babil

Forms

babil m (plural babils)^[1]

Etymology

It is a deverbal noun from French babiller.^{[1][2][3][4][5]} Babiller (about 1170) belongs to an onomatopoeic root ⟨bab-⟩ of children's speech, expressing the movement of the lips, found also in English babble, Dutch babbelen and German babbeln.^[4][3] Wiktionary gives Old French babillier (“to stutter”) and thinks the root probably Germanic.^[1] Littré cites Diez's view that the word imitates a natural sound and rejects a derivation from the name of Babel.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DMF's first quotation, from the Mystère du Viel Testament (about 1450), has Noah asking his children what the babil is about, in the sense “chatter, idle talk”.^[7] Villon writes about 1460 that in love babil est peu de chose (“chatter is a small thing”).^[6][2]

Semantic evolution

From the start it meant childish or futile chatter,^[4][7] and Calvin speaks of philosophy turned into a babil sophistique.^[6] In the 16th century it was applied by analogy to the cries of certain birds;^[4] Littré names the crow, and the Larousse the warblers' song.^[6][8] Littré also records a hunting sense, the barking of a hound that has lost the scent.^[6]

It was later taken up for the sounds of very young children practising speech,^[4] and today it is mostly literary.^[8][9]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – The verb babiller is first recorded.^[4]
• c. 1450 – First record of babil “chatter”.^[7][4][10]
• c. 1460 – Villon uses it in a ballade.^[2][6]
• 16th century – It is applied to the cries of birds.^[4]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) A flow of light, idle chatter.^[9][2][8]
2. Lively, pleasant talk, especially the babble of small children: le babil des enfants.^[9][2][11]
3. By analogy, a sound like chattering, as of birds or running water.^[9][8]
4. (hunting, dated) The barking of a hound that has lost the scent.^[6]

Word family

• babillage
• babillard
• babiller

Usage notes

The Grand Robert gives two pronunciations, /babil/ and /babi/;^[10][6][8] Littré had the second, with a palatal ⟨ll⟩, but the Larousse notes that the pronunciation with /l/, as in habile, is now the more frequent.^[10][6][8]

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
3. ^ a b Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ a b c d e f g h Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 1, 193a
6. ^ a b c d e f g h i Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c Dictionnaire du Moyen Français, version 2015 (DMF 2015), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/dmf
8. ^ a b c d e f Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
11. ^ Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard