dizer

Forms

dizer (first-person singular present digo, first-person singular preterite disse, past participle dito)^[1] Houaiss records the old forms di (imperative), direy (future) and disse from the 13th century, and the noun dizeres from the 15th.^[2] The cantigas d'amigo have the imperfect dezia, the preterite dixi or dixe and the imperative di.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin dīcō (“to say, speak”), written Old Galician-Portuguese dizer in the oldest texts.^[2][4][5][1] The Portuguese verb keeps the Latin third conjugation in -er, as do most Romance languages; only Castilian and some Galician dialects moved the verb to the -ir conjugation.^[6]

The same Latin verb is Galician dicir, Spanish decir, Catalan dir, French dire, Italian dire and Romanian zice.^[7][1]

The Latin verb goes back to *deikō, from *déyḱeti (“to show, point out”).^[1] Houaiss connects it with the root of Ancient Greek δείκνυμι (deíknumi, “to show”) and δίκη (díkē, “custom, way”).^[2] The DHLF notes that only in Italic, in Latin, Oscan and Umbrian, did the root specialise in the sense of making known by speech.^[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 950, is the form dissimus “we said” in a Latin charter.^[2] The Portuguese verb is recorded from the 13th century.^[2][4] In the Cancioneiro da Ajuda it means “to utter words, to speak”, is set against cantar “to sing”, and also means “to call, name”, as in dizer senhor “to call (someone) lord”.^[3] The Crónica Troiana uses it both for “to say, tell” and for “to call, name”.^[3]

Semantic evolution

In the cantigas the verb also meant “to sing, recite” a poem and “to mean”, and the troubadours had set phrases such as dizer de non “to refuse, say no” and mal dizer “to speak ill”.^[9][3] The verb dizer was used as a noun, dizeres “sayings”, by the 15th century.^[2]

Morais's dictionary of 1813 already lists the senses “to recite” (the canonical hours), “to celebrate” (Mass), “to tell, narrate” and “to order”.^[10] Modern dictionaries add “to mean, signify”, “to suit, match” and, in Houaiss, “to lead to, open onto”, of a room or passage.^[2][11]

Wiktionary notes that Portugal and formal usage construe the person told with a, while Brazil prefers para.^[1]

Timeline

• 950 – the form dissimus in a Latin charter.^[2]
• 13th century – first records of dizer and of the forms di, direy and disse.^[2][4]
• c. 1350 – the Trasladação de S. Nicolau (witness of the 14th century), the first CTA text with the verb.^[12]
• 15th century – dizeres used as a noun.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso's dictionary renders Dizer by Latin dico.^[13]
• 1813 – Morais lists the senses “recite”, “celebrate (Mass)”, “narrate” and “order”.^[10]

Meanings

Verb

1. To say or express in words, to someone: Disse ao vizinho que ia mudar de casa.^[2][1][14]
2. To pronounce or utter, also in a particular way.^[15][1]
3. To express without words, by gestures or looks.^[2][15]
4. To tell, inform or assert; to tell someone to do something, to order or advise.^[2][16]
5. To narrate or relate; to recite verses or prayers; to celebrate (Mass).^[2][11]
6. To mean or signify, chiefly in querer dizer.^[2][1]
7. To tell apart, distinguish.^[1]
8. To suit, match (com).^[2][11]
9. (reflexive) To call oneself, claim to be.^[16]

Noun

1. A way of speaking, style;^[17] (in the plural) an inscription or caption.^[17]

Word family

• desdizer
• condizer
• contradizer
• antedizer
• dizível
• indizível
• dito

Related words

• bendizer
• maldizer
• dicção
• Latin dīcō
• Galician dicir
• Spanish decir

Usage notes

The set phrase querer dizer “to mean” is formed with querer.^[1] Houaiss's earliest form, a Latin charter's dissimus, is not a record of the Portuguese verb itself.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. dizer
3. ^ a b c d 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. dizer
4. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. dizer
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. dizer
6. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 2, 431
7. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. dire
9. ^ 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. dizer
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 1, 631
11. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. dizer
12. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. dizer
13. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. dizer
14. ^ 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. dizer
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. dizer
16. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 3240
17. ^ a b 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. dizer