sofrer

Forms

sofrer (first-person singular present sofro, first-person singular preterite sofri, past participle sofrido)^[1] The medieval texts write sofrer, soffrer and suffrer.^[2][3] Feijó recommended the spelling soffrer in 1734 because of Latin sufferre, and Silva Bastos in 1912 still gives it beside sofrer.^[4][5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin sufferō (“to bear, endure”), written Old Galician-Portuguese sofrer and Old Galician-Portuguese soffrer in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] The irregular classical infinitive was remade in Vulgar Latin with the regular ending of the third conjugation, which the Portuguese infinitive continues.^[2][3][6][1]

The cognates are Spanish sufrir, Galician sufrir, Catalan sofrir, French souffrir and Italian soffrire.^[1] Corominas notes that all of them except Portuguese go back to a form with the ending of the fourth conjugation, and that the Portuguese form also existed in Old Leonese.^[7][8]

The Latin verb is made of sub- (“under”) and ferō (“to carry, bear”); the second part goes back to Proto-Indo-European *bʰer- (“to carry”).^[8][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the cantigas of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda the verb means “to bear, endure, put up with”.^[9] João Baveca writes of knowing how to bear what God gives (de saber bem, pois lho Deus dá, sofrer), and Fernão Gonçalves de Seabra is ready to endure any other harm (quero-lh'eu já sofrer tod'outro mal).^[10]

Semantic evolution

The medieval verb also had the concrete sense “to hold up, support”: the Crónica Troiana asks who holds up the world (o mundo hu esta et queno sofre), and reflexively se sofrer meant “to lean on”.^[9] The sense “to permit, tolerate” lived on: Bluteau translates a cousa não sofre dilação “the matter admits no delay”.^[11]

The modern senses centre on suffering pain, physical or moral, and on undergoing something unwelcome, such as a blow, a loss or a change.^[2][12] Sofrer de is “to suffer from” an illness.^[2][1]

Timeline

• 13th century – sofrer, soffrer and suffrer in the cantigas; the derivatives sofredor and the participle sofrudo are recorded in the same century.^[2][3][9]
• 14th century – soffrença “suffering” and sofrymẽto.^[3]
• c. 1430 – first occurrence in the CTA corpus, in the Horto do Esposo.^[13]
• 1569 – Cardoso glosses sofrer with Latin fero and tolero.^[14]
• 1611 – Barbosa adds sofrer com paciencia.^[15]
• 1734 – Feijó prefers the spelling soffrer.^[4]

Meanings

Verb

1. (intransitive) To suffer, feel physical or moral pain.^[2][12][1]
2. (transitive) To undergo, be the object of something unpleasant: sofrer um acidente.^[2][12][1]
3. (with de) To suffer from an illness: sofrer de asma.^[2][12]
4. (transitive) To endure, bear with patience; to tolerate, allow.^[2][12]
5. (transitive) To undergo a change: O plano sofreu alterações.^[2][12]
6. (intransitive) To be harmed, decline.^[2]

Word family

• sofredor
• sofrido
• sofrimento
• sofrível
• insofrido

Related words

• Latin sufferō
• Spanish sufrir

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. sofrer
3. ^ a b c d e Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. sofrer
4. ^ a b Feijó, João de Morais Madureira (1734), Orthographia, ou Arte de escrever, e pronunciar com acerto a lingua portugueza, Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sofrer
5. ^ Silva Bastos, José Timóteo da (1912), Diccionario etymologico, prosodico e orthographico da lingua portugueza, Lisboa: Parceria António Maria Pereira, p. s.v. sofrer
6. ^ Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. sofrer
7. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 333
8. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. souffrir
9. ^ a b c 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. sofrer
10. ^ Lopes, Graça Videira; Ferreira, Manuel Pedro et al. (2011–), Cantigas Medievais Galego-Portuguesas [online database], Lisboa: Instituto de Estudos Medievais, FCSH/NOVA, https://cantigas.fcsh.unl.pt, p. s.v. sofrer
11. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sofrer
12. ^ a b c d e f 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. sofrer
13. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. sofrer
14. ^ Cardoso, Jerónimo (1569–1570), Dictionarium ex lusitanico in latinum sermonem, Lisboa: João Álvares (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sofrer
15. ^ Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. sofrer