sostener

Forms

sostener (first-person singular present sostengo, first-person singular preterite sostuve, past participle sostenido)^[1] Autoridades also records sustener.^[2] Like tener, it is irregular: sostengo, sostuve;^[1][3] Alfonso X wrote the preterite sostouo.^[1][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sustineō (“to hold up, support”).^[4][5][6][1] The Latin verb is formed from sub- (“under”) and teneō (“to hold”), the source of tener.^[7][1][8] De Vaan traces the simple verb to Proto-Indo-European *tn-eh₁- (“to hold”).^[9]

The same Latin verb is Portuguese suster, Galician soster, Catalan sostenir, Occitan sostener, French soutenir and Italian sostenere.^[10][11] The Old French form sostenir, recorded from about 880, comes from a popular Latin *sustenīre.^[12] The Portuguese verb went through the older forms Old Galician-Portuguese sosteer and soster.^[13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Its first record in the CDH is the Fazienda de Ultra Mar (c. 1200, in a 13th-century copy): Aaron and Hur sostenian sus manos “held up his hands” until sunset.^[14] Corominas dates it from a charter of 1218;^[4][5] Berceo also has it.^[4][5] The Fuero de Zorita de los Canes (1218–c. 1250) uses it in the sense “to suffer” a penalty: sostenga la pena.^[14]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X used it for holding up, for enduring, for supporting someone and for resisting: Joseph sostouosse quanto pudo “held himself back as long as he could” before his brothers.^[3] Nebrija rendered it with Latin fulcio, sustineo and sustento.^[15]

Autoridades gave “to hold up, maintain”, physically and morally, “to bear, tolerate” and “to provide someone's keep”.^[2] The Academy added “to defend a proposition” by 1817 and the reflexive “to keep oneself from falling” by 1843.^[16][17] The 2001 edition added “to give support or encouragement”, “to keep up, continue” (of a conversation) and “to stay up in a medium” (of a body in the air).^[18] In Honduras, El Salvador and Nicaragua sostener la peña is to be left alone to bear an awkward situation.^[19]

Timeline

• c. 1200 – the Fazienda de Ultra Mar has sostenian sus manos.^[14]
• 1218 – a charter, the DCECH's first record.^[4][5]
• 1220–1250 – the derivative sostenimiento in Berceo.^[4][5]
• 1256 – Alfonso X writes that the sphere of the moon sostiene everything on earth.^[3]
• 1515 – the first record from the Americas, in Tierra Firme.^[20]
• 1696 – the noun sostén appears.^[4][5]
• 1726–1739 – Autoridades defines the verb.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive, also reflexive) To hold up, keep something firm or in place: Dos columnas sostienen el arco.^[6][1]
2. To maintain or defend an opinion; to argue: Sostiene que nadie le avisó.^[6][1]
3. To bear, tolerate.^[6]
4. To support, encourage or help someone.^[6]
5. To provide someone with what he needs to live: Sostiene a sus padres con su sueldo.^[6]
6. To keep up, carry on: Sostuvieron una charla de dos horas..^[6][1]
7. (reflexive) Of a body: to stay up in a medium or place without falling, or falling very slowly.^[6]

Word family

• sostenedor
• sostenible
• sostenido
• sostenimiento
• sostén

Related words

• sustentar
• tener
• Latin sustineō
• French soutenir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 162
3. ^ a b c d 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. sostener
4. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 461
5. ^ a b c d e f Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tener
6. ^ 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. sostener
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. sustineō
8. ^ Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses, p. s.v. sostener
9. ^ 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. teneō
10. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8490
11. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. 6513
12. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. soutenir
13. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. suster
14. ^ 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. sostener
15. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 418
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1817), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 5th ed., Madrid: Imprenta Real, p. 815
17. ^ Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 678
18. ^ Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. sostener
19. ^ Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2010), Diccionario de americanismos, Lima: Santillana; online at https://www.asale.org/damer, p. s.v. sostener
20. ^ 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. sobstener