aqui

Forms

aqui (not comparable)^[1] Houaiss records the spelling aquy from the 14th century;^[2][1] Wiktionary lists aquy and the informal aki.^[2][1] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda also has the shortened qui.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *eccum hīc, written Old Galician-Portuguese aqui in the oldest texts: a compound of the emphatic particle eccum (“here he is!”) and hīc (“here”).^[1][4][5][6] Houaiss writes the Vulgar Latin form *accuhic, with an emphatic *accu-, a blend of ecce and hunc (“this (accusative)”) influenced by atque (“and”).^[2] The OLD likewise explains the particle from the same interjection with, probably, that accusative.^[7] Some scholars, Houaiss notes, think the particle could combine with ibi (“there”) as well as with the Latin adverb of place; he prefers the derivation with the adverb, which suits the first person.^[2] Michaëlis's glossary of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda derives the word from the particle and the adverb of the second person.^[3] Weerenbeck and others start instead from the Latin conjunction with the adverb of place, Corominas reports.^[8][5]

The same Latin compound is Galician aquí, Spanish aquí, Catalan aquí and Occitan aqui; Italian qui continues it without the first syllable.^[8][9][1] Its first part also formed aquele and the old Old Galician-Portuguese aqueste.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

Machado's first record is a charter of Portel of 1267: E des aqui adeante damos a uos anbos... “henceforth we give to you both”.^[5] The cantigas use it for “in this place” and for “now, at this moment”, in phrases such as des aqui “from now on” and d'aqui en deante “henceforth”.^[3][10]

Semantic evolution

The temporal sense of the medieval language survives: dictionaries give “at this moment, at this point” beside “in this place” and “to this place”.^[11][2] The Cancioneiro da Ajuda also uses the word for “in this world”, as against the hereafter, and modern dictionaries keep the figurative “in this earthly life”.^[3][11] Folqman's dictionary of 1755 records the cry aqui del Rei, a call for help in the king's name.^[12]

The word passed into Macanese and into Saramaccan, as akí.^[1]

Timeline

• 1267 – des aqui adeante in a charter of Portel.^[5]
• 13th century – Cunha's century for the word; the cantigas use aqui and the shortened qui.^[4][3]
• 14th century – the spelling aquy.^[2]
• c. 1400 – the first CTA record, in a fragment of a Flos Sanctorum (witness 1380–1425).^[13]
• 1755 – Folqman lists aqui mesmo, até aqui and aqui del Rei.^[12]

Meanings

Adverb

1. here, in this place: Moro aqui desde o ano passado.^[2][1][14]
2. To this place, hither.^[1][14]
3. At this moment or point; now.^[1][14]
4. In this matter, in this.^[14][11]
5. (slang) Used in praise to refer to oneself or one's group.^[1]

Noun

1. (literary) The present place or situation, as in o aqui e agora.^[1]

Word family

• daqui

Related words

• este
• isto
• cá
• aí
• ali
• lá
• Latin eccum
• Spanish aquí

Usage notes

Aqui refers to the place where the speaker is, and is used in contrast with ali.^[15][14] Figueiredo also lists a noun aqui, a climbing plant of São Tomé.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. aqui
3. ^ a b c d e Instituto da Lingua Galega, Dicionario de dicionarios do galego medieval (DDGM), ed. Ernesto González Seoane, Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/ddgm, p. s.v. aqui
4. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. aqui
5. ^ a b c d Machado, José Pedro (1987), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., 5 vols., Lisboa: Livros Horizonte, p. s.v. aqui
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. aqui
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
8. ^ a b Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 1, 306
9. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. eccum
10. ^ Universo Cantigas: Glosario da poesía medieval profana galego-portuguesa, A Coruña: Instituto da Lingua e Literatura (ILLA), Universidade da Coruña, https://www.universocantigas.gal, p. s.v. aqui
11. ^ a b c Aulete, Francisco Júlio Caldas, Dicionário contemporâneo da língua portuguesa (1st ed. 1881), online as Aulete Digital, Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, https://aulete.com.br, p. s.v. aqui
12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. aqui
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. aqui
14. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. aqui
15. ^ Academia das Ciências de Lisboa, Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, revised online edition (2023–) of the Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa Contemporânea (2001), https://dicionario.acad-ciencias.pt, p. s.v. aqui
16. ^ Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. aqui