nem

Forms

nem (invariable).^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote nen and ne, and nẽ with the nasal tilde.^[2][3] Houaiss's spelling of the 14th century is already nem.^[4][3][2] Private letters of the 16th century still write nẽ.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nec (“and not, nor”), written Old Galician-Portuguese nen and Old Galician-Portuguese ne in the oldest texts.^[4][3][6][1] Houaiss explains the form by the loss of the final /k/ and, probably, the influence of the nasal consonant at the start of the word;^[6] Nascentes likewise has the nasality of the initial /n/ carried over to the end once the ⟨c⟩ had fallen.^[4][6] His fuller dictionary records two older views: Meyer-Lübke put the nasal of Old Spanish nen down to the influence of non, while Said Ali saw the final ⟨m⟩ as an effect of the initial ⟨n⟩.^[7]

The same Latin word is Galician nin, Asturian nin, Spanish ni, Catalan ni, French ni, Italian né and Romanian nici.^[8][1][9]

The Latin word is a shortened form of neque, used at first before consonants.^[1][10] It is built on the Indo-European sentence negation Proto-Indo-European *ne.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the word to 1041 on the authority of Machado, but Cunha puts the first record in the 13th century.^[4][3] Nascentes quotes nen prestameyro nem maiordomo “neither benefice-holder nor steward” from a text of 1208 printed in the Leges.^[7] In the cantigas of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda nen means “and not, nor”, usually after another negative word: non catedes o desamor nen o pesar “do not regard the unkindness nor the grief” (Johan Soairez Somesso), nunca desejei nen desejarei “I never desired nor will desire” (Vasco Praga de Sandin).^[2] Carolina Michaëlis's glossary notes that it can also follow a clause that is negative only in its sense, and that it sometimes has the value of “or”.^[2]

Semantic evolution

The uses of the cantigas have lasted: Houaiss's dictionary still sets out nem as a conjunction “and not, and without”, as an alternative “or” in negative sentences, and as an adverb “not” and “not even”.^[4][2] Barbosa's dictionary of 1611 already lists nem mais, nem menos, and Bluteau in 1712 calls the word a negative particle and conjunction, the equivalent of Latin nec or neque.^[11][12] Vieira in 1871 defines it as a disjunctive and negative particle.^[13]

Newer constructions are nem que “even if” and que nem “like, just as”.^[4][14] In Brazil nem is also a colloquial interjection, “nah, no”; the Wikcionário labels this use as from Minas Gerais.^[1][15] In Rio Grande do Sul Schlee records nem que in the sense “even though, never”.^[16]

Timeline

• 1041 – Houaiss's first date, taken from Machado.^[4]
• 1208 – nen … nem in a text of the Leges quoted by Nascentes.^[7]
• 13th century – nen in the cantigas of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda and in the cantigas d'amigo, the century to which Cunha dates the first record.^[2][3]
• c. 1400 – first in the CTA corpus, in a fragment of the Flos Sanctorum (witness 1380–1425).^[17]
• 1503 – nẽ in a private letter.^[5]
• 1611 – Barbosa lists nem mais, nem menos.^[11]
• 1712 – Bluteau calls nem a negative particle and conjunction.^[12]
• 1871 – Vieira defines it as a disjunctive and negative particle.^[13]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. nor, and not: links negative words or clauses: Não telefonou nem escreveu.^[4][18][1]
2. nem … nem: neither … nor: Não gosto nem de chá nem de café.^[4][19][1]
3. And without, after sem: sem casa nem emprego.^[4][20]
4. Or, in a negative sentence.^[4][20][21]
5. nem que: even if, even though.^[4][14]
6. que nem: like, just as.^[4][22]

Adverb

1. Not, in an emphatic negation: Nem quero saber.^[4][18][1]
2. Not even, at least: Não disse nem uma palavra.^[4][19][1]
3. nem mais nem menos: exactly; no less than.^[19][14]

Interjection

1. (Brazil, colloquial) Nah, no.^[1][15]

Related words

• nenhum
• Latin nec
• Galician nin
• Spanish ni

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 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. nen
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. nem
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nem
5. ^ 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. nem
6. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. nem
7. ^ a b c Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 352
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5868
9. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. nec
10. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. ni
11. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nem
12. ^ a b Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. nem
13. ^ 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. 4, 424
14. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. nem
15. ^ a b Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. nem
16. ^ Schlee, Aldyr Garcia (2019), Dicionário da Cultura Pampeana Sul-Rio-Grandense, 2 vols., Pelotas: Fructos do Paiz, p. s.v. nem
17. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. nem
18. ^ 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. nem
19. ^ 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. nem
20. ^ a b Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. nem
21. ^ 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. nem
22. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6473