pois

Forms

pois (not comparable)^[1] Medieval texts write pois and poys.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin post (“behind, after”), written Old Galician-Portuguese pois and Old Galician-Portuguese poys in the oldest texts, but the details are disputed.^[2][3][1] Machado, Nascentes and Cunha derive it from the Latin word, and all of them note that it does not explain the /i/.^[2][4] Cunha also suggests a Latin *posti, from *postius, a shortening of postea (“afterwards”).^[3] Carolina Michaëlis likewise thought of a popular Latin adverb of this kind.^[5] Nascentes in 1955 took it from the Latin adverb meaning “afterwards” itself, and Wiktionary from a Vulgar Latin *pos.^[6][1] The French cognate is explained in the same way, from the Vulgar Latin form, perhaps shaped after melius (“better”).^[7]

The same Latin word is Galician pois, Spanish pues, French puis, Italian poi and Romanian apoi, the last with ad before it.^[1][8] Corominas notes that medieval Portuguese also had Old Galician-Portuguese pos, almost only as a temporal preposition.^[9]

The Latin word continues Old Latin poste, from *posti, from Proto-Indo-European *pósti.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates it to the 13th century from Cunha's slips.^[2] Lorenzo's chronology quotes the Cantigas de Santa Maria, where it is still temporal: levoo a ssa casa, pois se foron as gentes “he took him to his house, after the people had left”.^[5] The cantigas also use it as a causal conjunction, “because, since”, and pois que with the future subjunctive for “as soon as”.^[5][10]

Semantic evolution

Medieval Portuguese used the word as an adverb, “then, afterwards”, and as a conjunction of time, cause and consequence.^[10][5] The temporal sense gave way to depois, and the modern word is a conjunction of cause (“because”) and conclusion (“therefore”), and a discourse particle.^[2][11] Cardoso in 1569 still translates pois or pois que with Latin quando, but Pereira in 1697 gives ergo.^[12][13] Bluteau calls it a particle used in many ways and illustrates the causal and concessive uses.^[14] In European Portuguese it is used alone as an answer of assent, “yes, quite”.^[2][15]

Timeline

• 13th century – first records, as pois and poys.^[2]
• 13th century – pois se foron as gentes in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[5]
• 1380–1425 – pois in the Santiago fragment of the Flos Sanctorum.^[16]
• 1569 – Cardoso translates pois and pois que with Latin quando.^[12]
• 1697 – Pereira translates it with Latin ergo.^[13]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau calls it a particle of many uses.^[14]

Meanings

Conjunction

1. because, since, introducing an explanation: Leva o guarda-chuva, pois vai chover.^[2][17][1]
2. therefore, so, introducing a conclusion, usually after the verb: Está cansado e não pode, pois, continuar.^[2][11]
3. In that case, then: Não gostas? Pois não comas.^[2][15][1]
4. But, however, marking a contrast with what was said: Tu estás calmo? Pois eu estou nervoso.^[2][11]

Adverb

1. (Portugal) Yes, of course, as a reply of assent.^[2][15][1]
2. Reinforcing a question or a doubt: pois não?^[2][18]

Related words

• depois
• após
• Latin post
• Spanish pues
• French puis

Usage notes

Pois é expresses confirmation or resignation, and pois claro agreement.^[17][15] In Brazil pois não is the formula of a shop assistant or clerk offering help, and also means “certainly”.^[17][19]

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 l m Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pois
3. ^ a b Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. pois
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pois
5. ^ a b c d e 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. pois
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 406
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. puis
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 6684
9. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 4, 683
10. ^ a b 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. pois
11. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. pois
12. ^ a b Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pois
13. ^ a b Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. pois
14. ^ 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. pois
15. ^ a b c d Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7288
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. pois
17. ^ a b c Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. pois
18. ^ 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. pois
19. ^ 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. pois