tal

Forms

tal m or f (plural tais)^[1] Old Galician-Portuguese also had a form atal (1242–1252), with the plurals taes (13th century) and atales, taães, tááes and taaees (14th century); Houaiss also has tall (14th century).^[2][3] Feijó (1734) writes the plural táes.^[4]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin tālis (“such, of such a kind”), written Old Galician-Portuguese tal in the oldest texts.^[2][3][1] Beside it the old language had Old Galician-Portuguese atal, a form that did not survive.^[2][1][5]

The same Latin word is Galician tal, Spanish tal, Catalan tal, French tel and Italian tale.^[6][7][1] Spanish has it from its oldest texts, about 950.^[8][9]

The Latin word goes back to Proto-Italic *tālis and Proto-Indo-European *teh₂-li- (“such”), a form of the demonstrative stem Proto-Indo-European *to-; its cognates include τηλίκος (tēlíkos, “of such an age”).^[10][1][11] Wiktionary adds that the second part may come from *h₂el- (“to grow”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Houaiss's first date is 1162, from Machado's records, with atal in 1242–1252.^[2] Cunha has both forms from the 13th century.^[2][3] The cantigas of the Cancioneiro da Ajuda use tal as an adjective "such, like", before or after its noun, as a pronoun "such a thing, such a person", and as the correlative of qual.^[12] In the cantigas d'escarnho it can stand for "someone": Martin Soarez writes tal passa cabo d' el "someone passes by him".^[12]

Semantic evolution

The medieval language already had tal que "so that" and por tal que "on condition that", and in the cantigas d'amigo por tal que and en tal que "in order that".^[12] Barbosa (1611) records tal por tal "like for like", and Bluteau lists the proverbs Qual o Rey, tal a grey "like king, like people" and Quem faz mal, espere outro tal "he who does harm should expect the same".^[13][14] Folqman (1755) has de tal maneira, de tal sorte, que "in such a way that".^[15] The compound talvez meant "once, at some time" before it took its sense "perhaps".^[3] Cunha dates it to 1813.^[3]

Modern uses include tal como and tal qual "just like", que tal? "what do you think?", and the placeholder after a noun (na página tal). In Brazil ser o tal is "to be the best", and in Portugal e tal after a round number means "and something", as in trinta e tal.^[2][16][17]

Timeline

• 1162 – Houaiss's first date for tal, from Machado's records.^[2]
• 1242–1252 – the form atal.^[2]
• 13th century – the plural taes;^[2][3] tal and atal in Portuguese texts.^[2][3]
• 1301–1400 – the Trasladação de S. Nicolau, the first CTA text with the word.^[18]
• 1611 – Barbosa records tal por tal.^[13]
• 1734 – Feijó writes the plural táes.^[4]
• 1813 – first record of talvez.^[3]

Meanings

Determiner

1. such, like this or that; so great: Nunca ouvi tal disparate.;^[2][19][1] O frio era tal que ninguém saiu.^[2][19][1]
2. This, that (of something already mentioned), often slighting: o tal vizinho.^[2][20]
3. Such-and-such, after a noun, for something not named: no dia tal, à hora tal.^[2][21][1]

Pronoun

1. Such a thing; that, this: Nunca disse tal.^[2][19]
2. Someone, some person: Tal houve que nem respondeu.^[2][20]

Noun

1. A certain person, not named: É o tal que te procurou.;^[2][16][1] um tal de Joaquim (Brazil, slighting).^[2][16][1]
2. (Brazil, informal) The best, the one who stands out: ser o tal.^[2][16]

Adverb

1. So, in this way: Tal foi o resultado.^[2][20]

Word family

• talvez

Related words

• qual
• tanto
• Latin tālis
• Spanish tal

Usage notes

Fixed phrases include tal e qual or tal qual "exactly like", tal ou tal "this or that", como tal "as such", and que tal? "how about it?".^[2][20]

Michaelis also records a masculine noun tal, a small anvil used by goldsmiths.^[22]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. tal
3. ^ a b c d e f g h Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. tal
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. tal
5. ^ 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. tal
6. ^ García de Diego, Vicente (1985), Diccionario etimológico español e hispánico, 2nd ed., Madrid: Espasa-Calpe (1st ed. 1954), p. s.v. talis
7. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert, p. s.v. tel
8. ^ Corominas, Joan; Pascual, José A. (1980–1991), Diccionario crítico etimológico castellano e hispánico, 6 vols., Madrid: Gredos, p. 5, 382
9. ^ Corominas, Joan (1973), Breve diccionario etimológico de la lengua castellana, 3rd ed., Madrid: Gredos, p. s.v. tal
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill, p. s.v. tālis
11. ^ Glare, P. G. W., ed. (2012), Oxford Latin Dictionary, 2nd ed., Oxford: Oxford University Press, p. s.v. tālis
12. ^ 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. tal
13. ^ a b Barbosa, Agostinho (1611), Dictionarium lusitanicolatinum, Braga: Fructuoso Lourenço de Basto (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tal
14. ^ Bluteau, Raphael (1712–1728), Vocabulario portuguez e latino, 8 vols. + 2 supplement vols., Coimbra / Lisboa (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tal
15. ^ Folqman, Carlos (1755), Diccionario portuguez, e latino, Lisboa: Régia Officina Silviana (CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. tal
16. ^ a b c d Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. tal
17. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8787
18. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. tal
19. ^ a b c Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. tal
20. ^ a b c d 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. tal
21. ^ 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. tal
22. ^ 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. tal