chantar

Forms

chantar (first-person singular present chanto, first-person singular preterite chantei, past participle chantado)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote chantar, and in the 14th century also chamtar and chãtar.^[2][3] Gil Vicente has the form chentava.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin plantō (“to plant”), written Old Galician-Portuguese chantar in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1] Latin initial /pl/ became /tʃ/, spelt ⟨ch⟩, as in chaga and chorar.^[5] The Latin verb is formed from planta (“sole of the foot; shoot”).^[1][6]

The same Latin verb gave the borrowed plantar and the semi-learned prantar, which are doublets, and tanchar is a form of this verb with metathesis.^[1][7][8] It is also Galician chantar, Old Spanish llantar, Catalan plantar, French planter and Italian piantare.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

A charter of 1259 grants a field a chantar de pereyros et de mazeyras ou doutras aruores “to be planted with pear trees and apple trees or other trees”, with a quarter of what is planted (desse chantado) going to the grantor.^[3][2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria use the verb both for planting a vine and for driving a knife or a spear into something.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the medieval charters chantar is the ordinary word for planting trees and vines: assi chantada como por chantar “planted or still to be planted” recurs from 1275, and a deed of Salzedas of 1291 uses it so.^[3][9] Viterbo notes that it was also used of a person fixed in someone's heart.^[9] Pero Vaz de Caminha's letter still writes of where it would be best to chantar a cruz, but Bluteau calls the word old-fashioned and Morais marks it obsolete, with the senses “drive in, nail, plant”.^[10][11][12] It survives as a term for planting from a cutting or stake, and figuratively and colloquially for settling or fixing oneself.^[10][2][13] In Rio Grande do Sul it means to land a violent blow or a verbal attack on someone, and is a term of the games of bocce and marbles.^[14]

Timeline

• 1259 – a charter has a chantar de pereyros.^[3][2]
• 13th century – the Cantigas de Santa Maria use it for driving a spear into an olive tree.^[3]
• 1291 – a deed of Salzedas speaks of trees chantadas, e por chantar.^[9]
• c. 1400 – a fragment of a Flos Sanctorum (witness 1380–1425) has the verb.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau calls it an old-fashioned word.^[11]
• 1813 – Morais adds that others say tanchão and tanchar.^[16]

Meanings

Verb

1. (transitive) To plant from a cutting or stake (estaca); to drive into the ground.^[2][17][13]
2. (transitive, popular) To fix firmly in someone or something.^[13][18]
3. (pronominal) To settle, establish oneself; to take root, also figuratively, as jealousy in the mind.^[2][17][1]
4. (Rio Grande do Sul) To deal someone a violent blow or a verbal attack.^[14]

Word family

• achantar
• chantel

Related words

• chanta
• plantar
• prantar
• tanchar
• Latin plantō
• Galician chantar

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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. chantar
3. ^ a b c d e f g 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. chantar
4. ^ Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. chantar
5. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 2, 193
6. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. planter
7. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6578
8. ^ a b García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. plantare
9. ^ a b c Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 266
10. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 112
11. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. chantar
12. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 1, 262
13. ^ a b c 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. chantar
14. ^ a b Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. 1, s.v. chantar
15. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. chantar
16. ^ Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 383
17. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. chantar
18. ^ Michaelis: Moderno Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, São Paulo: Melhoramentos (online as Michaelis Dicionário Brasileiro da Língua Portuguesa, https://michaelis.uol.com.br), p. s.v. chantar