guai

Etymology

It is borrowed from Gothic 𐍅𐌰𐌹 (wai, “woe!”) in the view of Wiktionary, Nascentes, Aurélio, the DLP and Porto Editora.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Nascentes's fuller dictionary cites Meyer-Lübke's REW and Said Ali, who rejects a Latin origin, for the Gothic etymology, and holds that a Germanic influence on the initial ⟨gu⟩ cannot be denied.^[6] João Ribeiro also pointed to Celtic.^[6]

Houaiss instead derives it from Latin vae (“woe!, alas!”), an interjection of suffering, and lists as parallels Latvian vai, Romanian vai, Italian guai and Spanish guay beside the Gothic word.^[7] Figueiredo, Aulete and DELPo also compare the Latin word.^[8][9][10]

The Gothic interjection continues Proto-Germanic *wai, whence also Old English wā, Old High German wē and Old Norse vei.^[11] Wiktionary takes the Germanic and the Latin words from Proto-Indo-European *wai.^[1] De Vaan thinks they are probably independent imitations of a cry, though a common inheritance cannot be excluded, and Orel notes similar interjections in many languages, Indo-European and not.^[12][13]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first record, spelt guay, is from texts of 1502 to about 1536 that he cites as GVic.^[7] There it expresses pity, compassion or another moral pain, construed with de: guai de ti “woe to you”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

A quotation from an edition of 1619 in Aulete shows the construction with de: guai dos que vivem sem elas “woe to those who live without them”, said of persecutions that try the good.^[9] The word was also used as a noun, “a lament”, and Aurélio quotes it in a poem by Martins Fontes, em convulsivo guai “in a convulsive wail”.^[7][3] Vieira records beside it the noun guaia or guaya “sobs, weeping, a mournful song”.^[14] The dictionaries from Figueiredo on label it archaic, an old equivalent of ai.^[8][7][15]

Timeline

• 1502–c. 1536 – first record, spelt guay.^[7]
• 1619 – guai dos que vivem sem elas in a life of an archbishop by Frei Luís de Sousa.^[9]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines guai as an expression of grief and pity.^[14]
• 1899 – Figueiredo marks it as old, the same as ai.^[8]

Meanings

Interjection

1. (archaic) Expresses grief, pity or another moral pain; woe, alas, like ai: Guai de nós, se ninguém nos ouvir!^[7][3][16]

Noun

1. (archaic) A lament, a cry of grief.^[7][3]

Related words

• ai
• Latin vae
• Italian guai
• Spanish guay

Usage notes

Wikcionário also records guai as São Paulo slang for a troublesome boy.^[17]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. guai
3. ^ a b c d Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. guai
4. ^ 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. guai
5. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 4803
6. ^ 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. 251
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. guai
8. ^ a b c Figueiredo, Cândido de (1899), Novo diccionário da língua portuguesa, 1st ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Tavares Cardoso & Irmão, p. s.v. guai
9. ^ 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. guai
10. ^ NEHiLP – Núcleo de Apoio à Pesquisa em Etimologia e História da Língua Portuguesa, Universidade de São Paulo, DELPo: Dicionário Etimológico da Língua Portuguesa (online database), p. s.v. guai
11. ^ Kroonen, Guus (2013), Etymological Dictionary of Proto-Germanic, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 11, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 566
12. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
13. ^ Orel, Vladimir (2003), A Handbook of Germanic Etymology, Leiden / Boston: Brill, p. 440
14. ^ a b Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 3, 931
15. ^ 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. guai
16. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. guai
17. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. guai