llet

Forms

llet f (plural llets)^[1] Old Catalan wrote let and leyt.^[2][3] The DCVB records /ʎet/ and the diphthong /ʎejt/, /ʎɛjt/.^[4] Lleit survives in the Capcir, Andorra, the Alt Pallars, Fraga and the north of Valencia (la leit at Bel and Morella).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan let, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin lacte (“milk”), the archaic and late form of the word that Classical Latin had as lac, genitive ⟨lactis⟩.^[2][4][5][1] The neuter ⟨lacte⟩ prevailed in Vulgar Latin.^[2]

The same Latin word is Occitan lach, French lait, Italian latte, Spanish leche, Portuguese leite and Romanian lapte.^[6][1]

The Latin noun became masculine in most Romance languages but feminine in Catalan, in most of Spanish, in Gascon and part of Languedoc, in Sardinia and in Venetan.^[2] De Vaan connects it with Ancient Greek γάλα (gála, “milk”), from a common stem whose initial /g/ Latin lost.^[7] Wiktionary calls the etymology controversial.^[1]

Like other words with Latin ⟨-act-⟩, Old Catalan often had a diphthong, ⟨leyt⟩, which lasted longer in the north and west.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines quotes Llull's Llibre del gentil: after forty days the sky will rain water blanca con a let “white as milk”.^[2] Documents from Roussillon have vedel de leyt “suckling calf” in 1303 and de leyt ni de formatges in 1367.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts used the word for the white juice of plants and seeds, as in let de figuera and let de ametles “almond milk”, and for anything white like milk.^[3][2] In Roig's Spill it also means semen.^[2] De llet after the name of an animal meant still suckling.^[3]

Derivatives are old: lletuga “lettuce”, from Latin ⟨lactuca⟩, is in the 13th-century Vides de sants, alletar and lletós in the 15th century, lleterola in Roig in 1460.^[8] The DIEC2 records the colloquial tenir mala llet “to be ill-natured; to have bad luck” and tenir llet “to be lucky”.^[9]

Timeline

• 1200s – let in Llull's Llibre del gentil.^[2]
• 1303 – vedel de leyt in a document from Roussillon.^[2]
• 1324 – llet in the cookery book Llibre de Sent Soví, CICA's first record (the date is uncertain).^[10]
• 1395 – Antoni Canals writes of breasts plenes de let.^[3]
• 1460 – Roig uses let for milk and for semen in the Spill.^[2]
• 1839 – Labèrnia lists the milk of plants and of seeds beside mother's milk.^[11]

Meanings

Noun

1. milk: the white fluid that female mammals secrete to feed their young.^[9][5]
2. The milk of cows, goats and other domestic animals, drunk or made into butter and cheese: llet de cabra.^[9]
3. The latex of plants;^[12] (vulgar) semen.^[9][4]
4. A milky drink or emulsion: llet d'ametlles, llet de soia.^[9]
5. (colloquial) Luck, in tenir llet, tenir mala llet;^[12] mala llet also ill will.^[9][5]

Word family

• alletar
• alletament
• deslletar
• deslletament
• lleteria
• lleterassa
• lleterol
• lletós
• lletsó

Related words

• lletuga
• làctic
• Latin lac
• Spanish leche

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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, 172
3. ^ 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. llet
4. ^ 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. llet
5. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. llet
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4817
7. ^ 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. lac
8. ^ Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 541
9. ^ a b c d e f 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. llet
10. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. llet
11. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. llet
12. ^ a b 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, 1098