any

Forms

any m (plural anys)^[1] Old Catalan also wrote an, the usual form of the early documents of Roussillon, the Pyrenees and the western dialects, and of the Homilies d'Organyà; in Roussillon Coromines finds any only from 1398.^[2][3] Ayn is also frequent in the 13th and 14th centuries.^[4][2] An is still said in Ribagorça, from Benavarri to the Vall de Boí, in some high valleys of the Pallars and in Benasc; in Roussillon a fossil of it survives in on catorze “the year fourteen”.^[2] The plural is pronounced in several ways, such as /aɲs/, /aɲʃ/, /aɲtʃ/, /ajɲs/ and /ajns/.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin annus (“year”).^{[2][5][6][7][1]} The medieval texts write it an and ayn beside the modern spelling.^[2]

The same Latin word is Spanish año, Portuguese ano, Italian anno, French an, Occitan an and Romanian an.^[8][9]

Latin ⟨annus⟩ is from *atnos and *h₂et-no-, probably “which goes”, from *h₂et- (“to go”).^[10][1] Its cognates are the Oscan and Umbrian words for “year”, such as acnu, and 𐌰𐍄𐌰𐌸𐌽𐌹 (ataþni); the double -nn- from *-tn- is as in penna.^[10][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's earliest record is the form an in the Llibre dels judicis, of the first half of the 12th century.^[3] The Homilies d'Organyà call Lent the tithe of the days of the year, lo dezme dels dies de l'an.^[2] In Jaume I's chronicle the king says he was two and a half years younger than another man (dos anys e mig).^[2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts use the word for the calendar year, in dates such as Llull's En l'any de M.CC.XC. e .viij., and for the twelve months over which payments were made: in 1385 the council of Castelló agreed to pay a sum half in the middle of the year and half at its end.^[11][12]

The DCVB adds the season of farm work and its harvest, and records the names of the leap year: any de traspàs in Catalonia and Valencia, any columnari in Catalonia, any beixest in Mallorca and any de beixés in Menorca.^[5] The DIEC2 lists phrases such as any de plor, the first year of widowhood, and any sabàtic.^[13]

The family is old: anoll “yearling” is recorded in 1201, from Latin anniculus, antany “last year” in 1289, enguany “this year” in the 13th century, anyada in 1380 and anyal in 1531;^[6] aniversari (1204) and anual (1378) are learned.^[6]

Timeline

• 1100–1149 – an in the Llibre dels judicis, the earliest record in CICA.^[3]
• 1201 – first record of anoll.^[6]
• 1248 – ayn in a charter of franchise.^[4]
• 1289 – first record of antany.^[6]
• 1298 – Llull dates a work en l'any de M.CC.XC. e .viij..^[11]
• 1329 – the rules of the Valencian confraternities name the majorals del ayn passat.^[2]
• 1380 – anyada, the year's harvest.^[2][6]
• 1398 – the first any Coromines finds in Roussillon.^[2]
• 1839 – Labèrnia defines the astronomical year.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. A year: the time of one revolution of the Earth around the Sun, used as a unit of time: Fa tres anys que viu a Girona.^[13][7]
2. The calendar year, from the first of January to the thirty-first of December, as the time in which events took place: Va néixer l'any 1950.^[7][12]
3. A period of twelve months counted from a given date; a year of a course of study: Fa el segon any de dret.^[7]
4. (agriculture) The farming year and its harvest.^[5][7]
5. (plural) A person's age: Quants anys té la teva àvia?^[13]
6. any de traspàs: a leap year, of 366 days.^[5]

Word family

• anyada
• anyal
• anyenc
• anyer
• anyívol
• sobreany
• antany
• enguany

Related words

• anoll
• aniversari
• anual
• annals
• Latin annus
• Spanish año

Usage notes

The DIEC2 records the saying qui dia passa, any empeny, roughly “get through the day and the year moves on”, and anys i panys “many, many years”.^[13]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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, 337
3. ^ a b c Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. an
4. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. ayn
5. ^ a b c d e Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. any
6. ^ a b c d e f Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 75
7. ^ 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. any
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. annus
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. annus
10. ^ 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
11. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. any
12. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. any
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. any
14. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. any