llengua

Forms

llengua f (plural llengües)^[1] The medieval texts write lengua.^[2][3] The DCVB records the pronunciations ʎéŋgwə, ʎέŋgə, ʎéŋgə, ʎéŋgwa, ʎéŋgo and ʎéŋgu, among others.^[4] Coromines describes the form with /gw/ as that of educated central Catalan and of the literary language, one without /w/ in popular Barcelona speech and in the north-east from the Maresme to Roussillon, /gwa/ in western Catalan and Valencian, and endings in /o/ and /u/ in Mallorca and the other islands.^[2] A Catalan Decameron manuscript of 1429 already has afilada lengo, which Coromines takes as evidence that the Balearic-like ending was then popular in eastern Catalan.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan lengua, which is inherited from Latin lingua (“tongue; language”).^[2][4][5][1]

The same Latin word is Romanian limbă, Italian lingua, French langue, Occitan lenga, Spanish lengua and Portuguese língua.^[6][1] The troubadours wrote Old Occitan lenga.^[7]

The Latin word goes back to older dingua, recorded by Marius Victorinus, from *dn̥ɣwā.^[8][1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Indo-European *dnǵh-uh2 (“tongue”).^[8] Wiktionary writes the same word as *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s, and names tongue and Zunge among its descendants.^[8][1] The change from /d/ to /l/ is explained by a borrowing from another Italic language that had this shift, by association with lingō (“to lick”), or by both.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is in the 12th-century Homilies d'Organyà, which translate Saint Paul's sive linguae cessabunt with cessaran les lengues de tuit, “the tongues of all will cease”: here the word already means a language or speech.^[2][9][5]

Semantic evolution

From the beginning the word meant both the organ and a language: Llull writes that the friars of Miramar study Arabic in order to learn “diverse sciences and diverse lengües”.^[2] The chronicles of the 14th and 15th centuries use saber llengua or pendre llengua for getting secret information about the enemy, and dar llengua for giving notice.^[2] Muntaner's ships wait for llengua, news.^[2][10] The Usatges distinguish killing one's lord de man o de lenga, by one's own hand or by ordering it.^[2] Muntaner also used the word for the shore, the strip of land touched by the sea.^[10]

The derivatives are recorded from the 14th century: llenguatge in Llull, llengut “talkative” in Roig in 1460, llengüeta in 1575.^[9] The word also names many plants, such as llengua de bou.^[2][11] The DIEC2 lists the tongue-shaped things the word can name (llengua de foc, llengua de terra, a glacier's tongue) and the llengua of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, one of its territorial divisions.^[12][4]

Timeline

• 12th century – the Homilies d'Organyà have lengues “tongues, languages”.^[2][9]
• 1261 – lengua in the Furs de València.^[3]
• 14th century – llenguatge first recorded, in Llull.^[9]
• 1325 – Muntaner's chronicle uses prendre llengua and esperar llengua for getting news.^[10]
• 1410–1415 – the spelling llengua in the sermons of Saint Vincent Ferrer.^[13]
• 1429 – the Catalan Decameron writes lengo.^[2]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc uses presa lengua for having gathered news.^[10]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary heads the word llengua.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The tongue, the muscular organ of the mouth used for taste, swallowing and speech: El metge li va fer treure la llengua.^[12][5]
2. The tongue as the organ of speech; talk: mala llengua, a tendency to slander, or a slanderer.^[12][5]
3. (dated) news or information about something.^[12][4]
4. Something shaped like a tongue: a tongue of flame, a long narrow spit of land, the snout of a glacier.^[12]
5. (history) A langue, one of the territorial divisions of the Order of Saint John of Jerusalem.^[12][4]
6. A language, a system of spoken and often written signs: Parla tres llengües estrangeres.^[12][4]

Word family

• llengot
• llengota
• llengotejar
• llenguatge
• llengüeta
• llengut
• llenguallarg
• metallengua
• protollengua

Related words

• lingual
• lingüístic
• llenguado
• bilingüe
• lingüista
• Latin lingua
• Occitan lenga
• Spanish lengua

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. 5, 152
3. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. lengua
4. ^ 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. llengua
5. ^ a b c d Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. llengua
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5067
7. ^ Levy, Emil (1894–1924), Provenzalisches Supplement-Wörterbuch, 8 vols., Leipzig: Reisland, p. 4, 362
8. ^ a b c de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. lingua
9. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 539
10. ^ a b c d Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. llengua
11. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. llengua
12. ^ 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. llengua
13. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. llengua
14. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. llengua