testemunhar

Forms

testemunhar (first-person singular present testemunho, first-person singular preterite testemunhei, past participle testemunhado)^[1] Medieval texts have testimoyar, testimonyar, testimonhar, testemoynhar, trestimunhar and the prefixed atestemonhar.^[2][3][4]

Etymology

In the view of Houaiss, Cunha, Aurélio and Nascentes it is inherited from Vulgar Latin *testimōniō (“to bear witness”).^[2][4][5][6] Nascentes notes that Late Latin already had the past participle of this verb and calls the word semi-learned, and Niermeyer records the verb in Medieval Latin with the senses “to bear witness” and “to testify”.^[6][7] Wiktionary, the DLP, the Porto Editora dictionary and Michaelis instead analyse it as formed from Portuguese testemunho + -ar.^{[1][8][9][10]} The noun is from Latin testimōnium (“testimony”), formed from testis (“witness”) with the suffix -mōnium.^[11][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Lorenzo's chronology quotes the medieval Portuguese Fuero Real with testimoyar, testimonyar, testimoniar and testimonhar, as in que nõ possa testimoyar contra os estranhos “that he may not testify against outsiders”.^[3] Houaiss dates the earliest record to the 13th century.^[2] The first sense is the legal one, to give evidence as a witness.^[3]

Semantic evolution

The legal sense has continued from the medieval texts to today.^[12][13] Bluteau (1712–1728) has testemunhar falso “to bear false witness”, and Vieira quotes the Chronica de D. João II of Garcia de Rezende on a man executed for testifying falsely.^[12][13] Morais (1813) records the figurative use with things as subject: ruins or wounds “bear witness” to the power or service of those who made or received them.^[14] The senses “to show, express (a feeling)” and “to see, be present at” are given by the old Caldas Aulete.^[15] Cunha dates the modern spelling testemunhar to the 16th century.^[4]

Timeline

• 1200s – testimoyar and related spellings in the Fuero Real.^[3][2]
• 1302 – testemuyado das testemuyas “testified by the witnesses” in a charter.^[3]
• 1300s – Houaiss records atestemonhar, testemoynha and trestimunhar.^[2]
• 1450 – testemunhar in a witness of the Livro das tres vertudes copied after 1450.^[16]
• 1500s – Cunha's date for the modern form.^[4]
• 1540 – testemunhou in a private letter.^[17]
• 1697 – Pereira renders it by Latin attestor and testor.^[18]
• 1813 – Morais adds the figurative use with things as subject.^[14]

Meanings

Verb

1. To testify, to give evidence as a witness (testemunha); to declare one has seen or heard something (also intransitive, with a favor de or contra): Dois vizinhos testemunharam contra o réu.^{[2][5][19][1]}
2. To witness, to see or be present at: Poucos testemunharam o acidente.^[2][5][1]
3. To show, express or reveal (a feeling): testemunhar gratidão.^[2][5][19]
4. To confirm, attest, be proof of: Estas ruínas testemunham a riqueza da cidade.^[5][8][10]
5. To attend an act as witness so as to make it valid.^[15]

Word family

• testemunhado

Related words

• testemunho
• testemunha
• testificar
• atestar
• Latin testimōnium

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 Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. testemunhar
3. ^ 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. testimoyar
4. ^ a b c d Cunha, Antônio Geraldo da (2010), Dicionário etimológico da língua portuguesa, 4th ed., Rio de Janeiro: Lexikon, p. s.v. testemunho
5. ^ a b c d e Ferreira, Aurélio Buarque de Holanda, Novo dicionário Aurélio da língua portuguesa, digital edition, p. s.v. testemunhar
6. ^ a b Nascentes, Antenor (1966), Dicionário etimológico resumido, Rio de Janeiro: Instituto Nacional do Livro, p. s.v. testemunhar
7. ^ Niermeyer, J. F. (1976), Mediae Latinitatis Lexicon Minus, Leiden: Brill, p. s.v. testimoniare
8. ^ a b 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. testemunhar
9. ^ Porto Editora (2013), Grande Dicionário da Língua Portuguesa, Porto: Porto Editora, p. 8949
10. ^ 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. testemunhar
11. ^ Houaiss, Antônio; Villar, Mauro de Salles (2001), Dicionário Houaiss da língua portuguesa, Rio de Janeiro: Objetiva, p. s.v. testemunho
12. ^ 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. testemunhar
13. ^ 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. 5, 715
14. ^ a b Silva, António de Morais (1813), Diccionario da lingua portugueza, 2nd ed., 2 vols., Lisboa: Typographia Lacerdina, p. 2, 772
15. ^ a b 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. testemunhar
16. ^ Centro de Linguística da Universidade de Lisboa, CTA – Corpus de Textos Antigos, https://teitok.clul.ul.pt/cta, p. s.v. testemunhar
17. ^ 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. testemunhar
18. ^ Pereira, Bento (1697), Thesouro da lingoa portuguesa, in the 1697 edition of his Prosodia (1st ed. 1647; CLP transcription, Universidade de Aveiro), p. s.v. testemunhar
19. ^ a b Dicionário Priberam da Língua Portuguesa, Lisboa: Priberam Informática, https://dicionario.priberam.org, p. s.v. testemunhar