yoga

Forms

yoga f (uncountable)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from French yoga, an unadapted loan, with English yoga named beside it by DEX, MDA2, the DLR, Marcu's MDN and Wiktionary.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Marcu and Maneca name French and Sanskrit, with the Sanskrit meaning “union”.^[6] French borrowed it in 1825 from Sanskrit योग (yóga, “yoking, union”), derived from the verb युज् (yuj-, “to join”), which goes back to the root that also gave Latin iugum (“yoke”) and Ancient Greek ζυγόν (zugón).^[7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the Dicționar enciclopedic român (1962), which MDA2 and the DLR cite first.^[5][4] There it names the Indian philosophical school.^[5][4]

Semantic evolution

The word first named a school of Indian philosophy that seeks deep knowledge of the self, so as to free it from material life and unite it with the universal spirit.^[4][2] By extension it came to mean the discipline of body and mind built on systematic exercises, through which one gains control of the vital functions, and the set of these exercises.^[4][5] The DLR quotes Steinhardt naming yoga beside stoicism and Zen, and an article of 1992 in România literară listing it with surrealism and psychoanalysis among new values.^[4]

Timeline

• 1962 – first record, in the Dicționar enciclopedic român.^[5][4]
• 1974 – used in the journal Limba română.^[4]
• 1986 – Marcu and Maneca list it as a neuter noun from French and Sanskrit.^[6]
• 1992 – România literară names yoga among the values of the time.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. A school of Indian philosophy that aims at deep self-knowledge, to free the self from material life and unite it with the universal spirit through contemplation and ascetic practice.^[2][5]
2. (by extension) A discipline of body and mind based on breathing and posture exercises, meant to give full control of the body's functions: Face yoga de două ori pe săptămână.^[2][8][1]

Usage notes

The dictionaries disagree on the gender: DEX 2009, MDA2 and Marcu's MDN make it feminine, the DLR, DEXI and Marcu and Maneca neuter.^{[2][5][3][4][9][6]} The DLR gives the pronunciation as io-ga.^[4]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e DEX (2009), Dicționarul explicativ al limbii române [Explanatory dictionary of the Romanian language], Bucharest: Editura Univers Enciclopedic, p. 1214
3. ^ a b Marcu, Florin (2000), Marele dicționar de neologisme, București: Saeculum Vizual, p. s.v. yoga
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Academia Română (1965–2010), Dicționarul limbii române (DLR), serie nouă, tom I–XIX, București: Editura Academiei Române, p. s.v. yoga
5. ^ 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, 1529
6. ^ a b c Marcu, Florin; Maneca, Constant (1986), Dicționar de neologisme, 3rd ed., București: Editura Academiei Republicii Socialiste România, p. s.v. yoga
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. yoga
8. ^ Academia Română, Institutul de Lingvistică „Iorgu Iordan – Al. Rosetti” (2002), Noul dicționar explicativ al limbii române, București: Litera Internațional, p. s.v. yoga
9. ^ Dima, Eugenia (coord.) (2007), Dicționar explicativ ilustrat al limbii române, Chișinău: Arc / Gunivas, p. s.v. yoga