alt

Forms

alt (feminine alta, masculine plural alts, feminine plural altes)^[1] In Roussillon, Conflent and Capcir the adjective has been replaced by nalt, from the adverbial phrase en alt, as in much of Occitan: una dona nalta at Port-Vendres.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin altus (“high”).^[2][3][4][1] The Latin adjective is formally the past participle of alō (“to nourish”), from Proto-Italic *altos;^[1][5] Wiktionary takes it to *h₂el- (“to grow, nourish”), and de Vaan, with a query, to a Proto-Indo-European verbal adjective in ⟨*-to-⟩.^[1][5]

The same Latin word is Italian alto, Spanish alto, Portuguese alto, Occitan aut and French haut, whose h- comes from Frankish; Romanian înalt and the Occitan naut continue the phrase ⟨in alto⟩, and Catalan dalt continues ⟨ad altum⟩.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Homilies d'Organyà tell how the devil took Christ to lo plus alt mont, the highest mountain in the land of the river Jordan, and showed him the whole world.^[2] The first sense is the physical one, exceeding the ordinary height.^[2][7]

Semantic evolution

The figurative sense “lofty, noble, sublime” is old, and the word was once a title of royalty.^[2][7] Throughout the Middle Ages alt was also an adverb, “up, above”, often in sus alt; it was gradually replaced by dalt, first recorded in Vicent Ferrer, and survives in phrases such as passar per alt “to overlook”.^[2][3] The substantivised use in measurements, set metres d'alt, is peculiar to the Hispanic languages.^[2] As a noun meaning a summit, alt is typical of some Pyrenean valleys, especially Andorra (l'Alt de Comapedrosa), and of parts of Valencia.^[2] Alta mar “the high sea” is recorded in Onofre Pou in 1575.^[2]

Among the derivatives, alçar and altiu are recorded in Llull, altesa in the 13th century and altura in the 15th.^[3]

Timeline

• 1175–1224 – lo plus alt mont in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[2][8]
• 1244–1274 – Jaume I's chronicle uses alt as an adverb, for speaking aloud.^[2]
• 1263 – alt in the court book of Alcoi.^[8]
• 1400 – Vicent Ferrer's sermons have en alt “up above”.^[9]
• 1575 – Onofre Pou glosses alta mar with Latin pelagus.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. high, tall: of more than ordinary height: un arbre molt alt.^[10][4]
2. Situated high up, above the ordinary level or above other things: El sol ja era alt.^[10][4]
3. Of a region or a river: on its higher ground or upper course: l'Alt Empordà.^[10]
4. Greater than usual in intensity or degree.^[7][4]
5. (music) Of a note: high in pitch.^[7]
6. Excelling in power, rank or dignity; noble.^[7][4]

Adverb

1. High, at a great height: Les orenetes volen alt.^[11][10]
2. Aloud: Parla més alt, que no et sentim.^[11]

Noun

1. Height: quatre metres d'alt.^[11][10]
2. (usually plural) The upper part of something;^[11][10] alts i baixos “ups and downs”.^[11][10]

Word family

• alçar
• alçada
• alçària
• altesa
• altiu
• altura
• altament
• altell
• dalt
• enaltir
• realçar

Related words

• altitud
• exaltar
• Latin altus
• Occitan aut
• Spanish alto

Usage notes

The DCVB heads a second alt, “pleasure, satisfaction”, as a postverbal noun of altar-se.^[7] Faraudo has it in Ausiàs March's Alt e amor d'un gran desig s'engendre and in Jaume Roig's phrase a son alt “at one's pleasure”.^[9]

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 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, 228
3. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 60
4. ^ a b c d e Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. alt
5. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 387
7. ^ a b c d e f Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. alt
8. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. alt
9. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. alt
10. ^ a b c d e f g Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. alt
11. ^ a b c d e 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. alt