vinya

Forms

vinya f (plural vinyes)^[1] The DCVB records pronunciations with /b/, bíɲə, bíɲɛ, bíɲa, and with /v/, víɲa, víɲɛ, víɲə.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old Catalan vinya, which is inherited from Latin vīnea (“vines in a vineyard”).^[3][2][4][1] Coromines notes that the word was in general use in every period and is common to all the Romance languages.^[3]

The same Latin word is Romanian vie, Italian vigna, French vigne, Occitan vinha, Spanish viña and Portuguese vinha; in Occitan and Catalan it also means the land planted with vines.^[5]

The Latin noun is the feminine of vīneus (“of wine”), used as a noun, from vīnum (“wine”).^[6][4][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

CICA's oldest record is in the Furs de València of 1261.^[7] Coromines quotes the Costums de Tortosa, which list the citizens' houses, fields, gardens and vinyes, and Llull's Blanquerna, where two knights quarrel over a vineyard their father left them.^[3] Bruguera and the GDLC date the word from Llull.^[8][4]

Semantic evolution

The medieval word meant a vineyard, as it does today: in Llull's Arbre de ciència a pig goes into a vineyard full of grapes, and the Tirant lo Blanc has a vineyard beside a castle.^[9][10] Saint Vincent Ferrer tells how Noah began a plantar vinya.^[10] The derivatives vinyet (13th century, Desclot), vinyer (1305) and vinyòvol “vineyard guard” (1344) are old.^[8] Vinyater is recorded about 1900 in Verdaguer.^[8]

Labèrnia gives the figurative senses of the Catholic Church and of something obtained with little work or at others' expense.^[11] The DCVB and the DIEC2 add a plot planted with fruit trees and legumes, sometimes with a few vines among them.^[2][12] Place names show that vine-growing has retreated: there are names derived from vinya in Cerdanya, the Ripollès, Pallars and the Val d'Aran, where vines are no longer grown.^[3]

Timeline

• 1261 – first record in CICA, in the Furs de València.^[7]
• 13th century – vinyet in Desclot.^[8]
• 1381 – Eiximenis quotes the saying paor guarda la vinya.^[10]
• 1460 – the Tirant lo Blanc describes a vineyard full of grapes near a castle.^[10]
• 1839 – Labèrnia records the figurative sense of an easy gain.^[11]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary heads the word vinya for the plant and the vineyard.^[13]

Meanings

Noun

1. The grapevine, Vitis vinifera, the climbing plant that bears grapes.^[12][4]
2. A vineyard, a field planted with vines: Al setembre veremen la vinya.^[12][4][2]
3. A plot planted with fruit trees and legumes, sometimes with some vines among them.^[12][2]
4. la vinya del Senyor: the world.^[12]
5. (figurative) A post or business that yields much profit for little work, a sinecure.^[12][2]

Word family

• envinyar
• vinyar
• vinyater
• vinyer
• vinyet

Related words

• vi
• vineal
• Latin vīnea
• Occitan vinha
• Spanish viña

Usage notes

The proverb la por guarda la vinya, “fear guards the vineyard”, means that one must watch carefully over what could be taken from one.^[13] Eiximenis already quotes it in 1381.^[10]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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. vinya
3. ^ a b c d 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. 9, s.v. vi
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. vinya
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 9350
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. uīnea
7. ^ a b Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. vinya
8. ^ a b c d Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 966
9. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. vinya
10. ^ a b c d e Faraudo de Saint-Germain, Lluís, Vocabulari de la llengua catalana medieval, online edition, Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, p. s.v. vinya
11. ^ a b Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. vinya
12. ^ 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. vinya
13. ^ a b Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. vinya