espagnol

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ɛs.pa.ɲɔl/^[1]
• IPA: /ɛs.pa.njɔl/^[1]

Forms

espagnol (feminine espagnole, masculine plural espagnols, feminine plural espagnoles)^[1] Old French espaignol, also espaigneul;^[2][1] espagnol from the 15th century.^[2][1]

Etymology

It is probably borrowed from Old Occitan espanol, also espainol, used as a proper name in the first half of the 12th century, from a Medieval Latin *Hispāniolus, derived from Latin Hispānia (“Spain”).^[3][4] The Robert dictionaries and the GLLF derive it directly from Vulgar Latin.^[5][2] Latin Hispānus (“Spanish”), shortened in late Latin to Spanus, had given Old French espan, found in 1080 in the Chanson de Roland.^[4][5] It is a doublet of épagneul “spaniel”.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Chrétien de Troyes's Perceval (1181–1191) has cheval espaignol, a Spanish horse.^[3][4]

Semantic evolution

In the 17th century the adjective had negative values, as in payer à l'espagnole, with blows and boasts (1611); this probably explains parler français comme une vache espagnole, to speak French badly (1640, Oudin), which has also been explained as an alteration of Basque.^[4] As a noun it names an inhabitant of Spain and, from the 17th century, the Romance language of most of Spain and Latin America.^[4][2] À l'espagnole is recorded by Cotgrave in 1611, and sauce à l'espagnole, a brown sauce, in 1767.^[2] Derivatives include espagnolette, a window catch (1731), and espagnolade, once “bragging” (1611), now a conventional picture of Spain.^[4]

Timeline

• 1181–1191 – Cheval espaignol in Chrétien de Troyes.^[3]
• 1611 – Payer à l'espagnole and espagnolade “bragging”.^[4]
• 1640 – Parler français comme une vache espagnole, in Oudin.^[4]
• 17th century – The noun for the language.^[2]
• 1731 – Espagnolette, a window catch.^[4]
• 1767 – Sauce à l'espagnole.^[2]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Spanish, of Spain or its people: le peuple espagnol, danses espagnoles.^[6][7]
2. Parler français comme une vache espagnole: to speak very bad French.^[6][4]

Noun

1. Espagnol, Espagnole: a Spaniard.^[6][1]
2. The Spanish language, Castilian.^[6][8]
3. (cooking, feminine) L'espagnole: a brown sauce used as a base for others.^[2]

Word family

• espagnolette
• espagnolade

Related words

• Espagne
• épagneul
• hispanique
• Latin Hispānia

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g 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 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 j 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Dictionnaire Le Robert en ligne, dictionnaire.lerobert.com (accessed 2024)
8. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)