mot

Forms

mot m (plural mots)^[1] In Valencia the word is in living use; a pronunciation with an open vowel, mòt, is widespread, and Martí Gadea writes it so in the sense “nickname”.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin muttum (“a mutter, a grunt”), a word of the spoken language used in phrases such as ⟨non muttum facere⟩, “not to open one's mouth, not to say a word”.^[2][3][4][5] The DCVB notes that ⟨muttum⟩ is glossed with Greek γρῦ (grû) in the Latin glossaries.^[3][5]

The same Latin word is French mot and Occitan mot; Italian motto and Spanish mote were borrowed from Gallo-Romance.^[6]

The Latin noun is a back-formation from Latin muttiō (“to mutter, to murmur”), of onomatopoeic origin.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines finds the word from the first period of the language, in Llull, the Libre de Sidrac and other early authors, and in the phrase mot e mot “point by point” in the troubadour Ramon Vidal de Besalú, of the early 13th century.^[2] CICA's oldest record is in the Llibre de Cort de Justícia d'Alcoi (1263–1265).^[7] Jaume I's chronicle uses it for a saying: aquest mot que diu la Escriptura, “this saying of Scripture”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word meant a word, a saying or maxim, and a short note; it also named a lyric poem, a motet.^[8][2] In his rhyming dictionary of 1371 Jaume March distinguished motz “sayings” from motz “many”.^[2] Set phrases are old: dir lo mot “to give in” in Eiximenis, fer mot “to say a word” as in Vulgar Latin, mot a mot and mot per mot in Curial e Güelfa.^[2]

In popular poetry mot meant a line of verse, and the DIEC2 keeps the sense “line of a traditional song”.^[2][9] Coromines notes that the word is heard more from educated people and countryfolk than from the urban populace.^[2] The derivatives motet (1380), motejar (15th century) and motada “insulting word” (1599) are recorded early.^[10] The modern dictionaries define it as a linguistic unit, and the GDLC adds a sense in computing.^[9][4]

Timeline

• 1263–1265 – first record in CICA, in the Llibre de Cort de Justícia d'Alcoi.^[7]
• 13th century – Jaume I's chronicle has aquest mot que diu la Escriptura.^[2]
• 1371 – Jaume March's rhyming dictionary lists motz “sayings”.^[2]
• 1380 – the derivative motet first recorded.^[10]
• 1460 – Jaume Roig's Spill uses mot beside paraula and parlament.^[8]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary defines mot as a word, term or expression.^[11]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary defines it as the last independent unit of speech.^[12]

Meanings

Noun

1. (linguistics) A word, a meaningful unit of one or more morphemes with some functional autonomy in the sentence: Busca el mot exacte.^[9][4]
2. mot a mot, mot per mot: word for word, exactly.^[9] No dir mot: to say nothing.^[9]
3. mots encreuats: a crossword.^[9]
4. A line of a traditional song.^[9][3]
5. (computing) A word, a group of bits or characters handled as a unit.^[9][4]

Word family

• motada
• motejar
• moteig
• motejador
• motejament
• motet
• motiu

Related words

• paraula
• Latin muttum
• French mot

Usage notes

A second mot, an artificial bank that guides an irrigation channel, is headed separately by the DIEC2; the GDLC derives it from mota “mound”.^[9][4]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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, 816
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. mot
4. ^ 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. mot
5. ^ a b Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. muttum
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5795
7. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. mot
8. ^ a b Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. mot
9. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. mot
10. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 615
11. ^ Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. mot
12. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. mot