'époque des Phanariotes, Budapest: Királyi Magyar Egyetemi Nyomda, p. 263
6. ^ a b c d DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1135
7. ^ 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. tragedie
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tragoedia
9. ^ Liddell, Henry George; Scott, Robert; Jones, Henry Stuart (1940), A Greek-English Lexicon, 9th ed., Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. τραγῳδία
10. ^ Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier, p. s.v. tragedia
11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. tragédie
12. ^ a b Negulici, I. D. (1848), Vocabular romînesc de toate vorbele streine întroduse pînă acum în limba romînească și de toate cuvintele ce s-ar mai putea introduce încă, București, p. 384
13. ^ a b Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. tragedie
14. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2010), Micul dicționar academic, 2nd ed., 4 vols., București: Univers Enciclopedic Gold, p. 2, 1251