Ampersand. Does that name tell you anything? Probably not, but we all know what that word stands for, even though we've never heard of the name that seems to be so complicated!
The word ampersandgives its name to a very famous symbol that, despite not having its origins in the Portuguese language, ended up being incorporated by it and by many other languages: the familiar “&”. Ampersand is a contraction of the English words AND PER SE AND, which means “and by itself”. Here in Brazil, many people know the ampersand through the expression “E comercial”, because it is usually associated with the name of legal entities or commercial names, such as “Carvalho & Cia”, “Pizza & Cia”, among many other examples that can be found on signs and supermarket shelves, as some famous brands have adopted the "&" in their logos.
But you know why the ampersand did it take on this shape, which resembles a little snake? It's because the ampersand is a type of monogram used to represent the additive conjunction “e”, which has its origin in the Latin “ET”. In the beginning it was represented by the two letters, “E” and “T”. Observe how, over time, it evolved until it reached the unusual format it presents today:
When the ampersand began to be used, it was possible to clearly observe the two letters, “E” and “T”. Today it is almost impossible to distinguish them
The most curious thing is that, despite apparently having no other function than appearing among commercial names or in the names of legal entities, the ampersand it is not an isolated letter, as it can assume, in some situations, the value of an additive conjunction. O ampersandis one of the proofs of linguistic evolution, which considers the speed of communication very important. written and oral, since instead of using the AND PER SE AND expression, you can use & and save time!
By Luana Castro
Graduated in Letters
