subir

Forms

subir (first-person singular present subo, first-person singular preterite subí, past participle subido)^[1] Berceo, the Libro de Apolonio, Juan Ruiz and Juan Manuel waver between subir and sobir.^[2] Sovir occurs only in Alfonso X's astronomical books.^[2] Asturian has xubir.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin subeō (“to go under; to approach from below”), formed from sub- (“under”) and eō (“to go”).^{[2][4][5][6][7]} Already in some classical authors the Latin verb comes close to the Spanish sense, and in the Peregrinatio Aetheriae, written in the first half of the sixth century and probably in Spain, it has become a full synonym of ascendō (“to climb”).^[2][4]

That verb was replaced in all the Romance languages, but by different verbs: French monter, in Catalan and Occitan a verb from Vulgar Latin *podiare, and Italian salire.^[2] The Latin verb won only in Castilian, Portuguese subir and Romanian sui, and in a zone of central and southern Italy.^[2][8]

Because medieval texts spell it with -b- rather than -v-, Meyer-Lübke and Puşcariu took the word for a learned one, and Wiktionary calls the Old Spanish form borrowed.^[2][1] Corominas rejects this: following Cuervo, he explains the ⟨b⟩ as a differentiation of the sound written ⟨v⟩ next to a preceding o or u, as in cobarde, cobija and abuelo; sobir was common in the Middle Ages, and later the form with u prevailed, as in Palencia and Nebrija.^[2]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140, in a 14th-century copy) already has the modern form, used transitively: the Cid takes his wife and daughters up to the highest place of the citadel to show them Valencia, allá las subié en el más alto logar.^[9][2][10]

Semantic evolution

Alfonso X's prose uses the verb for climbing, mounting a horse, the rise of a river and a rise in rank or wealth.^[11] Covarrubias lists subir el precio “to raise the price” and subirse de punto “to grow more intense”, and subirse en el canto, of a singer forcing the voice beyond its range.^[12] Autoridades records it as intransitive and as transitive, both for climbing stairs or a slope and for lifting a thing higher.^[13] The Academy's 1899 dictionary adds the silkworm climbing on twigs to spin its cocoon and an account that sube to a sum.^[14]

Today the verb also covers getting into a vehicle, travelling north or upstream, rising prices and fever, and, in computing, uploading a file.^[5][1] In the Dominican Republic the pronominal subirse means to get angry.^[15]

Timeline

• first half of the 6th century – the Peregrinatio Aetheriae uses Latin subire for “to go up”.^[2][4]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid has subir.^[2][9]
• 1220–1250 – Berceo has the derivative subida.^[4][2]
• 1250–1279 – the Lapidario of Alfonso X uses it for rising floods and rising rank.^[11]
• 1513 – Nebrija gives Latin scando, ascendo and subeo.^[16]
• 1528 – the first record from the Americas, on the Río de la Plata: los ríos que había de suvir.^[17]
• 1611 – Covarrubias derives it from Latin subeo.^[12]
• 1899 – the Academy's dictionary gives its etymology from Latin subire.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To go or move upward: El humo sube despacio.^[5][1]
2. To go from one place to a higher one; to climb: Subió a la azotea.^[5][18]
3. To travel north or towards the source of something, as up a river.^[5]
4. To get on an animal or onto something; to mount: Se subió al muro.^[5]
5. To get into a vehicle: Subimos al autobús.^[5][18]
6. Of a level or amount, to rise: the river, a fever, a bill.^[5]
7. To rise in price, value or esteem.^[5]
8. To rise in power, rank or fortune.^[5][11]
9. (transitive) To take or lift something to a higher place; to raise it.^[1][13]
10. (computing) To upload.^[1]
11. (Dominican Republic, pronominal) To get angry.^[15]

Word family

• subida
• subido
• subidor

Related words

• ascender
• Latin subeō
• Portuguese subir

Usage notes

Sube y baja is a noun phrase for repeated movement up and down, and also a seesaw.^[5] Idioms include subirse a la cabeza “to go to one's head”, subirse por las paredes “to hit the roof” and subir como la espuma “to rise fast”.^[1]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 322
3. ^ Academia de la Llingua Asturiana (2000), Diccionariu de la Llingua Asturiana, Uviéu: ALLA; online at https://mas.academiadelallingua.com/diccionariu, p. s.v. xubir
4. ^ a b c d Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subir
5. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k 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. subir
6. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
7. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. s.v. subir
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8364
9. ^ a b Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. subir
10. ^ Menéndez Pidal, Ramón (1908–1911), Cantar de Mio Cid: texto, gramática y vocabulario, 3 vols., Madrid: Bailly-Baillière, p. 451
11. ^ a b c 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. subir
12. ^ a b Covarrubias Orozco, Sebastián de (1611), Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española, Madrid: Luis Sánchez (Biblioteca Wordkers transcription, CC BY 4.0), p. 1309
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 167
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 930
15. ^ 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. subir
16. ^ Nebrija, Antonio de (1513), Vocabulario español-latino, Salamanca, ed. Marina Vidal Díez (2007), Biblioteca Virtual Miguel de Cervantes, p. 418
17. ^ 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. sobir
18. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subir