ou

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin aut (“or”), written Old Galician-Portuguese ou in the oldest texts.^[2][3][4][1] The Latin diphthong /au/ became /ou/, pronounced [ow], as in touro;^[5] Williams dates the loss of its glide to about the 16th century and notes that [ow] survives only in the north of Portugal.^[5]

The same Latin word is Galician ou, Spanish o, Catalan o, French ou, Italian o and Romanian au.^[6][7]

De Vaan derives the Latin word from Proto-Italic *aute or *autī, with the cognates Oscan aut and Umbrian ote, and further from Proto-Indo-European *h₂eu (“away”), comparing Ancient Greek αὖ (aû, “again, on the contrary”).^[8] Wiktionary reconstructs *h₂ewti (“on the other hand”), from *h₂ew (“away”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Cunha dates the conjunction to the 13th century, and Houaiss takes the date from Cunha's slips of medieval Portuguese.^[3][2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria ask dizede-m'ora quen sodes ou dond “tell me now who you are or where from”, and the Crónica Troiana strings alternatives in matar ou ferir ou derribar “to kill or wound or throw down”.^[9]

Semantic evolution

The word has kept its Latin sense of alternative or exclusion throughout.^[3][2] Barbosa (1611) renders it with Latin vel, aut and sive, and Bluteau calls it a disjunctive and alternative conjunction.^[10][11] The modern dictionaries add the explanatory use “that is, in other words”, the threat or consequence (“hurry, or we'll be late”) and the approximate value between two numbers.^[2][12][13] In logic the masculine noun ou names the inclusive disjunction.^[1] Macanese has the descendant ó.^[1]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, also spelt ó and o.^[2][3]
• 13th century, second half – ou in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[9]
• 14th century – the spelling ob.^[2]
• c. 1400 – ou in a fragment of the Flos Sanctorum kept in Santiago de Compostela (witness 1380–1425).^[14]
• 15th century – the spelling hou.^[2]
• 16th century – the diphthong begins to be pronounced [o], according to Williams.^[5]
• 1611 – Barbosa glosses Ou with Latin vel, aut and sive.^[10]
• 1712 – Bluteau defines ou as a disjunctive and alternative conjunction.^[11]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. or: links words or clauses as alternatives, one of which excludes the other: Queres chá ou café?^[2][15][1]
2. Expresses doubt or hesitation: Não sei se parto hoje ou amanhã.^[2][15]
3. ou … ou: either … or, stressing each alternative.^[2][1]
4. That is, in other words (joining two names or descriptions of the same thing): um quilo, ou mil gramas.^[2][15][1]
5. Or else, otherwise (stating the consequence if something is not done): Despacha-te ou perdes o comboio.^[12][13]
6. Between two numbers, gives an approximate value: dois ou três dias.^[13]

Noun

1. (logic) The inclusive disjunction, the connective that is true when at least one of its terms is true.^[1][13]

Related words

• Latin aut
• Galician ou
• Spanish o

Usage notes

e/ou “and/or” marks an inclusive alternative.^[1] Viterbo's Elucidário records an old ou meaning “to the” (the same as ao) in a document of 1273, and one meaning “where” in a document of 1505;^[16][9] Lapa's glossary of the satirical cantigas also has ou = ao.^[16][9] In Trás-os-Montes ou is a dialect form of the pronoun eu “I”, and in Portugal ou! is a call to stop oxen or cows.^[17][18]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. ou
3. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. ou
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. ou
5. ^ a b c Williams, Edwin B. (1938), From Latin to Portuguese: Historical Phonology and Morphology of the Portuguese Language, Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, p. § 33
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 810
7. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. aut
8. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
9. ^ 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. ou
10. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. ou
11. ^ 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. ou
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. ou
13. ^ 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. ou
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. ou
15. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. ou
16. ^ a b Viterbo, Joaquim de Santa Rosa de (1798–1799), Elucidario das palavras, termos e frases que em Portugal antiguamente se usárão, 2 vols., Lisboa: Simão Thaddeo Ferreira, p. 2, 190
17. ^ Instituto da Lingua Galega, Tesouro do léxico patrimonial galego e portugués (TLPGP), Santiago de Compostela: Universidade de Santiago de Compostela, https://ilg.usc.gal/tesouro, p. s.v. ou
18. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. ou