riso

Forms

riso m (plural risos)^[1] Medieval texts write riso and rriso (13th century), rrisso (14th), risu, rjso and rryso (15th).^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin rīsus (“laughter”), written Old Galician-Portuguese riso in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] The Latin noun is formed from rīdeō (“to laugh”).^[4] The same Latin word is Galician riso, Italian riso, French ris, Catalan ris and Romanian râs.^[5][1] Spanish once had riso, which gave way to the derived Spanish risa.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Cantigas de Santa Maria promise senpre goyo e rriso, “always joy and laughter”, and speak of Paradise u Deus ten senpre goy' e riso; another cantiga urges someone to leave ris' e jogo, laughter and play.^[8] A cantiga by Pero Velho and Paai Soarez de Taveirós says the better-looking of two ladies can be told by her speech and her laugh (no falar e no rriso).^[8]

Semantic evolution

In the Crónica Geral the phrase meter a riso means to make a mockery of something.^[8] Barbosa (1611) has cousa de riso “a ridiculous thing”, and Bluteau (1712) describes laughter as the outward sign of inner joy.^[9][10] Today the word means laughter, joy, and mockery or scorn, and also something laughable.^[2][11][12] Set phrases include riso amarelo, a forced, embarrassed laugh, and riso sardônico, the spasm of the facial muscles or a sarcastic grin.^[13][11]

Timeline

• 13th century – riso and rriso in the Cantigas de Santa Maria.^[8][3]
• 1556 – ryzo in a private letter.^[14]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses Riso with Latin risus.^[15]
• 1611 – Barbosa has cousa de riso.^[9]
• 1712 – Bluteau writes a long article on laughter.^[10]

Meanings

Noun

1. laughter, a laugh; the act or manner of laughing.^[2][11][1]
2. Joy, merriment, contentment.^[2][11]
3. Mockery, scorn (escárnio).^[2][12]
4. A laughable or ridiculous thing.^[11][16]

Related words

• rir
• risada
• risonho
• sorriso
• Latin rīsus
• Spanish risa

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. riso
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. rir
4. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. s.v. risus
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. risus
7. ^ Real Academia Española; Asociación de Academias de la Lengua Española (2014–), Diccionario de la lengua española, 23rd ed., online version 23.8, https://dle.rae.es, p. s.v. risa
8. ^ 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. riso
9. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. riso
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. riso
11. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. riso
12. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. riso
13. ^ 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. riso
14. ^ 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. riso
15. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. riso
16. ^ 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. riso