saltar

Forms

saltar (first-person singular present salto, first-person singular preterite saltí, past participle saltat)^[1] The DCVB records /səɫtá/ in the east, /saɫtá/ in the north-west and /saɫtáɾ/ in Valencia.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan saltar, which is inherited from Latin saltō (“to dance”), the frequentative of saliō (“to jump”).^{[3][2][4][5][6]}

In Latin the verb meant "to dance", and sometimes "to hop, frisk"; the sense "to jump" belongs to Late Latin.^[3][7] The same Latin word is Romanian sălta, Italian saltare, French sauter, Old Occitan sautar, Spanish saltar and Portuguese saltar.^[8] Old Spanish sotar kept the old sense "to dance".^[8][9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DCVB's first record is from Jaume I's chronicle, where the king says that his father and grandfather would have leapt and danced for joy (saltaren e balaren) at such an offer.^[2][3] In Llull's Llibre de meravelles the lion, taking its shadow for another lion, jumps into the water.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

Llull uses the verb for jumping and leaping in joy, for jumping down into water, and figuratively.^[10] Eiximenis advises knights to learn to jump ditches, channels and broken bridges.^[3] In the Tirant lo Blanc and the Curial horses and men leap into the sea or into a yard.^[11]

Coromines finds saltar and the noun salt alive everywhere Catalan is spoken; in Valencia botar covers more of the uses for which the Principality says saltar.^[3] The 19th-century dictionaries add the senses of coming loose, as varnish or paint, and of sparks flying.^[12] Pal·las (1927) has "to answer out of turn" and "to skip, leave out".^[13]

Bruguera's article also lists assaltar (1653) and ressaltar (1696).^[4]

Timeline

• 1244–1274 – Jaume I's Llibre dels fets has saltaren e balaren.^[2][3]
• 1288–1289 – Llull's Llibre de meravelles, the first work in which CICA finds the infinitive.^[14]
• 1440 – the Curial e Güelfa has a man eager to jump into the yard.^[11]
• 1460 – in the Tirant lo Blanc a horse leaps into the sea with its rider.^[11]
• 1839 – Labèrnia gives the senses to jump, to dance and to come loose.^[12]
• 1932 – Fabra's Diccionari general defines it as an intransitive and transitive verb.^[15]

Meanings

Verb

1. To jump or leap, up or down, so that the feet leave the ground: Va saltar del mur a l'hort.^[16][5][1]
2. To get off a vehicle.^[16][5]
3. Of a thing, to fly off, come loose or break off suddenly: Va saltar un botó de la camisa.^[16][1]
4. To spring at or attack someone suddenly.^[2][13]
5. To speak up suddenly or out of turn.^[2][13]
6. (transitive) To jump over an obstacle.^[16][1]
7. (transitive) To skip or leave out part of a text or a series.^[16][1]
8. (cooking) To sauté.^[1]

Word family

• saltador
• saltejar
• saltejador
• sobresaltar
• sobresalt

Related words

• salt
• saltació
• assaltar
• ressaltar
• botar
• Latin saltō
• Spanish saltar
• French sauter

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. saltar
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. 7, 625
4. ^ a b Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 823
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. saltar
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
8. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 7551
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. saltare
10. ^ a b Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. saltar
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. saltar
12. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. saltar
13. ^ a b c Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. saltar
14. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. saltar
15. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. saltar
16. ^ 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. saltar