conjuguer

Forms

conjuguer^[1] First written conjuger;^[2] conjuger and conjuguer are both found in 1596.^[2]

Etymology

It is borrowed from Latin coniugō (“to join together, to marry”),^[3][4][1] formed from com- (“with”) and iugō (“to join, to tie (vines)”),^[4][5] from iugum (“yoke”), the source of joug.^[5][6][7] In late grammatical Latin it already meant “to conjugate a verb”;^[2] in French the grammatical sense was taken up after conjugaison.^[3][4]

Rey notes that the Latin simple verb is a durative beside iungō (“to join”), so that the compound, “to unite, to marry”, was a doublet of coniungō, the source of conjoindre, and the two French verbs share some uses.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found in 1572 in Ramus's Grammaire française, in the grammatical sense.^[3][2]

Semantic evolution

The grammatical sense, “to set out all the forms of a verb”, came first;^[3][4] the general sense “to join, associate, bring together” followed in 1596 and lives on in the written language, as in conjuguer ses efforts.^[3][4] Littré in 1873 still called the sense “to unite” little used.^[6]

The Latin idea of marriage survived jokingly in se conjuguer, after Latin conjungo “I join”, from the wedding formula, used as a noun for “marriage” from 1694.^[4] The past participle conjugué became an adjective, first meaning “married”, then with technical uses: anatomy (nerfs conjugués, 1690) and botany (feuilles conjuguées, 1753, and in 1803 the noun conjuguées for a group of algae).^[3][4]

Timeline

• 1572 – First record, in grammar, in Ramus.^[3][2]
• 1596 – Hulsius records the sense “to join, associate”.^[3][2]
• 1690 – Furetière has nerfs conjugués.^[3]
• 1694 – Conjungo is used for “marriage”.^[4]
• 1753 – The Encyclopédie has feuilles conjuguées.^[3]
• 1803 – Conjuguées becomes a noun in botany.^[3]

Meanings

Verb

1. To join together, combine: conjuguer ses efforts, as in Les deux villages ont conjugué leurs moyens pour rebâtir le pont.^[8][3][2]
2. (grammar) To conjugate, to recite or write out the forms of a verb: Conjuguez le verbe partir à l'imparfait.^[8][2][6]
3. (reflexive, grammar) Se conjuguer: to be conjugated, as with a given auxiliary, as in Le verbe tomber se conjugue avec être.^[8][6]

Related words

• conjugaison
• joug
• subjuguer
• conjoindre
• Latin coniugō

References

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