subjuntivo

Forms

subjuntivo (feminine subjuntiva, masculine plural subjuntivos, feminine plural subjuntivas)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin subiunctīvus (“serving to join; subjunctive”), borrowed in the 15th century.^[2][1][3][4] Corominas lists it among the learned words of the family of junto.^[5]

The Latin adjective is a term of the later grammarians, who applied it to the mood.^[6][4] It is formed from subiungō (“to subjoin, subordinate”) with the suffix -īvus, and the verb from sub- and iungō (“to join”).^[1][7] Gómez de Silva and Wiktionary describe it as a translation of Ancient Greek ὑποτακτικός (hupotaktikós, “subordinate; subjunctive”).^[8][1] The corresponding form is French subjonctif.^[9][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

Alfonso de Palencia's Universal vocabulario of 1490 says that el modo subiunctiuo sometimes expresses possibility, sometimes approval and sometimes doubt.^[10][11] It is a term of grammar from the start.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Earlier hits in the CDH are less certain records of the Spanish word: the Etimologías of Isidore in Spanish (after 1450, in a later copy) call some conjunctions subjunctivas, and Nebrija's translation of his Latin grammar (1481) heads a Latin paradigm Subiunctiuo modo.^[10] Nebrija's Castilian grammar of 1492 already speaks of the present of the subjunctive.^[10]

The Diccionario de Autoridades (1739) explains that the mood is so called because it is usually governed by another clause.^[12] The Academy's dictionary of 1843 defines it as the mood that needs another verb, stated or understood, to complete its meaning, and the 1884 edition treats it as an adjective, modo subjuntivo, with the Latin etymon.^[13][14] The DLE now enters it as a noun for the mood and for a verb form in it.^[2]

Timeline

• 1490 – Alfonso de Palencia describes the modo subiunctiuo.^[10][11]
• 1492 – Nebrija's Gramática castellana speaks of the present of the subjunctive.^[10]
• 1499 – Rodrigo Fernández de Santaella's Vocabulario eclesiástico uses the future and preterite of the subjunctive.^[10]
• 1739 – the Diccionario de Autoridades enters it as a grammatical term.^[12]
• 1843 – the Academy's dictionary defines it as a dependent mood.^[13]
• 1884 – the Academy's dictionary gives the Latin etymon.^[14]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) The subjunctive mood, which presents an action as doubtful, possible, desired or necessary: Después de «ojalá» se usa el subjuntivo.^[2][15][1]
2. (grammar) A verb form in the subjunctive.^[2]

Adjective

1. (grammar) Subjunctive: of this mood, as in modo subjuntivo.^[1][15][16]

Related words

• junto
• conjuntivo
• Latin subiunctīvus

Usage notes

Moliner refers to conjuntivo as a related term.^[15]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ 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. subjuntivo
3. ^ Battaner Arias, Paz (dir.) (2017), Diccionario general de la lengua española VOX, Barcelona: Larousse Editorial, p. s.v. subjuntivo
4. ^ a b c Bénaben, Michel (2000), Dictionnaire étymologique de l'espagnol, Paris: Ellipses
5. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 539
6. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ Gómez de Silva, Guido (1988), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua española, México: Fondo de Cultura Económica / El Colegio de México, p. 659
9. ^ 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. 3, 538
10. ^ a b c d e f g Real Academia Española (2013–), Corpus del Diccionario histórico de la lengua española (CDH), version 3.1, https://apps.rae.es/CNDHE, p. s.v. subjuntivo
11. ^ a b Segura Munguía, Santiago (2001), Nuevo diccionario etimológico latín-español y de las voces derivadas, Bilbao: Universidad de Deusto, p. 741
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1726–1739), Diccionario de la lengua castellana (Diccionario de Autoridades), 6 vols., Madrid: Francisco del Hierro, p. 6, 169
13. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 679
14. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1884), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 12th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Gregorio Hernando (the first Academy edition with etymologies), p. 993
15. ^ a b c Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. subjuntivo
16. ^ Real Academia Española (1899), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 13th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de los Sres. Hernando y Compañía, p. 930