assertif

Forms

assertif (feminine assertive, masculine plural assertifs, feminine plural assertives)^[1]

Etymology

It is formed from French assertion + -if, on the stem of the noun.^[1][2][3][4] The GLLF connects it directly with Latin assertus, the past participle of asserō (“to assert”),^[5] and the FEW files it under Medieval Latin assertīvus.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

Godefroy records it in a document of 1521 among the state papers of Granvelle, meaning “affirmative, that asserts”.^[7][5][2] The Académie calls this 16th-century form, which it spells arcetif, an isolated record.^[3]

Semantic evolution

After its isolated 16th-century use the word came back in the 19th century.^[3] The supplement to the Académie's dictionary of 1842 gives it in the philosophy of Kant, where a jugement assertif states a truth of fact, as against a problematic judgment and an apodictic one, which states a necessary truth; in this sense it is a synonym of assertorique.^[8][4]

In psychology it was later used of the sincere belief of a very young child in the reality of something imagined.^[8] In modern linguistics it qualifies a sentence that has the status of an assertion, as opposed to an interrogative, exclamatory or imperative sentence.^[2][9][3] The related adverb assertivement is recorded much earlier, in 1409.^[8]

Timeline

• 1409 – The adverb assertivement is first recorded.^[8]
• 1521 – First record of the adjective, in a document among Granvelle's papers.^[7][5][2]
• 1842 – The Académie's supplement gives jugement assertif in its Kantian sense.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. (logic, philosophy) Stating a truth of fact: jugement assertif, also called jugement assertorique.^[3][2][8]
2. (linguistics) Having the status of an assertion, not a question or a command: une phrase assertive.^[2][9][3]
3. (psychology) Of a young child's belief: sincerely holding something imagined to be real.^[8]

Related words

• assertion
• assertorique
• Latin asserō

Usage notes

The Académie has a note on the use of assertif in the sense of assuré “self-assured”, a use it advises against.^[3]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c d e f g Académie française (1992–2024), Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, 9th ed., Paris: Académie française / Fayard / Imprimerie nationale
4. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
5. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 25, 528b
7. ^ a b Godefroy, Frédéric (1881–1902), Dictionnaire de l'ancienne langue française et de tous ses dialectes du IXe au XVe siècle, 10 vols., Paris: Vieweg / Bouillon
8. ^ a b c d e f g Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
9. ^ a b Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)