UN TERMEN VECHI ASOCIAT CONCEPTULUI DE „AUTORITATE”: STĂPÂN

AN OLD TERM RELATED TO THE CONCEPT OF “AUTHORITY”: STĂPÂN

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to synthesize issues related to the history of the ancient Romanian term, stăpân, associated with the concept of “authority”. Its importance in Romanian vocabulary is proved by early written attestations, its frequency and dialectal spread, the large number of derivatives created, and its status as the center of numerous phraseological units. Although the possible belonging of Rom. stăpân to the Thraco-Dacian substratum has been demonstrated, based on its relationships with equivalent words in Albanian and other Indo-European languages, this etymology does not appear in the dictionaries of the Romanian Academy (DLR, DEX). It is thus proposed that this issue should be reconsidered from the perspective of the solutions proposed in this study in which the autochthonous origin of this common noun is solidly argued. Starting from the treatment of the lexicographical entry stăpân in DEX and DLR, the meanings will be established on the basis of which the association of the notion of authority with the term stăpân “master” is justified.