pronome

Forms

pronome m (plural pronomes)^[1]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin prōnōmen (“pronoun”), formed prō (“instead of”) and nōmen (“name; noun”).^[2][3][1][4] Nascentes calls it a semi-learned word.^[5] The Latin grammatical term, recorded from Varro on, is a calque of Ancient Greek ἀντωνυμία (antōnumía), from ἀντί (antí, “instead of”) and ὄνομα (ónoma, “name”).^[1][2][6] The Latin word for “name” itself took the sense “noun” from the Greek word.^[1]

The same Latin word is Romanian pronume.^[1] This word and prenome are both compounds of the Latin word for “name”, with different prefixes.^[2][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss and Wikcionário date the first record to 1540, and Cunha dates the word to the 16th century.^[2][8][3] In Varro's Latin the word named words such as hic and haec, and more widely any word used in place of a noun.^[9]

Semantic evolution

Morais (1813) still gave a narrow definition, built on the persons of speech: the pronoun picks out the one who speaks or is spoken to.^[10] Vieira (1871–1874) defines it as a word put in place of a noun, and holds that only the personal and demonstrative pronouns are true pronouns.^[11] The original Caldas Aulete goes further, calling the demonstratives, interrogatives and possessives adjectives, since a noun can always be added to them.^[12] Modern grammar keeps the broader class, divided into personal, possessive, demonstrative, relative, indefinite and other pronouns, and generative grammar uses the word for a noun phrase that takes its reference from the context.^[2][13] The adjective pronominal is recorded from 1789, borrowed from Late Latin prōnōminālis.^[14][1]

Timeline

• 1540 – first record, according to Houaiss.^[2]
• 1789 – first record of pronominal.^[14]
• 1813 – Morais defines the pronoun by the persons of speech.^[10]
• 1871–1874 – Vieira defines it as a word used in place of a noun.^[11]
• 20th century – first record of pronominado “having a pronoun”, of a verb.^[3][15]

Meanings

Noun

1. (grammar) A pronoun: a word that stands for a noun or noun phrase, or accompanies a noun, and refers to the persons of speech or to things already named: Em «ela chegou», ela é um pronome.^{[2][13][16][1]}
2. (generative grammar) A noun phrase with no reference of its own, which takes it from the situation or from another noun phrase.^[2]
3. (Brazil) An oblique personal pronoun.^[17]

Related words

• prenome
• nome
• pronominal
• Latin prōnōmen

Usage notes

Common set phrases are pronome pessoal, pronome demonstrativo, pronome possessivo, pronome relativo and pronome de tratamento, the last for words such as você and o senhor that address the second person in place of tu and vós.^[2][13] Priberam refers the reader to the similar-sounding prenome.^[18]

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pronome
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. pronome
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. prōnōmen
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. pronome
6. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
7. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. prenome
8. ^ Wikcionário (Portuguese Wiktionary), pt.wiktionary.org, p. s.v. pronome
9. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
10. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 514
11. ^ 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, 973
12. ^ 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. pronome
13. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. pronome
14. ^ a b Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pronominal
15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. pronominado
16. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 7520
17. ^ 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. pronome
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. pronome