jazer

Forms

jazer (first-person singular present jazo, first-person singular preterite jazi, past participle jazido)^[1] Houaiss's historical forms include jaz (1255), jazer, iouuesse, jouvess and the future jarei in the 13th century, and jasco and iazca in the 14th.^[2] The cantigas d'amigo have the old preterite jouve “I lay”, and the Crónica Troiana the futures jarey and jaras.^[3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin iaceō (“to lie, be lying down”), with the same form Old Galician-Portuguese jazer in the oldest texts.^[2][4][1][5]

The same Latin verb is Romanian zăcea, Italian giacere, French gésir, Occitan jazer, Catalan jaure and Spanish yacer.^[6][1] Corominas notes that the Spanish verb has been little used since the 15th century.^[7]

The Latin verb is the stative counterpart of iaciō (“to throw”), so that it first meant “to be thrown”, then “to lie”.^[1][8] De Vaan lists it among the derivatives of that verb.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

A Latin charter of 907 already uses the verb of a place: uilla... que iace inter ambas labrugias “a farm that lies between the two Labrugias”.^[3] Houaiss's first Portuguese record is the form jaz in 1255.^[2] In the cantigas the verb means to lie down or be lying, to stay or be, to be situated, to be buried and to suit someone, as in esta morte ben me jaz “this death suits me well”.^[10][3] Universo Cantigas adds “to have sexual relations” and “to exist”.^[11]

Semantic evolution

Houaiss dates the sense “to be buried” to the 15th century.^[2] It lives on in epitaphs: aqui jaz “here lies”.^[1][12] Folqman in 1755 glosses the verb only for lying in the grave.^[13] The derivative jazigo “grave” is recorded from the 15th century, and jazida, first jazeda “the act of lying”, from the 14th; its mining sense “deposit” belongs to the 18th and 19th centuries.^[14][15]

Wiktionary labels the verb archaic.^[1] In law an estate jaz when it has not yet been divided among the heirs.^[16][17] Silva Bastos records the reflexive jazer-se “to stay” on São Miguel in the Azores.^[18]

Timeline

• 907 – a Latin charter uses iace “lies” of a farm.^[3]
• 1255 – first Portuguese record, the form jaz.^[2]
• 13th century – the infinitive jazer and the old preterite forms iouuesse and jouvess.^[2]
• 14th century – the derivative jazeda, later jazida.^[15][4]
• 15th century – the sense “to be buried”, and the derivative jazigo.^[2][14]
• c. 1430 – jazer in the Horto do Esposo (witness of 1390–1437).^[19]
• 1734 – Feijó explains it as “to be lying down, to be buried”.^[20]

Meanings

Verb

1. To lie stretched out and still, as in a bed or on the ground.^[2][16][1]
2. To be dead or lie as if dead; to lie prostrate.^[2][21]
3. To be buried: aqui jaz.^[2][12]
4. (figurative) To be dead and gone, to exist no more.^[2]
5. To be situated, to lie in a place.^[2][16]
6. To rest on, to be founded on something.^[2][17]
7. To remain in a state; to lie quiet and still.^[2][12]
8. (law) Of an inheritance, to remain undivided.^[16][17]

Noun

1. (masculine) The same as jazida: the place or position of one lying down.^[17][21]

Word family

• jazida
• jazigo
• jazedor

Related words

• jacente
• subjacente
• Latin iaceō
• Spanish yacer

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jazer
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. jazer
4. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. jazer
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. jazer
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 4562
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. yacer
8. ^ Lewis, Charlton T.; Short, Charles (1879), A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press, p. s.v. jaceo
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. ^ Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. jazer
11. ^ 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. jazer
12. ^ a b c 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. jazer
13. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. jazer
14. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jazigo
15. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. jazida
16. ^ a b c d 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. jazer
17. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. jazer
18. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. jazer
19. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. jazer
20. ^ 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. jazer
21. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 5468