nosso

Forms

nosso (feminine nossa, masculine plural nossos, feminine plural nossas)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese wrote nosso and nostro (13th century) and noso (14th century); Houaiss has nossu in 1192.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin noster (“our”), written Old Galician-Portuguese nosso and Old Galician-Portuguese nostro in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Houaiss, following Edwin Williams, starts from Vulgar Latin *nossus, which would also explain Old Spanish nuesso, and puts the open /ɔ/ down to the influence of the Latin accusative.^[2] The change of /str/ to /ss/ is disputed: Lorenzo rejects that form and explains the word by a weakening of the cluster, while Leite de Vasconcelos proposed an assimilation through an intermediate with /ts/.^[4][5] Sousa da Silveira admitted that the change was hard to explain, and the form ⟨nostro⟩ lasted in the church phrase ⟨Nostro Senhor⟩.^[5]

The same Latin word is Spanish nuestro, Catalan nostre, French notre, Italian nostro and Romanian nostru.^[6][1]

The Latin word is formed from nōs (“we”) with a suffix ⟨*-tero⟩ that also forms Ancient Greek ἡμέτερος (hēméteros, “our”).^[7] The DHLF notes that this suffix marked the opposition of two notions.^[8] Wiktionary reconstructs Proto-Italic *nosteros.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date, 1192, with the spelling nossu, comes from Machado's files.^[2] In the 13th century the Cantigas de Santa Maria have nossa ffe “our faith”, and the Crónica Troiana nunca nos faran noio ẽna nossa terra “they will never trouble us in our land”.^[4] Nascentes quotes a 14th-century law with com nossos filhos e com nossas filhas “with our sons and with our daughters”.^[5]

Semantic evolution

The cantigas have set phrases such as irse nossa via “to go one's way” and a nosso sén “in our own way”.^[9] Bluteau records he nosso “he is from our country”.^[10] Morais (1789) defines it as a possessive common to all of whom one speaks, as in nosso pai Adão “the father of us all”.^[11]

Modern Portuguese also uses it for what is typical of one's country, for a person held dear, and as a noun: o nosso “what is ours” and os nossos “our family, friends or compatriots”.^[2][12]

Timeline

• 1192 – Houaiss's first date, spelt nossu, from Machado.^[2]
• 13th century – nosso and nostro.^[2][3]
• 13th century, second half – nossa ffe in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[4]
• 14th century – the spelling noso.^[2]
• c. 1350 – the Trasladação de S. Nicolau (witness 1301–1400) is the first CTA text with the word.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau records he nosso.^[10]
• 1789 – Morais's dictionary.^[11]

Meanings

Determiner

1. our: belonging to or connected with us: A nossa casa fica perto do rio.^[2][1]
2. Made by or coming from us.^[2]
3. Of our country or people, or typical of it: a nossa cozinha.^[2][12]
4. Held dear by us: o nosso velho professor.^[2]
5. That we use or that falls to us.^[2]

Pronoun

1. ours.^[1]
2. (as a noun) o nosso “what is ours”;^[2][14][12] os nossos “our family, friends or compatriots”.^[2][14][12]

Related words

• nós
• vosso
• Latin noster
• Spanish nuestro

Usage notes

The stressed vowel is open, /ˈnɔ.su/.^[1] Nos nossos dias means “nowadays”.^[2]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. nosso
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. nosso
4. ^ 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. nosso
5. ^ 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. 357
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 5961
7. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. noster
8. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. notre
9. ^ 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. nosso
10. ^ 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. nosso
11. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1789), Diccionario da lingua portugueza composto pelo padre D. Rafael Bluteau, reformado, e accrescentado, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 119
12. ^ a b c d 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. nosso
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. nosso
14. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 6557