jamás

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Occitan ja mais (“ever more”), from Latin iam (“already, now”) and magis (“more”).^[2][1][3] Although the word is as old as the Cantar de mio Cid, Corominas argues that its ⟨j⟩ shows it is not a native development, since the inherited adverb is ya, and takes it for a literary adaptation of the Occitan phrase, perhaps because of its use in lyric poetry.^[4] The DLE and García de Diego derive it directly from the Latin phrase.^[5][6] The Diccionario de Autoridades saw in it the two Spanish adverbs joined, with the pronunciation corrupted.^[7]

The same phrase gave French jamais, Portuguese jamais and Italian giammai.^[1] In French the phrase is recorded from about 980 and was welded into one word in the 13th century.^[8]

De Vaan explains the Latin adverb as probably an old accusative feminine of the pronoun is, meaning “as far as this is concerned” and so “now”.^[9] Wiktionary traces it to Proto-Indo-European *Hyā́m, the accusative singular feminine of the relative pronoun.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, known from a 14th-century copy) already has it after a negative: ¡Vós nuncua en Carrión entrariedes jamás! “you would never again enter Carrión!”.^[10][4] The Razón de amor (c. 1205–1250) uses it in the positive sense “ever”: si me uere yamas contigo “if I ever see myself with you”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

In itself jamás was not negative: no le veré jamás meant “I shall not see him any more”.^[4][2] Such sentences gave it a negative force of its own, as in jamás le veré.^[4][2][11] The older positive sense lives on in por siempre jamás, found as early as Berceo and Juan Ruiz, and in questions and doubtful clauses, where it means “ever”; in Juan de Mena it even means “always”.^[4] Corominas notes that the word has had a literary tone at every period.^[4]

The Academy marked the senses “always” and “at some time” as obsolete in 1843, and still lists them as disused.^[12][5] Emphatic phrases are nunca jamás, which Autoridades already quotes from Luis de Granada, and jamás de los jamases.^[7][5] Malaret recorded en jamás “never” in Puerto Rico in 1917, adding that it is used in Spain too.^[13]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid uses jamás after nuncua “never”.^[10][2]
• c. 1205–1250 – yamas “ever” in the Razón de amor.^[10]
• c. 1230 – Berceo's Vida de San Millán.^[10][4]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario has por siempre iamas.^[14]
• 1532 – first record from the Americas, in Mexico.^[15]
• 1786–1793 – Terreros lists nunca jamás, por siempre jamás and en jamás de los jamases.^[16]
• 1843 – the Academy marks the senses “always” and “at some time” as obsolete.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary derives it from ya más.^[17]

Meanings

Adverb

1. never, more emphatic than nunca: Jamás he vuelto a ese pueblo.^[5][11][1]
2. ever, in questions and comparisons: Es lo mejor que he leído jamás.^[1][4]
3. (obsolete) always.^[5]
4. (obsolete) At some time.^[5]

Related words

• más
• ya
• nunca
• Latin magis

Usage notes

Before the verb jamás needs no other negation, but after it the verb takes no: jamás lo diré, no lo diré jamás.^[11][18] The DLE lists en jamás de los jamases, jamás de los jamases, jamás por jamás and por jamás as emphatic forms of “never”;^[1] por siempre jamás means “for ever and ever”.^[5][11]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. ya
3. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 402
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 6, 770
5. ^ a b c d e f g 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. jamás
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. jam
7. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 4, 317
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c d e Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. jamás
11. ^ a b c d Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. jamás
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 418
13. ^ Malaret, Augusto (1999), Vocabulario de Puerto Rico, critical ed. by Humberto López Morales, Madrid: Arco/Libros (1st ed. 1937), p. 223
14. ^ 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. jamás
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. jamás
16. ^ Terreros y Pando, Esteban de (1786–1793), Diccionario castellano con las voces de ciencias y artes y sus correspondientes de las tres lenguas francesa, latina e italiana, 4 vols., Madrid: Viuda de Ibarra, p. 2, 375
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 572
18. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. jamás