brailler

Forms

brailler^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Vulgar Latin *bragulō (“to shout”), formed from *bragō, the source of braire.^{[2][3][4][5][1]} Bloch and Wartburg describe it as formed on the root of the same verb;^[6][2] Old Occitan brailar and braulhar were formed in a similar way, but the Vulgar Latin verb accounts only for the French word.^[6][2] Littré and the Petit Robert simply derive it from the shorter verb, as criailler comes from crier.^[7][8]

Earliest recorded meaning

The DHLF and the Grand Robert date it to about 1220; the GLLF and the Petit Robert give 1265, in Jean de Meun.^[2][3][4][8] The Roman de la Rose has Cele qui brait et crie et braille “she who brays and cries and bawls”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Brailler kept the first sense “to shout loudly and deafeningly”, which braire lost, while it left to braire the sense of the donkey's cry.^[2] In France it is said above all of babies.^[2][8] In Quebec, and regionally in Brittany, it means “to cry, whimper”, with the noun braillage.^[2][8] In hunting it is said of a hound that gives tongue when it is not on the scent.^[9][7]

The derivatives date from the 16th century: braillard (1528), brailleur (1586) and braillement (1590), which is not found after 1611 and returns in 1845; the verb and its derivatives are pejorative.^[2][6] Braillée (1769) seems to be peculiar to Swiss French.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 1220 – First recorded.^[2][3]
• 1265 – Jean de Meun uses it in the Roman de la Rose.^[4][8][7]
• 1528 – Braillard is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1586 – Brailleur is recorded.^[2][6]
• 1590 – Braillement is recorded.^[2]
• 1769 – Swiss French braillée is recorded.^[2]

Meanings

Verb

1. (familiar, intransitive) To bawl, shout, or speak or sing in a deafening voice: Il ne parle pas, il braille.^[8][9][7]
2. (familiar, transitive) To bawl out words or a song: brailler un refrain.^[8][9]
3. (familiar) Of a child, to howl, cry noisily.^[8][1]
4. (regional: Brittany, Canada) To weep; to complain.^[8][2][1]
5. (hunting) Of a hound, to give tongue when not on the scent.^[9][7]

Word family

• braillard
• brailleur
• braillement

Related words

• braire

Usage notes

Littré also has a separate transitive brailler, a fishing term derived from braille: to stir herrings with a shovel while sprinkling them with salt.^[7]

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b c d e f g Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
9. ^ a b c d 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