acá

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *eccum hāc, a combination of Latin eccum (“here he is!”), used as an emphatic particle, with hāc (“this way, here”).^[2][1][3][4] Spanish formed aquí in the same way from *eccum hīc, and aquende from *eccum hinc.^[3][4][5]

The same Latin phrase lies behind Galician acá, Portuguese cá, Italian qua and French çà.^[1][3] Old Portuguese had Old Galician-Portuguese aca beside the short form from the 13th century.^[6]

The Latin particle is a compound of ecce (“look!”), probably with an old accusative of the pronoun hic (“this”).^[7] De Vaan derives the particle from Proto-Italic *ek reinforced with *-ke, and notes that the form with -um may simply be an inflected form of it.^[8] The adverb is a petrified ablative feminine singular of the same pronoun.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the word to 1074.^[3][4] The first literary text is the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy): De Castiella la gentil exidos somos acá “we have come out here from noble Castile”.^[9] From the start it named the speaker's place, often as the goal of a movement.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Acá has been the usual form from the 12th century to today.^[10] Accá is found only in 12th-century texts, and aquá is frequent in the 15th century, especially in Aragon, but rare after the late 16th.^[10] The Academy listed aquá as obsolete in 1770 and dropped it from 1807.^[10] Run together with a preceding word, the adverb gave daca “give here” and the colloquial pacá “over here”, and so the short forms qua and ca.^[10] Ca is still used in New Mexico.^[10]

It differs from aquí in being less precise.^[10][11] Because of this it admits degrees, as in más acá and tan acá, which aquí does not.^[10][12] Alfonso X already used it after a phrase of time, in the sense “since then, up to now”.^[13] The Academy's dictionary of 1817 records a sense “in this town or country” and its use as a call, ¡acá!.^[14] The 2001 edition gives the sense “in this life” as opposed to the next.^[12]

In the Americas the word is recorded from 1525 on.^[15] It is now used there, and in the Canary Islands, where Spain mostly says aquí.^[1] In colloquial use it also points to a person present, a use recorded in Cuba and Puerto Rico.^[2][16] Ortiz quotes Acá me dijo “this one told me”.^[17] In Mexican youth slang it is an adjective meaning “excellent, classy”.^[18][1]

Timeline

• 1074 – the first record according to Corominas.^[3][4]
• c. 1140 – exidos somos acá in the Cantar de mio Cid (in a 14th-century copy).^[9]
• c. 1194–1211 – de Adam en aca “from Adam to now” in the Liber regum.^[9]
• 1254 – the Fuero Juzgo uses acá after a phrase of time.^[13]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija glosses aca donde io esto “here where I am” with Latin huc.^[19]
• 1525 – the first record from the Americas, in Nombre de Dios.^[15]
• 1770 – the Academy marks the variant aquá as obsolete, and drops it from 1807.^[10]
• 1899 – the Academy notes that acá is less precise than aquí and admits degrees.^[20]

Meanings

Adverb

1. here, in this place or near it; less precise than aquí, so it can be graded: Pon la mesa más acá.^[2][11][1]
2. To this place, hither: ¡Ven acá!^[2][21]
3. After a preposition: this place, round here: Pasaron por acá ayer.^[2]
4. After a phrase of time with de or desde: up to now: de un tiempo para acá.^[2][11][1]
5. In this life, as opposed to the next.^[12][11]

Pronoun

1. (colloquial) This person here, the one present: Acá dice que no vino.^[2][17]

Adjective

1. (Mexico, youth slang) Of things: classy, of excellent quality.^[18][1]

Word family

• pacá
• acá y allá
• de acá para allá

Related words

• aquí
• allá
• acullá
• aquende
• Latin eccum
• Portuguese cá

Usage notes

Set phrases include acá y allá or acá y acullá “here and there” and de acá para allá “from one place to another”.^[2][11] In Spain aquí is the usual word for “here”, and acá is mostly used with verbs of motion; in Latin America and the Canaries acá is the everyday word.^[1][11]

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 g h Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. acá
3. ^ a b c d e Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 306
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. aquí
5. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. eccum
6. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 608
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. acá
10. ^ a b c d e f g h i Real Academia Española (2021–), Tesoro de los diccionarios históricos de la lengua española (TDHLE): Diccionario histórico (1933–1936), its unpublished slips, Diccionario histórico (1960–1996), DHECan, DHECR, DHEVen, https://www.rae.es/tdhle, p. s.v. acá
11. ^ a b c d e f Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. acá
12. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. acá
13. ^ a b Kasten, Lloyd A.; Nitti, John J.; Gago Jover, Francisco (2002–), Diccionario de la prosa castellana del Rey Alfonso X, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies (electronic edition 2024), p. s.v. acá
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 8
15. ^ a b Boyd-Bowman, Peter (2003), Léxico hispanoamericano 1493–1993, ed. Ray Harris-Northall and John J. Nitti, New York: Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies, p. s.v. acá
16. ^ Academia Puertorriqueña de la Lengua Española; Universidad de Puerto Rico, Tesoro lexicográfico del español de Puerto Rico, https://tesoro.pr, p. s.v. acá
17. ^ a b Ortiz, Fernando (1923), Un catauro de cubanismos: apuntes lexicográficos, La Habana, p. 123
18. ^ a b Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. acá
19. ^ Lleal, Coloma (dir.), DICCA-XV: Diccionario del castellano del siglo XV en la Corona de Aragón, Barcelona: Universitat de Barcelona, Grup d'Estudis d'Història de la Llengua (GHCL), https://ghcl.ub.edu/diccaxv, p. s.v. acá
20. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 8
21. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. acá