baix

Forms

baix (feminine baixa, masculine plural baixos, feminine plural baixes)^[1] The 13th-century Vides de sants still have the older form bas; a later manuscript changes it to bays.^[2] It is pronounced [baʃ] in Central, Balearic and Northern Catalan and [bajʃ] in North-Western Catalan and Valencian.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Late Latin bassus (“short, stout; low”).^[2][4][5][1] The Latin word first gave Old Catalan bas, as in Italian basso, French bas and Occitan bas;^[2][4] Coromines, Bruguera and the GDLC hold that it became ⟨baix⟩ under the influence of the verb baixar.^[2][4][5][6]

The DCVB derives it instead from a Vulgar Latin *bassius, a variant of ⟨bassus⟩.^[3] Coromines rejects this: a form with /sj/ would have given ⟨beix⟩, as basium gave bes, so the /ʃ/ of the adjective must be a later change, shared with Old Spanish baxo and Old Galician-Portuguese baixo, modelled on the verb, in which /a/ before the palatal is regular.^[2] Place names keep the old form, as Coll Bas near Carme.^[2]

The Latin ⟨bassus⟩ is absent from Roman literature and appears only in glosses and in the grammarian Probus; the glosses suggest it meant a stout body as much as a low one.^[2] Because Bassus was a common personal name in Campania, where Oscan was spoken, Coromines thinks the word entered Latin from Oscan.^[2] Wiktionary also mentions proposals of a Greek or Celtic origin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines dates the word to the end of the 13th century, already frequent in Llull: his Doctrina pueril speaks of lo pus bax ofici, "the lowest trade".^[2] CICA's first occurrence is in the Furs de València, compiled in 1261–1271 and known from a later manuscript.^[7] In the Middle Ages the adjective was used of places, and figuratively of moral, social and abstract qualities, rather than of the height of people or things.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval notarial Latin used the formula cum tota jurisdictione alta et baxa, "with all high and low jurisdiction".^[2] The adverbial phrase de baix en baix "in a very low voice" is recorded in modern writers.^[2] The use of baix de and baix as a preposition meaning "under" is foreign to the Principality but common in the Balearics, parts of Roussillon and all of the Valencian Country, where it shows up in place names such as Baix la Vila.^[2]

Labèrnia in 1839 already gives the senses "low", "humble, despicable" and "bowed".^[8] Among the derivatives Bruguera dates baixó "bassoon" and contrabaix to 1575 and baixura to 1617.^[4]

Timeline

• 1261–1271 – the Furs de València, CICA's earliest text with baix.^[7]
• late 13th century – bas in the Vides de sants;^[2] bax in Llull's Doctrina pueril.^[2]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge writes al baix “at the bottom”.^[9]
• 1575 – baixó and contrabaix.^[4]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary.^[8]
• 1932 – Fabra heads the adjective, the adverb and the noun.^[10]

Meanings

Adjective

1. low; short, of less than the usual height: una cadira baixa.^[5][3][1]
2. Situated at a lower level; in place names, the lower part of a region: el Baix Empordà.^[5][3]
3. Low in amount, degree or intensity: preus baixos.^[5][3]
4. Bowed, turned towards the ground: amb la mirada baixa.^[5][8]
5. (figurative) base, vile.^[5][8]
6. (history) Late, of the last stage of a period: la baixa edat mitjana.^[5]
7. (music) Deep, low-pitched.^[5][3]

Adverb

1. Low, at a small height.^[11][5]
2. In a low voice, softly.^[11][9]
3. Below, downstairs: a baix.^[11][5]

Noun

1. (usually plural) The lower part of something; the ground floor of a building; dregs of wine or oil.^[11][5]
2. A shoal that hinders ships.^[11][5]
3. (castells) Each of the castellers who form the bottom tier of a human tower.^[11][1]
4. (music) The bass voice; a bass singer; a bass instrument.^[11][5][1]

Word family

• baixesa
• baixura
• baixó
• contrabaix
• baixamar
• capbaix
• daltabaix
• horabaixa
• baixista

Related words

• baixar
• Late Latin bassus
• Spanish bajo
• Italian basso
• Occitan bas

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o 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, 554
3. ^ 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. baix
4. ^ a b c d e Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 100
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. baix
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 978
7. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. baix
8. ^ a b c d Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. baix
9. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. baix
10. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. baix
11. ^ a b c d e f g 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. baix