já

Forms

já (not comparable)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote ia and, in the 14th century, also ya.^[2][3] A letter of 1500 has jaa.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iam (“now, already”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ia in the oldest texts.^[2][3][5][1]

The same Latin word is Galician xa, Spanish ya, Catalan ja and Italian già, and survives in French déjà.^[6][7][1]

The OLD sees the Latin adverb as formed on the stem of the pronoun is, like tam and quam.^[8] De Vaan takes it for an old accusative feminine that meant “as far as this is concerned” and so “now”, and sets it under Proto-Indo-European *h₁i- (“this”).^[9] Wiktionary instead derives it from *Hyā́m, the accusative feminine of the relative *Hyós (“who, which”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology starts with Galician charters: one of about 1253–1254 says andaron ia muyto en juyzo “they had already gone a long way in the lawsuit”, and one of 1257 speaks of nos alcaydes ia ditos “the aforesaid alcaides”.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Medieval texts have the word in compounds and phrases that have since gone: ia quanto “a little, somewhat” in the Galician Crónica General, já quando “at some time” and já quê “a little” in the cantigas d'amigo, and in a satirical cantiga en neun tempo já “never”.^[10] Morais in 1813 lists já mais “never”, já with a past participle in the sense “once, formerly”, and já que “as soon as”.^[11] Folqman in 1755 already has jà que “since”, the sense the conjunction has today.^[12][2] Houaiss lists the uses of the modern adverb, from “at once” and “now” to “before, already” and “in the past”, and the repeated conjunction já… já… “now… now”.^[2]

The word passed into the Portuguese-based creoles: dja in Kabuverdianu and Guinea-Bissau Creole, za in Sãotomense and jah in Kristang.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 1253–1254 – ia in a Galician charter; again in 1257.^[10]
• 13th century – first record, according to Houaiss and Cunha.^[2][3]
• 14th century – the spelling ya.^[2][3]
• 1500 – the spelling jaa in a private letter.^[4]
• 1734 – Feijó lists já as an adverb of time.^[13]
• 1755 – Folqman records jà que “since”.^[12]
• 1813 – Morais records já mais “never” and já que.^[11]

Meanings

Adverb

1. At once, immediately (imediatamente): Vem cá já!^[2][14][1]
2. now, at this moment: Já se ouve a música.^[2][15][1]
3. Soon, in a moment: Espera, que eu volto já.^[2][1]
4. already, before the time spoken of; beforehand: O comboio já tinha partido.^[2][14][1]
5. Once, in the past: Esta rua já foi muito sossegada.^[2][15]
6. Even, at least, marking a relative degree: Se acabarmos metade, já é bom.^[2][16]
7. (with a negative) Any more, any longer: Já não moro ali.^[2][1]

Conjunction

1. (repeated) Now… now; at one time… at another: já ri, já chora.^[2][17]

Related words

• jamais
• Latin iam
• Spanish ya

Usage notes

Já que means “since, given that”;^[2][17] já, já “right away”;^[2][17] desde já “from now on”;^[2][17] para já “for now”, “to be done at once”; and in Portugal já agora “while we're at it, in that case”.^[2][17] North-eastern Brazil has de já hoje “earlier today”.^[2]

Michaelis records a separate noun já, a metal bell used in Afro-Brazilian cults when food is offered to an orixá.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l 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 r s Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. já
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. já
4. ^ a b CLUL (ed.) (2014), P.S. Post Scriptum: Arquivo Digital de Escrita Quotidiana em Portugal e Espanha na Época Moderna, Lisboa: Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, http://ps.clul.ul.pt, p. s.v. já
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. já
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4572
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. jam
8. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. iam
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ a b c 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. ja
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 185
12. ^ a b Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. já
13. ^ Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. já
14. ^ a b 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. já
15. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. já
16. ^ 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. já
17. ^ a b c d e Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. já