cridar

Forms

cridar (first-person singular present crido, first-person singular preterite cridí, past participle cridat)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *crītō (“to cry out”), a verb not recorded in writing.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} The DCVB holds the Vulgar Latin form to be certain, since the Romance verbs presuppose it.^[3]

The same verb is Old Occitan cridar, French crier and Italian gridare;^[1] Spanish and Portuguese have gritar, with a /g/ and a /t/ that differ from the Catalan form.^[2] Aragonese took the Catalan form, chiefly in texts of the 15th and 16th centuries.^[2]

Most Romanists since Diez have derived the Vulgar Latin verb from quirītō (“to cry out for help”).^[2] The loss of the first vowel is irregular, but Coromines compares a dissimilation before /r/ when the vowel is that of the next syllable, as Vulgar Latin ⟨drectus⟩ replaced ⟨derectus⟩.^[2] Bruguera and the GDLC connect the classical verb with Quirīs (“Roman citizen”), so that it first meant calling the citizens to help, and Bruguera and Coromines allow for an onomatopoeic element.^[4][5][2] The DCVB finds the derivation from ⟨quiritare⟩ unconvincing and mentions Grammont's proposal of a Germanic ⟨kritan⟩.^[3] Coromines weighs this Germanic etymology, from the verb behind krīzen and krijten (“to shriek, wail”), but Wiktionary reports that he and von Wartburg judged *krītan an unlikely source, because its distribution is narrow and its records late.^[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Homilies d'Organyà, of about 1200, the blind man of Jericho hears that Jesus is passing and comenzà a cridar, “began to cry out”: “Lord, son of David, have mercy on me”.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

From “to shout” Catalan went on to the senses most Romance languages express with French appeler, Italian chiamare and Spanish llamar: the chronicle of Jaume I has cridar a armes, the call to arms, and uses the verb for summoning someone.^[2] Eiximenis says cridar fam of crying out from hunger, and others cridar venjança.^[2]

The medieval texts also use it for proclaiming in public: in 1272 Llull notes that tavern keepers have their wine cried so that people know where it is sold and at what price.^[6] It could be said of things, a sea that roars or a building that demands to be completed.^[6] A sense in computing, to call a function, is recent.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – cridar in the Homilies d'Organyà.^[2][4]
• 1244–1274 – the chronicle of Jaume I: cridar a armes.^[2]
• 1272 – Llull's Llibre de contemplació: wine is cridat for sale.^[6]
• 1314 – Pere Marsili's chronicle: the Christians cridaren fortment.^[6]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanch uses the verb.^[6]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To shout, to cry out; to speak too loud.^[7][5][1]
2. (intransitive) To protest loudly against something.^[7][5]
3. (transitive) To say something shouting; to proclaim, or cry goods for sale.^[7][5]
4. (transitive) To call someone, to ask them to come: cridar l'electricista.^[7][1]
5. (programming) To call a function.^[1]

Word family

• crit
• crida
• cridaner
• cridòria
• cridadissa
• escridassar

Related words

• Old Occitan cridar
• French crier
• Spanish gritar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j 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. 2, 1055
3. ^ 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. cridar
4. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 255
5. ^ 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. cridar
6. ^ a b c d e Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. cridar
7. ^ 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. cridar