fange

Forms

fange f (plural fanges)^[1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French fange, a feminine remodelling of the older masculine fanc (“liquid mud”),^[2][3] inherited from Vulgar Latin *fanga (“mud”), a Germanic type formed with a suffix.^[2][4][5] The TLFi derives it either from Frankish *fani or from Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌽𐌹 (fani, “mud”);^[2] Bloch and Wartburg, Rey, the Grand Robert and the FEW take it from Gothic.^[4][3][5][6] Bloch and Wartburg compare the suffix of Vaud vouarga (“mud”).^[4] The Gothic word, through a Gallo-Romance plural *fanja, also gave Old Gascon fanha (“mud”), and a related Germanic feminine form gave Walloon fagne and is seen in German Fenn (“marshy ground”) and Dutch veen.^[2][3][4]

Littré proposed instead the rare Latin famex (“abscess”), with the adjective famicosus (“boggy”), or a blend of the Latin and Germanic words;^[7] Rey notes that Pierre Guiraud pointed to the sense “rot, pus” in the dialects of Franche-Comté and the Franco-Provençal area, which would fit Late Latin famex.^[3] Cognate with Italian fango, Spanish fango and Catalan fang.^[4][7][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The masculine fanc “liquid, soiled mud” is first found at the end of the 11th century in Rashi's French glosses, then in the Oxford Psalter (first half of the 12th century);^[2][3] the feminine fange “thick mud” appears in Béroul's Tristan about 1170.^[2][3]

Semantic evolution

From the literal “thick mud, mire” the word came to mean, by extension, a marshy land (1560, in a Bible).^[8][7] The figurative sense “state of degradation” (1500) has gone out of use,^[3] but in literary use fange is a moral stain or baseness, as in couvrir quelqu'un de fange (1770) “to cover someone with mud, insult them grossly”.^[3][7][9] Littré also records its use in religious writing for the pleasures of the world as opposed to a devout life.^[7] Bloch and Wartburg note that the word lives on mainly in the southern dialects, in the types fanc, fanga and fanha.^[4]

Timeline

• late 11th century – Fanc appears in Rashi's glosses.^[2]
• c. 1120 – The Oxford Psalter has the masculine le fange.^[3][8]
• c. 1160 – The adjective fanjos (now fangeux) appears.^[3]
• c. 1170 – The feminine fange “thick mud” in Béroul's Tristan.^[2]
• 1500 – Used figuratively for a state of degradation.^[3]
• 1560 – Used of marshy land.^[8]
• 1770 – Couvrir de fange “to insult grossly” is recorded.^[3]

Meanings

Noun

1. (literary) Thick, dirty, almost liquid mud, mire: Les buffles se roulaient dans la fange.^[9][2]
2. (literary, figurative) What stains morally, abjection, baseness;^[9][7] couvrir quelqu'un de fange, to heap insults on someone.^[9][7]
3. (archaic, literary) Marshy land, a fen.^[7][1]

Word family

• fangeux

Related words

• fagne
• Italian fango

References

1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
6. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 15/2, 109a
7. ^ a b c d e f g h Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
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 d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert