obrir

Forms

obrir (first-person singular present obro, first-person singular preterite obrí, past participle obert); root stress: (Northern) /o̞/, (Balearic, Central, Northwestern, Valencia) /ɔ/^[1] The DCVB records [uβɾí], [oβɾí], [oβɾíɾ], [əwβɾí], [awβɾí], [dubɾí], [doβɾí], [awɾí] and [dɾuβí], among other pronunciations.^[2] A variant aubrir is widespread in much of Catalonia and parts of Valencia, reduced to aurir in some places.^[3] Mallorca has forms with d-: dubrí at Ariany, dobrí and drubí at Manacor, drubí at Sineu, drobí at Alcúdia and sa Pobla.^[3] The past participle is obert;^[3] Valencian, Balearic and some western dialects make the present with -i- (obris, obri), and a subjunctive obriguen is found in a document of 1351.^[3][4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan obrir, which is inherited from Vulgar Latin *operiō, a variant of Latin aperiō (“to open”).^{[3][2][5][6][1]} The same Vulgar Latin form is behind Occitan obrir and French ouvrir, while ⟨aperire⟩ itself continued in Spanish abrir, Portuguese abrir and Italian aprire.^[3][7]

The variant is explained by the influence of cooperiō (“to cover”), which replaced classical operiō (“to shut, cover”) in everyday speech.^[3][5][6] Coromines suggests that as ⟨operire⟩ “to close” went out of use and its meaning grew unclear, it was taken for a variant of ⟨aperire⟩ and given its meaning; he notes that the intermediate steps are not clear.^[3] The forms with d- have parallels in some French, Occitan and northern Italian dialects.^[3][2]

De Vaan derives the Latin verb from *ap-wer-je- (“to open”), with the root *h₂u̯er- (“to cover”).^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines considers it a word of the earliest period of the language, common in every age.^[3] The Costums de Tortosa (1272) forbid slaughtering or opening up (obrir) any animal in the meat market.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Many figurative senses already appear in the medieval writers: obrir els ulls, to see what one did not know, obrir l'orella, to listen carefully, obrir la boca, to speak, obrir la porta als abusos.^[3] Llull uses obrir los ulls de la pensa, to open the eyes of the mind.^[10] Other medieval senses are to cut open a vein, to split open an animal (Llibre de Sent Soví), and, intransitively, of a ship, to widen (Consolat de Mar, 1301).^[9]

Lacavalleria's dictionary of 1696 records obrir la mà “to explain a subject”, obrir-se el cel “to clear up” and obrir una disputa.^[3] Pal·las adds “to inaugurate” and the textile sense, to separate raw cotton with an opener.^[11]

Timeline

• 1272 – the Costums de Tortosa forbid opening up animals in the meat market.^[9]
• 13th century, second half – the first works in CICA that use the verb include the Catalan Dialogues of Saint Gregory.^[12]
• 1301 – the Consolat de Mar uses it of a ship's width.^[9]
• 1351 – the subjunctive obriguen in a document published by Alart.^[3]
• 1440 – Curial e Güelfa: a child opens his eyes and his arms.^[9]
• 1696 – Lacavalleria's dictionary records obrir-se el cel and obrir una disputa.^[3]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary gives the past participle obert and the form obre.^[13]

Meanings

Verb

1. To open: to make accessible what is shut, by moving the door or lid or by parting two joined parts.^[4][6][1]
2. To make something accessible to someone, obrir el cor, to open one's heart.^[4]
3. To begin, set going or inaugurate (a session, a discussion, an account, a shop).^[4][2]
4. To move aside what blocks a way in or out: to open a gate, one's eyelids or lips.^[4]
5. To cut or split open; to make an opening in something.^[2][9]

Word family

• obert
• obertura
• obridor
• obriment
• entreobrir
• reobrir
• reobertura
• obrellaunes

Related words

• aperitiu
• cobrir
• Latin aperiō
• Spanish abrir
• French ouvrir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. obrir
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n 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. 6, 21
4. ^ a b c d e 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. obrir
5. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 646
6. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. obrir
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 515
8. ^ 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. aperiō
9. ^ a b c d e f Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. obrir
10. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. obrir
11. ^ Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. obrir
12. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. obrir
13. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. obrir