Research Center for Etymology
and History of the Portuguese Language
versão em português Coordination: Prof. Dr. Mário Eduardo Viaro
Description
The Research Center for Etymology and History of the Portuguese Language (NEHiLP) aims at the dissemination of Brazilian academic research on Historical Linguistics, Philology and Etymology. To this end, it gathers together experts from several fields who are experienced in that subject. Many researchers in this interdisciplinary Center are experts in Ancient and Modern History, linguistic structures and theories of linguistic reconstruction. The used method is the research in ancient and recent documents for further organization of linguistic information that allows the generation of quality data for the consultation of both experts in linguistics as in other sectors of society who are interested in Etymology (especially journalists and scientists from several areas). In addition to the first dating of words and their meanings, the NEHiLP provide historical information classified according to the sociolinguistic and stylistic features, associating them with information on frequency of use
(a) review of the oldest dating older (termini a quo) of the entries available in the etymological dictionaries of Portuguese Language (namely, the ones by José Pedro Machado, Antônio Geraldo Cunha and Houaiss & Villar) in order to achieve a quality degree comparable to those of other European languages;
(b) Insertion of new entries from the production Portuguese of neologisms with the dating correspondent;
(c) Insertion of dating for meanings, which are different to the original one of these entries;
(d) Collection of textual extracts for each entry (both main and secondary meanings), according to the oldest testimony in corpora, with observations on their sociolinguistic and stylistic features as well as their frequency;
(e) Search of the word etymon as well as its path from its origin to its introduction into the Portuguese language, especially in Latinisms introduced through modern languages, in words from Arabic or old Germanic languages and in modern Gallicisms/ Anglicisms; more detailing to words whose etymon or origin is Asian, African or Amerindian;
(f) More detailed research of innovations of the 20th century, which have much dating failure, in despite of the impressive amount of documentation available in public archives;
(g) Development of theories that allow greater interaction between several areas of knowledge concerning past synchronies, vocabulary transmission, foreign loanwords, neology, introduction of nonstandard forms in everyday language, archaism, entry inserting in dictionaries and another aspects regarding Lexicology, Philology, General Linguistics and Sociolinguistics;
(h) Etymology courses offered to the community;
(i) Specific publications about Etimology and History of the Portuguese language;
(j) More active participation of the University in discussions and positioning promoted by media, with the purpose of presenting issues of Etymology, History and Standardization of Portuguese language to the public in a scientific and more balanced way;
The study of Etymology is closely related to the historical study of languages. Much of what has been done in the 19th century to other Indo-European languages, however, does not apply to the Portuguese language: a used methodology with no further reflection has been the same since the early 12th century. From the 40s to the 90s, diachronical studies were replaced by another important new trends of Modern Linguistics, which preferred to study current aspects in a synchronic perspective, such as how the languages work. This contributed however to some shortcomings in training of experts on diachronic Linguistics. The NEHiLP aims to meet the contemporary demand, since it is basically formed by experts in various fields with the common goal of solving specific persistent problems on Etymology and History of the Portuguese language. Public interest in the subject is quite large, as it can be seen in publications of diverse quality levels about the same topic on websites, magazines and entertainment television programs. The success of the Museum of Portuguese Language and columns about etymology in popular magazines show an important demand for the subject. A research center that focuses on historical and scientific study of the Etymology of Portuguese aims to fill important gaps in the present works and to correct the distortions which are commonly spread by the media. Although the Brazilian universities produce plenty of research on historical linguistics, the lack of understanding and the unfamiliarity with the etymological method is the reason we still do not have an etymological dictionary of Portuguese Language such as Corominas’ for the Spanish language.
Research Center for Etymology and History of the Portuguese Language