ajudar

Forms

ajudar (first-person singular present ajudo, first-person singular preterite ajudí, past participle ajudat)^[1] Old Catalan also had the shortened stem aid- (aydar, aidam).^[2] The verb aidar is still listed as a synonym.^[3][4] The DCVB records the pronunciations [əʒuˈða], [aʒuˈða], [ajʒuˈða], [atʃuˈðaɾ] and [aʒuˈɾa].^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin adiūtō (“to help”), a frequentative of adiuvō (“to help”), which is formed from iuvō (“to help”).^[2][6][5][1]

The same Latin verb is Occitan ajudar, Spanish ayudar, Portuguese ajudar, French aider, Italian aiutare and Romanian ajuta.^[7][1]

At first the verb had an irregular stem: the forms stressed on the root, from Vulgar Latin forms like ⟨aiútat⟩, kept ⟨ajud-⟩ (⟨ajut⟩, ⟨ajudes⟩, ⟨ajuda⟩, ⟨ajuden⟩), while the forms stressed on the ending lost the vowel and gave ⟨aid-⟩ (⟨aidam⟩, ⟨aidats⟩, ⟨aidar⟩).^[2] Occitan and Old French had the same alternation;^[2] French then generalised the short stem, while Catalan and Occitan increasingly preferred the full one.^[2] Some early texts, such as the Questa de Reixac, still keep the alternation strictly.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines and the GDLC give a document of 1099 as the first record.^[2][6] In the vernacular CICA's earliest examples are in the second half of the 13th century, in the Catalan Dialogues of St Gregory.^[8] The sense was to help, and the verb was then intransitive, taking a dative: in a prayer by Cerverí the Virgin is one who li aydet al infantar, helped her in childbirth.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Like the other Romance languages, medieval Catalan construed the verb with an indirect object (ajudar-li), and this is the usage of Jaume I's chronicle, of Llull, Muntaner, Eiximenis, the Curial and the Tirant: Llull's shepherd dog barks que li ajudàs contra lo lop, so that the shepherd might help it against the wolf.^[2][9] Modern Catalan has made the verb transitive (ajudar-lo, ajudar-la), but the old construction lives on, especially in Mallorca, and in conservative writers on the mainland.^[2] The same construction was used in old Spanish, as in the Aragonese proverb Qui's muda, Dios le ayuda.^[10]

Medieval texts also use the verb for succouring and assisting in a broader sense, as Marsili's chronicle (1314) and Eiximenis do.^[4] Ajudar a missa, to serve at Mass, is recorded by Aguiló and Fabra, and so is the formula Déu ajut, used of something unlikely or far off.^[11][12]

Timeline

• 1099 – first record, in a document.^[2][6]
• 1244–1274 – Jaume I's chronicle construes ajudar with a dative.^[2]
• 1250–1299 – ajudar in the Catalan Dialogues of St Gregory.^[8]
• 1284 – a Roussillon document: deu ajudar a vendre e a comprar ses mercaderies.^[2]
• 1314 – Marsili's chronicle: m'ajuda pus fortment.^[4]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc: faltaren molts hòmens d'armes per ajudar-li.^[2]
• 1932 – Fabra gives the verb as transitive and intransitive.^[12]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To help someone in a task or piece of work: Ens va ajudar a pujar els mobles.^[13][6]
2. (transitive) To succour someone in need, to aid them: L'ajuden amb una petita pensió.^[13][6]
3. (intransitive) To help, to contribute to something: Tothom hi va ajudar.^[6][12]
4. (pronominal) To make an effort oneself, to do what one can.^[6][5]
5. ajudar a missa: to serve at Mass.^[13][12]

Word family

• ajuda
• ajudant
• ajudador
• ajut

Related words

• aidar
• adjutor
• coadjuvar
• Latin adiuvō
• Spanish ayudar
• French aider

Usage notes

Déu ajut quan... is said of something that will come late or hardly at all, such as money lent that may never come back.^[13][12]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Coromines, Joan (1980–2001), Diccionari etimològic i complementari de la llengua catalana, 10 vols., Barcelona: Curial / La Caixa (online ed., Institut d'Estudis Catalans 2024), p. 1, 116
3. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. ajudar
4. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. ajudar
5. ^ a b c Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. ajudar
6. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. ajudar
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 172
8. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. ajudar
9. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. ajudar
10. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 428
11. ^ Aguiló i Fuster, Marià (1914–1934), Diccionari Aguiló: materials lexicogràfics, ed. Pompeu Fabra and Manuel de Montoliu, 8 vols., Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. 1
12. ^ a b c d e Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. ajudar
13. ^ a b c d Institut d'Estudis Catalans (2007), Diccionari de la llengua catalana, 2nd ed. (DIEC2), Barcelona: Edicions 62; online edition with later updates, https://dlc.iec.cat, p. s.v. ajudar