língua

Forms

língua f (plural línguas)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese had lingua beside lengua and lenga.^[2][3] Lingoa is recorded from the 15th century and heads the word in Cardoso (1569) and Barbosa (1611).^{[2][4][3][5][6]}

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin lingua (“tongue; language”), written Old Galician-Portuguese lingua and Old Galician-Portuguese lengua in the 13th century.^[2][4][1][3] Houaiss calls its sound shape semi-learned and notes that it lived beside the old variants with /e/.^[2] Nascentes and the DCECH explain the /i/ by metaphony, a treatment that the DCECH finds also in western and central Asturian.^[2][7][8]

The same Latin word is Galician lingua, Spanish lengua, Catalan llengua, Occitan lenga, French langue, Italian lingua and Romanian limbă.^[9][1]

The older Latin form was dingua.^[1] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *dn̥χ(u)wā- and Proto-Indo-European *dnǵʰ-uh₂ (“tongue”), and holds that the l- was taken from lingō (“to lick”).^[10] Wiktionary gives the root as Proto-Indo-European *dn̥ǵʰwéh₂s and names the cognates German Zunge and English tongue.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1152, from Machado's records.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria use it for the organ, tallaron-ll'a lingua “they cut out his tongue”, and for evil speech, lenguas maas mentireiras “wicked lying tongues”.^[11][3]

Semantic evolution

The sense “language” follows: a Galician history has da lengoa a que dizemos latyna “of the language that we call Latin”, and a Portuguese text of 1380 speaks of a man dessa língua e naçam “of that language and nation”.^[3] Houaiss dates the sense “the national language” and the sense “interpreter” to the 15th century.^[2] In the sense “interpreter” the word is now archaic.^[2][1][12]

Barbosa (1611) has lingoa de vaca, a plant, and linguarás “talkative”.^[6] Things shaped like a tongue are línguas too, as in línguas de fogo “tongues of flame”, and a person who gossips is a língua.^[2] In the 20th century linguists used língua for Saussure's langue, the language system as opposed to speech.^[2]

The Portuguese-based creoles have lingua in Kabuverdianu and Guinea-Bissau and lunga in Angolar and Annobonese.^[1]

Timeline

• 1152 – Houaiss's first date, from Machado's records.^[2]
• 13th century – lingua and lengua in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[11][3]
• 1380 – língua “language” in a Portuguese text.^[3]
• c. 1430 – lingua and lingoa in the Horto do Esposo.^[13][14]
• 15th century – the senses “national language” and “interpreter”.^[2]
• 1569 – Cardoso heads the word Lingoa.^[5]
• 1712 – Bluteau heads it lingua, ou lingoa.^[15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (anatomy) The tongue.^[2][12][1]
2. Something shaped like a tongue, such as a flame.^[2]
3. A language: the system of words and rules a community uses to communicate; an idioma: fala três línguas.^[2][1]
4. (linguistics) The language system, as opposed to speech (fala).^[2]
5. The way of speaking of a group or a writer; linguagem.^[2]
6. (figurative) A sharp or slanderous way of talking about others.^[2]
7. (archaic, masculine or feminine) An interpreter.^[2][12][1]
8. (masculine or feminine) A person who talks too much; a gossip.^[2]

Word family

• lingueta
• linguajar
• linguaz

Related words

• bilíngue
• linguagem
• linguística
• linguístico
• multilíngue
• lingual
• linguista
• Latin lingua
• Spanish lengua

Usage notes

In the plural, línguas are foreign languages: professor de línguas.^[2]

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 t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. língua
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. lengua
4. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. língua
5. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lingoa
6. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lingoa
7. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. língua
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 3, 629
9. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. lingua
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. lingua
11. ^ a b 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. lingua
12. ^ 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. língua
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. lingua
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. lingoa
15. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. lingua