viu

Forms

viu (feminine viva, masculine plural vius, feminine plural vives)^[1] The DCVB records the pronunciations /bíw/ and /víw/; the form with /v/ is that of the Balearic Islands and Valencia, the one with /b/ that of Central, Northern and North-Western Catalan.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin vīvus (“alive, living”).^{[3][2][4][5][1]}

The same Latin word is Spanish vivo, Portuguese vivo, Occitan viu, French vif, Italian vivo and Romanian viu.^[6][1][7]

The Latin adjective belongs with vīvō (“to live”) and vīta (“life”); de Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic forms for 'alive' and 'to live' and a Proto-Indo-European adjective meaning 'alive'.^[8] Wiktionary traces it through Proto-Italic *gʷīwos to Proto-Indo-European *gʷih₃wós (“alive”), and names as cognates Sanskrit जीव (jīva), Gothic 𐌵𐌹𐌿𐍃 (qius) and Ancient Greek βίος (bíos).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Coromines's first record is the toll list of Cotlliure of 1249, which charges a live pig one denier: porc, viu, paga 1 dr.^[3] In Llull's Llibre del gentil nothing that has life will remain alive except God: nuyla cosa qui haja vida no romandrà viva sinó Déus tan solament.^[3][9] The first sense is therefore the literal one, having life, not dead.^[3]

Semantic evolution

Coromines finds the word from the oldest texts both in its basic sense and in that of “lively, full of vitality”;^[3] Llull already writes that water is viva in weeping.^[3] From there come font viva, a spring of running water, and roca viva or pedra viva, natural rock, which also survive in place names such as la Coma de Font-Viva.^[3] Used as a noun it meant a living person: Muntaner speaks of a donation entre vius, the later inter vivos.^[3]

The medieval texts Faraudo collects add a noun viu “the quick, the most sensitive part” (to touch someone al viu), “livelihood, food” in a Girona account of 1406, and the adjective senses “sharp, perceptive” (of mules, in 1424) and “burning” (of embers).^[10] The noun for an edge or a cord sewn along a hem is recorded from 1578.^[3] The set phrase de viu en viu “alive” (to bury or burn someone alive) is used everywhere.^[3]

Labèrnia's dictionary of 1839 already lists the senses “intense”, “sharp, witty”, “burning” and, of colours, “vivid”.^[11] The derivatives are old: avivar in Llull, viver “fishpond, nursery” in 1388, vivesa in Lacavalleria's dictionary of 1696;^[4] vivacitat (1839) and vivaç (1888) are learned.^[4]

Timeline

• 1249 – porc, viu in the toll list of Cotlliure.^[3]
• 1250–1299 – CICA counts 136 occurrences, against four in the first half of the century.^[12]
• 1381 – the Cercapou speaks of judging los vius e los morts.^[10]
• 1388 – a letter of King John I mentions a viver to be filled with water and live fish.^[3]
• 1406 – viu “livelihood, food” in an account of the almonry of Girona cathedral.^[10]
• 1424 – Manuel Dieç calls black mules molt vives, very sharp.^[10]
• 1578 – first record of the noun for a border or piping on cloth.^[3]
• 1839 – Labèrnia's dictionary.^[11]
• 1932 – Fabra's dictionary heads the noun viu “edge; piping”.^[13]

Meanings

Adjective

1. alive, living; having life, not dead.^[14][5]
2. Still present or active, not gone: a memory that is still viu.^[5]
3. Strong, intense: of a pain, a feeling or a desire.^[5][2]
4. Quick-witted, alert, sharp.^[2][10]
5. lively, vivid; of colours, bright.^[1][11]
6. Of water, running from a spring; of rock, deeply rooted in the ground.^[15][3]

Noun

1. A living person, usually in the plural, as opposed to the dead.^[5][1]
2. The quick: raw flesh; the most sensitive part (tocar el viu).^[5][1]
3. (figurative) The core or crux of a question or discussion.^[5][1]
4. An edge, caire or aresta of a piece.^[16]
5. A piping or cord sewn along the edge of a garment.^[16][2]

Word family

• avivar
• reviscolar
• vivament
• viver
• vivesa
• vivor
• voraviu
• sempreviva

Related words

• viure
• vida
• vivaç
• vívid
• Latin vīvus
• Occitan viu
• Spanish vivo

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. viu
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. 9, 317
4. ^ a b c Bruguera, Jordi (1996), Diccionari etimològic, Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana, p. 972
5. ^ a b c d e f g Enciclopèdia Catalana, Gran diccionari de la llengua catalana (GDLC), Barcelona: Enciclopèdia Catalana; online edition, https://www.diccionari.cat, p. s.v. viu
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954)
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. vīvō
9. ^ Nou glossari general lul·lià (NGGL), Centre de Documentació Ramon Llull, Universitat de Barcelona, https://nggl.ub.edu, p. s.v. viu
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. viu
11. ^ a b c Labèrnia, Pere (1839–1840), Diccionari de la llengua catalana ab la correspondencia castellana y llatina, 2 vols., Barcelona, p. s.v. viu
12. ^ Torruella, Joan; Pérez Saldanya, Manuel; Martines, Josep (dirs.), Corpus Informatitzat del Català Antic (CICA), https://www.cica.cat, p. s.v. viu
13. ^ Fabra, Pompeu (1932), Diccionari general de la llengua catalana, Barcelona: Llibreria Catalònia, p. s.v. viu
14. ^ Institut d'Estudis Catalans, Diccionari essencial de la llengua catalana (DEIEC), online, https://deiec.iec.cat, p. s.v. viu
15. ^ Vallès, Emili (1927), Pal·las: diccionari català il·lustrat, Barcelona: Salvat, p. s.v. viu
16. ^ 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. viu