conèixer

Forms

conèixer (first-person singular present conec, first-person singular preterite coneguí, past participle conegut); root stress: (Northern) /e̞/, (Balearic) /ə/, (Central) /ɛ/, (Northwestern, Valencia) /e/^[1] Old Catalan had conóixer, written conóxer in the Homilies d'Organyà, with the participle conogut.^[2][3] The DCVB records the pronunciations [kuˈnɛʃə], [kuˈnɛjʃə], [koˈnejʃe], [koˈnejʃeɾ], [koˈnəʃə] and [kuˈneʃaɾ], among others.^[4] Wiktionary lists the spelling conéixer, which matches the closed /e/ of North-Western and Valencian Catalan.^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan conóixer, which is inherited from Late Latin conōscō (“to know”), a reduced form of cognōscō (“to get to know”).^[2][3][5][1] The classical verb is formed from con- and the archaic gnōscō (“to know”);^[2][1] Coromines explains that classical Latin had already reduced this to nōscō, and that Vulgar Latin carried the reduction over to the compound.^[2][1]

The same verb is Occitan conóisser, Spanish conocer, Portuguese conhecer, French connaître, Italian conoscere and Romanian cunoaște.^[6][2]

The stressed ⟨e⟩ of the modern verb replaced an older ⟨o⟩.^[2] Coromines, Bruguera and the GDLC explain it by dissimilation in the participle, ⟨conogut⟩ becoming ⟨conegut⟩ before the ⟨u⟩ of the ending, after which the ⟨e⟩ spread to the rest of the verb.^[2][3][5] The DCVB puts the change down to the many verbs in ⟨-èixer⟩ from Latin ⟨-ēscere⟩;^[4][2] Coromines thinks both causes worked together, and points out that Portuguese, which has participles in ⟨-ido⟩, also has an ⟨e⟩ in its form of the verb.^[4][2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Homilies d'Organyà still have only the forms with ⟨o⟩: a vós és donad a conóxer lo mester del regisme de Déu “unto you it is given to know the mystery of the kingdom of God”, and the devil who saw and knew (conog) that he would get nothing.^[2] The meaning is to know or perceive, as today.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The ⟨e⟩ forms came first in the participle: coneguda cosa sia “be it known” stands in a document of the Seu d'Urgell of 1244.^[2] The Set savis rhymes still waver between the two types, the Vides de sants rosselloneses have nine forms with ⟨e⟩ against three with ⟨o⟩, and Desclot, Jaume I, Llull and Muntaner already prefer ⟨e⟩; a document of Solsona of 1336 still writes conoxeran.^[2]

Medieval texts also use the verb for carnal knowledge, as Muntaner, Bernat Metge, Antoni Canals and Jaume Roig do, and in the sense of recognising or acknowledging, as in the Tirant.^[7] The DCVB records the legal sense of a judge hearing a case, and to be known by a name.^[4]

Its derivatives are dated by Bruguera: desconeixença in 1299, coneixement, coneixença and desconèixer in Llull, coneixedor in Metge in 1399, and desconegut in the Tirant in 1490.^[3]

Timeline

• Late 12th or early 13th century – conóxer in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[2]
• 1244 – coneguda cosa sia in a document of the Seu d'Urgell.^[2]
• 1288–1289 – conèixer in Llull's Llibre de meravelles.^[8]
• 1299 – first record of desconeixença.^[3]
• 1325 – Muntaner uses the verb for carnal knowledge.^[7]
• 1336 – a document of Solsona still writes conoxeran.^[2]
• 1399 – coneixedor in Bernat Metge.^[3]
• 1490 – desconegut in the Tirant lo Blanc.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To know: to have a more or less complete idea of (someone or something): Coneix molt bé la història del seu poble.^[9][5][4]
2. To be acquainted with (a person); to have been to (a place): Encara no conec la seva parella.^[5][4][1]
3. To be skilled in (a subject, a craft, a language).^[9][5]
4. To recognise (someone or something seen before).^[4][1]
5. To realise or perceive (from signs): Per la cara li vaig conèixer que estava cansat.^[9][5]
6. (law) To hear and judge (a case).^[4]
7. (archaic) To have carnal knowledge of.^[4][7]

Word family

• conegut
• coneixedor
• coneixement
• coneixença
• coneixent
• desconèixer
• desconegut
• desconeixement
• desconeixença

Related words

• reconèixer
• cognició
• cognitiu
• Latin cognōscō
• Spanish conocer
• French connaître

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p 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. 2, 872
3. ^ a b c d e f g Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 232
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. conèixer
5. ^ a b c d e f Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. conèixer
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. conèixer
8. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. conèixer
9. ^ a b c 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. conèixer