# The word "açò"



## Kazuma

Hello everybody,

at first my apologies for writing in English. I'm not so good in writing Catalan since I'm not studying it "officially", but I can read and understand it fairly well (at times) by now because I've been studying Italian (which is very similar in some points) for several years.

My question today is about the word "açò". Basically, I would like to know everything about this word, but I think I'll have to be a bit more specific than that. I know that "açò" basically means "this, that", in which it is synonymous with "això". I also know, or, say, I'm quite sure that "açò" only has the meaning of "aquesta cosa" as opposed to "això", which has more usages.

Now I'm wondering in which occasions I can use this word. Can I use it everytime I can say "això" meaning "this, that" or are there any restrictions? I've also been wondering whether it is a local (or maybe Valencian, Belear(ic)) or colloquial word, but it doesn't seem so since I found it also on websites such as Viquipèdia, TV3.cat and its 3cat24.cat.

Are there other occasions where I can use "açò"? Is it used in any fixed expressions, something like "this is to say"?

Oh, and very important: Does it sound strange for a beginner to use "açò"?

Of course you may answer in Catalan! That'd be good exercise for me and I think I'll come to understand it in some way.


----------



## Agró

Hola. Feia temps que no trobava aquest mot. Aquí tens informació. Espero que et serveixi.
Font:
AÇÒ _pron. dem. neutre invariable _(antigament escrit també _assò_); cast. _esto, eso. _
|| *1. *Aquesta cosa. Car sobre aso [sic] non farets absolicio, doc. a. 1257-69 (Pujol Doc. 31). E tot assò es tota amor feyta, Reua Perp. 1284. On com assò sia en axí, doncs per assò, Senyer, hom vos adora, Llull Cont. 315, 13. E com açò axí sia, Llull Blanq. 1. Nos vos diem que açó fets avolment e falsa, Pere IV, Cròn. 267. E assò Senyor meu sabets vos bé, doc. a. 1352 (Bofarull Mar. 84). Son açò paraules de home ab sana pensa?, Metge Somni iii. Açò'm par cosa de gran admiració, Tirant, c. 25. Y en assò no poseu dupte, Coll. Dames 758. Açò que els cels nos diuen ab llengues de misteri, Atlàntida iii. 
|| *2. *S'aplica a designar persones o animals (Mall., Men.). «¿Qui és açò?—Açò és mon pare». 
|| *3. *S'aplica a designar propietats immobles. «Açò d'En Joan»=la casa d'En Joan (Sallent). «Vàrem anar a açò del nostre»=a la terra nostra (Segrià).—V. ço.
    Loc.
—Se formen amb _açò _les mateixes locucions que amb son sinònim _això _(V. això).
    Fon.: əsɔ́ (Empordà, Berga, Lluçanès, Torelló); asɔ́ (Pont de S., Esterri, Sort, Pradell, Tamarit de la L., Maestr.); asɔ̞́ (Val.); əsɔ̞́ (Bal.). *A moltes comarques, sobre tot en català oriental i en baleàric, açò conviu amb això; a bandes, com a l'Empordà i Mallorca, hi ha tendència al predomini de la forma això, i la forma açò només l'usen els vells; a Menorca succeeix el contrari, car la forma predominant entre la gent jove és açò.*
    Var. form.: _ço _(_so_).
    Etim.: del llatí vg. ecce-hŏc, equivalent al clàssic hŏc amb la mateixa vàlua de demostratiu neutre.


----------



## Samaruc

Hi,

In València, the word "açò" is absolutely alive. In fact, we still maintain this word with a specific meaning, clearly different from the one we apply to "això".

More or less:

- Açò: "This thing", closer to the one who speaks.
- Això: "This/that thing", closer to the one who listens.
- Allò: "That thing", far from both the first and the second persons.

I remember, when we started receiving the Catalan Television in València, that I felt surprised when I heard people saying "això" where I would say "açò".


----------



## Kazuma

Moltes gràcies a tots dos!

Agró, thanks for posting the definition from another dictionary, I had only looked it up in Enciclopèdia Catalana's before. However, I couldn't find out the year in which "your" definition was written, an information which could be interesting as they are referring to "els vells" and "la gent jove". But I'm far more interested in your personal opinion about and perception on its usage in your area.

Samaruc, thank you for this interesting information about Valencian. I have to admit that I didn't take "allò" into account at all when I wrote my post. My mind somehow didn't "categorise" it alongside with the other two, probably because of the different sound. Do I understand you correctly that Valencians use this three-way system completely naturally in all kinds of situations?


----------



## Agró

Kazuma said:


> Agró, thanks for posting the definition from another dictionary, I had only looked it up in Enciclopèdia Catalana's before. However, I couldn't find out the year in which "your" definition was written, an information which could be interesting as they are referring to "els vells" and "la gent jove". But I'm far more interested in your personal opinion about and perception on its usage in your area.



El diccionari d'on vaig treure la informació és el DCVB. Aquí hi ha algunes dades al respecte. És un diccionari antic però molt vàlid, al meu parer.

La meva opinió personal, pel que fa a "açò", no val res, perquè no visc en una zona catalanoparlant. El "meu" català està influenciat bàsicament per les parles de la zona barcelonina i, una mica menys, empordanesa. Em fa l'efecte que en el català actual d'aquestes zones "açò" no es fa servir gaire, però potser vagi completament errat. Has d'esperar més opinions.


----------



## Samaruc

Kazuma said:


> Do I understand you correctly that Valencians use this three-way system completely naturally in all kinds of situations?



Yes, Kazuma, that's right. Here in València, we use this three-way system naturally in all situations.

In other dialects, however, the three-way system is reduced to two-way, and, as Agró pointed out, they just use "això" and "allò" in normal situations.



Agró said:


> La meva opinió personal, pel que fa a "açò", no val res, perquè no visc en una zona catalanoparlant.



Ei, i tant que val la teua opinió!


----------



## merquiades

Hola.  Sí, he notat que els valencians diuen amb molta frequencia "aço", una paraula que havia entés com la francesa "ça".  Kezuma, gràcies per donar-nos aquesta bona explicació.  Ara l'entenc molt millor i té molt sentit.  Havia pensat abans que "això" i "aço" eran només sinónims.  Lo que dius sobre el sistema "three-way" em sembla interessant.  Em demano si es pot aplicar-se també als adjectius demonstratius, aquest, aqueix, aquell...  S'utilitza també "aqueix" o (eix... vaig veure als posts) sovint en valencià?  Salut!


----------



## Favara

Efectivament, merquiades, es corresponen completament:
açò - aquest/est/este
això - aqueix/eix/eixe
allò - aquell

La forma "aqueix" no s'empra a la majoria del valencià, però "eixe" és una paraula realment molt comuna.


----------

