''Viva'', ''vive'', and ''vivat'' are interjections used in the

Romance languages The Romance languages, also known as the Latin or Neo-Latin languages, are the languages that are Language family, directly descended from Vulgar Latin. They are the only extant subgroup of the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-E ...

. ''Viva'' in Spanish (plural ), Portuguese (plural ), and Italian (Also . in plural is rare), ''Vive'' in French, and ''Vivat'' in

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

(plural ) are subjunctive forms of the verb "to live." Being the third-person (singular or plural agreeing with the subject), subjunctive present conjugation, the terms express a hope on the part of the speaker that another should live. Thus, they mean "(may) he/she/it/they live!" (the word "may" is implied by the subjunctive mood) and are usually translated to English as "long live." They are often used to salute a person or non-personal entity: "Vive le Québec libre" (from Charles de Gaulle's Vive le Québec libre speech in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

), or "Viva il Duce!" the rough equivalent in Fascist

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

of the greeting, " Heil Hitler." In addition, in monarchical times, the king of France would be wished "Vive le Roi!" and the king of Italy "Viva il Re!" both meaning "May the king live!" or "Long live the king!"

Overview

The acclamation "''Vivat!''" is still used in British coronations when the sovereign is hailed while processing from the quire of Westminster Abbey towards the coronation theatre, fronting the altar. The shouts are delivered by the King or Queen's Scholars of Westminster School, who by tradition are the first to acclaim the sovereign at the ceremony. This was last performed when King Charles III was crowned in 2023; he was greeted with "''Vivat, Rex! / Vivat, Rex Carolus! / Vivat! Vivat! Vivat!''" which was incorporated into Hubert Parry's anthem, '' I was glad''. The mediaeval university Latin anthem '' De Brevitate Vitae'' has verses like: :''Vivat academia!'' :''Vivant professores!'' :''Vivat academia!'' :''Vivant professores!'' :''Vivat membrum quodlibet'' :''Vivant membra quaelibet'' :''Semper sint in flore.'' Compare ''¡Viva el rey!'' with ''¡Vivan los reyes!'' The Mexican slogan "''¡Viva Zapata!''" was used to title the 1952 English-language biographical drama film '' Viva Zapata!'' by Elia Kazan, about Emiliano Zapata. It later inspired the title of 2005 Italian-language documentary film '' Viva Zapatero!'' by Sabina Guzzanti, referring to José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero. In Italy, the nationalist phrase ''"Viva Vittorio Emanuele Re d'Italia!"'' ("Long live Victor Emmanuel king of Italy") was hidden from the Austrian enemy by its acronym ''Viva VERDI!'' that passed for a praise of the music of

Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...

. In Italian graffiti, ''viva'' is often abbreviated as '' W'', a letter otherwise foreign to Italian. The opposite concept ''abbasso'' ("Down with") is abbreviated with an inverted '' W''. In the Philippines, (a former Spanish colony), the usage of ''¡Viva!'' has declined in the 20th century, having been replaced by the Filipino term '' Mabuhay'' and its cognates in various Philippine languages. Today, the expression is largely found in religious contexts (specifically, Filipino Catholicism), where it is said in fiestas to honour a manifestation of

God In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...

or a patron saint (e.g. "''¡Viva, Señor Santo Niño!''" "''¡Viva la Virgen de Peñafrancia!''").

Other and similar uses

The use of these terms has increased in non-Latin nations recently; for example, a common greeting regarding the Anglophone city of Las Vegas is " Viva Las Vegas!" One reason may be that

West Germanic languages The West Germanic languages constitute the largest of the three branches of the Germanic languages, Germanic family of languages (the others being the North Germanic languages, North Germanic and the extinct East Germanic languages, East Germ ...

do not have a good equivalent of the term; the closest equivalent may be Heil in German, which has Nazi-tainted connotations, or Hail or Wassail in English. Nevertheless, Hail still appears in certain previously frozen expressions and usages, for example the prayer Hail Mary and the song Hail to the Chief. A similar expression is ' Zindabad' used in Hindustani, Bengali and Persian, it means roughly "Long live" and is used as a patriotic sentiment glorifying leaders and countries e.g. ' Pakistan Zindabad' or ' Bangladesh Zindabad'. On 25 July 2005, upon winning his seventh consecutive Tour de France and subsequently retiring from professional cycling, Lance Armstrong ended his farewell speech with "Vive le Tour, forever".

References

{{Reflist Vivat Viva Viva Viva Vive Interjections

Overview

Other and similar uses

See also

References