afirmación

Forms

afirmación f (plural afirmaciones)^[1]

Etymology

It is a learned word, borrowed from Latin affirmātiō (“strengthening; positive statement”), first recorded in the early 15th century.^[2][1][3] The BDELC treats it under firme, beside the verb afirmar, which it dates to 1220–1250 and derives from the Latin verb behind the noun.^[4] This verb meant properly “to make firm”.^[4]

The Latin noun is formed from affirmō (“to strengthen, assert”) with the suffix -tiō.^[5][1] The verb is made of ad- (“to, towards”) and firmō (“to strengthen”), from firmus (“firm, strong”).^[1][6] The same Latin word gave Portuguese afirmação, French affirmation and Italian affermazione.^[1][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's earliest hit is in a Castilian Bible translation of about 1400, where it is said that a king's promise and afirmaçion must not be set aside.^[3] Pero López de Ayala's Caída de príncipes (1402) and the Castilian translation of Maimonides' Guide of the Perplexed (1419–1432) use it for an assertion or a positive statement.^[3] DICCA-XV dates its first record to 1430–1460, and Alonso's dictionary to the 15th century.^[8][9]

Semantic evolution

In 15th-century texts the word is already the act of asserting something as true, and an oath is defined as a religious afirmación.^[3] In logic and grammar it was set against negación: Palencia's vocabulary of 1490 divides a proposition into affirmation and negation.^[10] Barcia's dictionary of the 1880s records an obsolete legal acta de afirmación, a sworn assurance given to a judge.^[11] The modern Academy dictionary gives the act and effect of affirming, and Moliner adds the words with which one affirms.^[2][12]

Timeline

• c. 1400 – first hit in the CDH, in a Castilian Bible translation.^[3]
• 1402 – Pero López de Ayala uses the word in his Caída de príncipes.^[3]
• 1445–1455 – the Tostado writes affirmación for an unproven claim of the historians.^[10]
• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia's vocabulary sets afirmaçión against negation in the parts of a proposition.^[10][9]
• c. 1495 – Nebrija gives Latin affirmatio and assertio as its equivalents.^[8][9]
• 1716 – first record from the Americas, in Guatemala.^[13]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymon and the definition “act and effect of affirming”.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. The act or result of affirming (afirmar): an assertion or statement that something is true: Sus afirmaciones no convencieron a nadie.^[2][1][12]
2. A word, expression or gesture that says yes; the opposite of negación.^[12][15]
3. The strengthening or asserting of something, as of one's identity or rights.^[15]

Related words

• afirmar
• afirmativo
• firme
• Latin affirmātiō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c 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. afirmación
3. ^ a b c d e f Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. afirmación
4. ^ a b Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. firme
5. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
6. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México
7. ^ Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. 127
8. ^ a b 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. afirmación
9. ^ a b c Alonso Pedraz, Martín (1986), Diccionario medieval español: desde las Glosas Emilianenses y Silenses (s. X) hasta el siglo XV, 2 vols., Salamanca: Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, p. 160
10. ^ a b c 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. afirmación
11. ^ Barcia, Roque (1880–1883), Primer diccionario general etimológico de la lengua española, 5 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Tipográfico de Álvarez Hermanos, p. 154
12. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. afirmación
13. ^ 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. afirmación
14. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 24
15. ^ a b Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. afirmación