chenal

Forms

chenal m (plural chenaux or chenals)^[1] Old French chanel and chenel; regional forms in -au and feminine uses with the article run together (achenal) were later set aside as popular.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French chenal, inherited from Latin canālis (“pipe, groove, channel”),^[4][2][3][1] a derivative of canna (“reed”).^[5][3] The TLFi, Bloch and Wartburg and the DHLF explain the ending ⟨-al⟩ as the Old French form remade after the learned canal.^[4][3][5]

The revised TLF-Étym rejects this view: it takes the modern word to be two regional words that entered the common language separately.^[2] The sailing sense comes from the Atlantic coast of Poitou and Aunis, where the stressed /a/ before /l/ was kept (first recorded at La Rochelle in 1250, in general use by about 1609); the sense “water conduit, gutter” comes from Lorraine (1391), and was adopted generally by the 18th century.^[2] Both continue the spoken Latin word, and together with the learned word they pushed out the central Old French form, recorded from about 1170 to the 15th century.^[2]

Cognate with Italian canale and Spanish canal.^[3][6]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in the first quarter of the 13th century in Florence de Rome, for the bed of a river: l'eue, que cort par son chenal “the water that runs in its channel”; the TLF-Étym takes this chenal for an eastern copyist's variant of chenel.^[4][2]

Semantic evolution

In the West the word named a passage between banks and shores that ships could use to reach a port (1250); in the 16th century it spread into general French, and the sense “narrow marked passage into a port” is found in Pierre Garcie's sailing guide of about 1483.^[2][4][5] From Lorraine came the sense of a water conduit, first for the race bringing water to a forge wheel (1391), then a gutter along a roof (1475); the Académie recorded both in 1798.^[2][4] The sense of a conduit for molten metal or liquids in industry is recorded from 1768.^[2]

The derivative chéneau (1459) took over the sense “roof gutter”.^[5] The English word channel (early 14th century) was taken from Old French chanel.^[7]

Timeline

• c. 1170 – The central Old French form chenel is recorded.^[2]
• 1200–1225 – Chenal appears in Florence de Rome for the bed of a river.^[4][2]
• 1250 – A La Rochelle record uses it for a navigable passage.^[2]
• 1391 – A Lorraine record uses it for a water conduit of a forge.^[2]
• 1475 – It is used for a roof gutter.^[4][5]
• c. 1483 – Pierre Garcie uses it for a marked passage into a port.^[4]
• 1609 – It is in general use, recorded in Marquis's dictionary.^[2]
• 1674 – The derivative chenaler “to sail along a channel” is recorded.^[4][5]
• 1798 – The Académie records the senses “mill race” and “roof gutter”.^[2][8]

Meanings

Noun

1. A channel: a passage open to shipping between rocks, islands or shoals, or leading to a port or the open sea.^[9][4]
2. A stream of water led to a mill or a factory.^[9][8]
3. (geology) A long furrow in ground covered by water at times or always: chenal de marée.^[9]
4. A gutter along a roof, now usually chéneau.^[4][10]
5. (metallurgy) A conduit for molten metal or other liquids in industry.^[8][2]

Word family

• échenal
• chenaler

Related words

• chéneau
• canal
• Latin canālis
• English channel

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p Steinfeld, Nadine; Buchi, Éva, eds. (2005–), TLF-Étym: révision des notices étymologiques du Trésor de la langue française informatisé, Nancy: ATILF
3. ^ a b c d e 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 i j k 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
5. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
7. ^ Harper, Douglas. Online Etymology Dictionary, https://www.etymonline.com
8. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
10. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette