sob

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sub (“under”), written Old Galician-Portuguese so and Old Galician-Portuguese su in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] The final ⟨b⟩ was restored later after the Latin spelling: Nascentes calls the modern form a learned remaking of the archaic one, which survives in socapa and socolor.^[4][5] The REW likewise sets the old Portuguese form without ⟨b⟩ against the modern one.^[6]

The same Latin word is the archaic Spanish so and the old Galician so.^[6][7][8]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *supo, from Proto-Indo-European *upo (“up, from below”), the source also of Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó, “under”) and Gothic 𐌿𐍆 (uf, “under”).^[9][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss dates the preposition to the 13th century.^[2] The Cantigas de Santa Maria use so for “under”: so o chapitel “under the canopy”, poi-la levou sso ssa capa “for he carried her under his cloak”, and de so “from under”.^[10] The cantigas d'amigo have it too, and the Miragres de Santiago write both so and su.^[10]

Semantic evolution

Notarial documents of the 14th century used the preposition above all in the formula so pena de “under penalty of”, as in Noia in 1332 and 1381.^[10] Bluteau still felt sob to be a Latin word used in decrees and deeds, either standing alone (sob meu sello “under my seal”) or joined to the next word, as in sobcolor and sobpena.^[11] Vieira quotes sob certa pena from the Ordenações Afonsinas.^[12]

Modern Portuguese uses it for position beneath something and for subordination, protection, cause and circumstance: sob as ordens de, sob a proteção de, sob medida.^[2][13]

Timeline

• 13th century – so, sso and su.^[2][3]
• 1332 – so a pena aquí contiúda in a notarial book of Noia.^[10]
• c. 1430 – sob in the Horto do Esposo.^[14]
• 1450–1516 – socolor “under the pretext of”, later also written sobcolor.^[15]
• 1712–1728 – Bluteau calls sob a Latin word of decrees and deeds.^[11]
• 1881 – first record of the verb sobpor “to place beneath”.^[3]

Meanings

Preposition

1. under, beneath; lower than something in space: O gato dorme sob a mesa.^[2][16][1]
2. Covered by; in the shelter or shade of: Descansámos sob uma oliveira.^[2][17]
3. Subject to an authority or command: sob as ordens do capitão.^[2][16]
4. In the time or under the rule of: sob o reinado de D. Dinis.^[13][18]
5. Under the protection of.^[2][17]
6. According to; from the point of view of: sob medida, sob este aspeto.^[2][19]
7. Under the effect or influence of; in a state of: sob anestesia, sob pressão.^[2][13]
8. Amid, accompanied by: sob aplausos.^[2]

Word family

• sobpor

Related words

• socapa
• socolor
• sub-
• Latin sub
• Spanish so

Usage notes

Sob pena de “under penalty of”, the old formula of the deeds, is still a fixed phrase.^[19][10] The opposite of sob is sobre.^[16]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f 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. sob
3. ^ a b c Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sob
4. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sob
5. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1955), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, vol. 1: Nomes comuns, Rio de Janeiro (1st ed. 1932, preface by W. Meyer-Lübke), p. 474
6. ^ a b Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter, p. 8344
7. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. so
8. ^ Estraviz, Isaac Alonso, Dicionário Estraviz, https://estraviz.org, p. s.v. so
9. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
10. ^ 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. so
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. sob
12. ^ Vieira, Frei Domingos (1871–1874), Grande Diccionario Portuguez ou Thesouro da lingua portugueza, 5 vols., Porto: Ernesto Chardron e Bartholomeu H. de Moraes, p. 5, 540
13. ^ a b c 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. sob
14. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. sob
15. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. socolor
16. ^ a b c 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. sob
17. ^ a b 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. sob
18. ^ Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. sob
19. ^ a b Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8553