vibrante

Forms

vibrante m or f (masculine and feminine plural vibrantes)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from Spanish vibrar (“to vibrate”) + -nte, the suffix of the old present participle, and the Academy also names the participle Latin vibrāns (“brandishing, quivering”) as its model.^[2][3][4] Earlier Academy dictionaries, from 1884, simply derived it from the Latin participle.^[5][6]

vibrar is a learned word, taken from vibrō (“to brandish, shake, hurl; to vibrate”);^[7][8] Corominas dates it from 1599, with a single earlier record in 1438, and lists the adjective among its derivatives.^[7][8] The Latin verb is reconstructed as Proto-Italic *wib-ro- (“trembling”), from Proto-Indo-European *uip/b-ro-, with cognates in Sanskrit words for trembling and inspired speech.^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The CDH's first record is in Gabriel Lobo Lasso de la Vega's Tragedia de la destrucción de Constantinopla of 1587, where an oar is vibrante, moving quickly to and fro: con el vibrante remo presuroso “with the hasty quivering oar”.^[10] In the next poets the word describes weapons brandished in the hand, a pike (1588–1594), a lance (1591) and spears (1598, Lope de Vega).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The first uses are poetic and follow the Latin sense “brandished, flashing”: besides weapons, Herrera and Villamediana speak of a vibrante light or splendour.^[10] Terreros glossed the Latin phrase oratio vibrans as a forceful and convincing speech.^[11] The Academy entered the word in 1843 as the participle of vibrar, “that which vibrates”.^[12][13]

The figurative sense of a stirring voice, speech or event is described by Moliner, and Judeo-Spanish uses the word for an eloquent, moving speech.^[14][15] In phonetics the word names the trilled or tapped consonants, the /r/ of pero and the /rr/ of perro; the 2001 Academy dictionary still describes them as a quick closure, single or repeated, and the present one as one or more rapid movements of the tongue.^[3][2]

Timeline

• 1587 – first record, of an oar, in Lobo Lasso de la Vega.^[10]
• a1597 – Fernando de Herrera writes of a vibrante brightness.^[10]
• 1599 – the verb vibrar is recorded in Guzmán de Alfarache.^[7][8]
• 1843 – first in the Academy's dictionary, as the participle of vibrar.^[12]
• 1875 – first record from the Americas, in Chile, of a resonant voice.^[16]
• 1884 – the Academy gives Latin vibrans as its etymon.^[5]

Meanings

Adjective

1. That vibrates or quivers: Se oía la cuerda vibrante del arpa.^[2][1]
2. Full of energy or emotion; vibrant, stirring: said of a voice, a speech or an event.^[14][1]
3. (phonetics) Of a consonant: articulated with one or more rapid movements of the tongue, trilled or tapped, like the r of aro and the rr of perro.^[2][1]

Noun

1. (phonetics) A vibrant consonant, a trill or tap.^[2][1]

Word family

• vibrantemente

Related words

• vibración
• vibrátil
• vibratorio
• Latin vibrō

Usage notes

In Spanish phonetics vibrante simple is the tap of pero and vibrante múltiple the trill of perro and of initial r in rey.^[2][3]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f 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. vibrante
3. ^ a b c Real Academia Española (2001), Diccionario de la lengua española, 22nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe, p. s.v. vibrante
4. ^ Wikcionario (Spanish Wiktionary), es.wiktionary.org
5. ^ 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. 1086
6. ^ Alemany y Bolufer, José (1917), Diccionario de la lengua española, Barcelona: Ramón Sopena, p. 1658
7. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 803
8. ^ a b c Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vibrar
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. vibrante
11. ^ 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. 4, 324
12. ^ a b Real Academia Española (1843), Diccionario de la lengua castellana, 9th ed., Madrid: Imprenta de D. Francisco María Fernández, p. 741
13. ^ Domínguez, Ramón Joaquín (1846–1847), Diccionario nacional o gran diccionario clásico de la lengua española, 2 vols., Madrid: Establecimiento Léxico-Tipográfico de R. J. Domínguez, p. 2, 1727
14. ^ a b Moliner, María (2007), Diccionario de uso del español, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. vibrante
15. ^ Nehama, Joseph (1977), Dictionnaire du judéo-espagnol, Madrid: CSIC, p. s.v. vibrânte
16. ^ 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. vibrante