perill

Forms

perill m (plural perills)^[1] The DCVB records the pronunciations pəɾíʎ, peɾíʎ and pɾíʎ.^[2] The final /ʎ/ is kept everywhere, even in the Maresme, where other words turn it into /j/.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan perill, which is inherited from Latin perīculum (“trial, test; danger”), through the syncopated form periclum.^{[3][2][4][1][5]} The short form is regular in the comic poets and frequent in later poetry.^[6]

The same Latin word is Italian pericolo, French péril, Occitan perilh, Spanish peligro and Portuguese perigo.^[7] The Spanish word goes back to an older ⟨periglo⟩ and is a semi-learned descendant of the Latin.^[8]

The Latin noun is formed with the suffix -culum on the verb seen in experior (“to try”), of the same root as perītus (“experienced”).^[6][3] Wiktionary traces it, as a possibility, to Proto-Indo-European *perh₃- (“to go through, to attempt”).^[1]

The ⟨ll⟩ from the Latin group /kl/ is pronounced as a palatal /ʎ/ in every dialect, even where /ʎ/ otherwise becomes /j/.^[3] Coromines explains this as differentiation after /i/.^[3]

Earliest recorded meaning

The word is recorded from the beginning of the literary language, in Llull and Desclot.^[3] CICA's oldest record is in the Furs de València, from 1261.^[9] Llull uses it for the danger in which the lover's will is placed, and Desclot has the barons tell the new king that the land is en gran perill without an heir.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The medieval sense was the modern one, a near possibility of harm, physical or moral: Llull warns that confessing to a wicked priest puts one en gran perill.^[10][11] In older usage the word had a wider range than today: perillós could describe a person who was himself in danger, a sick man near death, as in Bernat Metge, a use that has completely disappeared.^[3] The Castell Perillós of Arthurian romance was a place exposed to unknown threats, and the ironic phrase ja perilla “of course” is recorded in the Empordà and the Lluçanès.^[3]

The derivatives perillar and perillós are recorded in Llull, and the learned periclitar in Eiximenis.^[12] The word has always been in living use and in good writers, from Metge to Maragall's Oda a Espanya of 1898.^[3] Labèrnia's dictionary has the phrases anar a perill and córrer perill, to be at risk.^[13]

Timeline

• 1261 – first record in CICA, in the Furs de València.^[9]
• 13th century – Desclot writes that the land is en gran perill.^[3][12]
• 14th century – perillar and perillós first recorded, in Llull.^[12]
• 1359 – the council of Valencia hears that two castles are a perill de ecer perduts, in danger of being lost.^[11]
• 1381 – Bernat Metge uses portar a perill de mort.^[11]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary records córrer perill.^[13]
• 1898 – Maragall's Oda a Espanya speaks of a language that speaks entre perills.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. danger, peril: the imminent possibility that some harm will happen: Hi ha perill d'allaus.^[14][4]
2. A situation or thing in which that possibility exists: en perill, in danger.^[14][4]

Word family

• perillar
• perillós
• perillosament

Related words

• periclitar
• Latin perīculum
• Occitan perilh
• Spanish peligro

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b Alcover, Antoni M.; Moll, Francesc de B. (1930–1962), Diccionari català-valencià-balear, 10 vols., Palma de Mallorca: Moll, p. s.v. perill
3. ^ 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. 6, 449
4. ^ a b c Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. perill
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. periculum
6. ^ a b Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. perīculum
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6414
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 463
9. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. perill
10. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. perill
11. ^ a b c Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. perill
12. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 700
13. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. perill
14. ^ a b 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. perill