acullá

Etymology

It probably continues inherited from Vulgar Latin *eccum illāc (“there, that way”), eccum (“behold”) and illāc (“by that way, there”).^[2][3][1] The DCECH says only that it appears to come from this phrase, and compares aquel, formed with ille (“that”).^[4][2][5] The Academy's dictionary of 1884 explained it from acá and allá.^[6]

The same formation is Portuguese acolá, Galician acolá and Italian colà, and also Asturian acullá and its variant aculló.^[2][7][8] This particle is ecce (“look!”) with an accusative pronoun.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The earliest hit in the CDH is in the Escorial New Testament (before 1260), in the Epistle of James: the rich man is given a good seat while the poor man is told Sey tu aculla “stand there”.^[10] In the General estoria Lot's neighbours tell him Tuelte acullá delante nós “Get away from us”.^[10][11] The DCECH dates it to the Gran conquista de Ultramar of about 1300, where it is still used alone, as an emphatic synonym of allá.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Alfonso X's prose it meant the side away from the speaker, a place within sight, or a distant place.^[12] The DCECH notes that its use soon narrowed to contrast with other place adverbs in the same sentence, above all allá.^[2] Nebrija's dictionary of about 1495 glossed it with Latin illac, illinc and illuc.^[11] Cervantes used it in a series: aquí one shepherd sighs, allí another complains, acullá love songs are heard.^[13] Salvá in 1846 noted that it survived only in acá o acullá and acá y acullá.^[14] The DLE now marks it as literary and used in contrast with aquí, acá, allí and allá.^[3]

Timeline

• before 1260 – the Escorial New Testament, Sey tu aculla.^[10]
• 1272–1275 – the General estoria uses it several times.^[12]
• c. 1300 – the first record in the DCECH, the Gran conquista de Ultramar.^[2]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija records it.^[11]
• 1539 – the first record from the Americas, in New Granada.^[15]
• 1846 – Salvá describes it as limited to set phrases.^[14]

Meanings

Adverb

1. (literary) yonder; over there, further away, in contrast with aquí, acá, allí or allá: Había flores aquí, allá y acullá.^[3][16][1]

Related words

• allá
• acá
• aquel
• Portuguese acolá

Usage notes

Dialect forms are aqullá, acuyá in Santander and Asturian acutsá.^[11] It is always used in a series with other place adverbs and comes last: acá y acullá “here and there”.^[17][3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 225
3. ^ a b c d 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. acullá
4. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 2395
5. ^ Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 353
6. ^ Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 18
7. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. 91
8. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. acullá
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ 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. acullá
11. ^ a b c d 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. acullá
12. ^ 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. acullá
13. ^ Cejador y Frauca, Julio (1905–1906), La lengua de Cervantes: gramática y diccionario de la lengua castellana en El ingenioso hidalgo don Quijote de la Mancha, 2 vols., Madrid: Jaime Ratés, p. 34
14. ^ a b Salvá, Vicente (1846), Nuevo diccionario de la lengua castellana, París: Librería de Don Vicente Salvá, p. 18
15. ^ 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. acullá
16. ^ Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. acullá
17. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. acullá