Radio România Actualități · Prietenii de la radio
On Romanian Language Day, Doina Ruști was Daniela Mihai’s guest on Prietenii de la radio, broadcast by Radio România Actualități. The conversation focused on Romanian words and phraseology, on the way meanings change over time, and on the histories preserved in language.
One of the words discussed was matuf, which gives its name to the writer’s new novel, Matuf, the Wigmaker. Having entered old Romanian through Turkish, the word circulated with the meaning of old, worn-out man. Originally, however, in Persian and Turkic languages, it referred to a stately man, a leader.
The transformation of a word’s meaning across different periods also plays a role in the novel. In the world imagined by Doina Ruști, Matuf acquires yet another meaning years later, in a post-AI era.
The programme also marked the release of Matuf, the Wigmaker, published by Humanitas Junior.
The book is available from Humanitas Bookshops:
Matuf, peruchierul – Humanitas Bookshops
The interview with Daniela Mihai can be watched on Doina Ruști’s YouTube channel:
Doina Ruști at Radio România Actualități – video interview
The original live broadcast by Radio România Actualități is available here:
Radio România Actualități – original live broadcast
The conversation connected Romanian Language Day with the history of words, the transformation of meanings, and the publication of a new novel built around the changing life of a single word.
