gascon

Forms

gascon (feminine gasconne, masculine plural gascons, feminine plural gasconnes)^[1] Old French Guascuinz (nominative), gascoign, gascun.^[2][1] The noun for a person is written with a capital: un Gascon, une Gasconne.^[3][1]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin Vascōnēs (“the Vascones”), the Imperial Latin name of a people living on both sides of the Pyrenees, of pre-Roman origin.^[2][4][5][6] By the 6th century the name had become Wascones (Gregory of Tours, Fredegar).^[2][4] The /w/, which gave Old French /ɡw/ and then /ɡ/, is usually put down to the Visigothic pronunciation, since Germanic had no /v/,^[2][7][8][1] while the DEAF explains it by the bilabial character of Latin /v/ and finds no need for Germanic influence.^[2]

Compare Old Occitan gasco (12th century).^[2] It is a doublet of basque.^[1][4]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record is the noun li Guascuinz “the Gascons” in the Chanson de Roland (about 1100; 1080 in the Robert dictionaries).^[2][4][3] The adjective is found about 1180–1190, of a horse, in Alexandre de Paris's Alexandre.^[2]

Semantic evolution

Froissart writes of a man who spoke to him not en son gascon but en beau et bon françois, and Littré gives the noun for the dialect of Gascony, a form of the langue d'oc.^[9] Rey calls the Occitan speech of Gascony a group quite distinct from its neighbours, such as Languedocien.^[4]

From 1622 the word was used pejoratively of anyone with the traits ascribed to the Gascons, especially in the 16th and 17th centuries: boasting and cunning.^[4][8] Hence offre de Gascon or promesse de Gascon, an offer or promise not meant seriously,^[3][2] and the derivatives gasconnade “boast” (before 1611) and gasconner “to boast” (1613).^[4] Gasconisme (1584) first named a Gascon or Occitan turn used in French, and only in 1823 a Gascon's brag.^[4][7]

Timeline

• c. 1100 – Li Guascuinz appears in the Chanson de Roland.^[2]
• c. 1180–1190 – First used as an adjective, of a horse.^[2]
• 1584 – Gasconisme is recorded.^[4][7]
• 1611 – À la gasconnade is recorded.^[4]
• 1622 – Charles Sorel uses the word for a boaster.^[8][4]
• 1640 – Oudin records the sense “native of Gascony”.^[8]
• 1678 – La Fontaine uses en Gascon.^[8]

Meanings

Adjective

1. Of or from Gascony, a former province of France.^[3][2]
2. (dated, pejorative) Having the traits ascribed to Gascons, boastful, braggart.^[3][9]

Noun

1. Gascon, Gasconne: a native or inhabitant of Gascony.^[3][2][1]
2. (dated, pejorative) A boaster.^[3][9] Offre de Gascon, promesse de Gascon: an offer or promise not to be taken seriously.^[3][9]
3. Le gascon: the Occitan dialect of Gascony.^[3][9][1]

Word family

• gasconisme
• gasconnade
• gasconner

Related words

• basque
• Gascogne
• Latin Vascō

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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 Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ 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. 4, 74b
7. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
8. ^ a b c d e Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
9. ^ a b c d e Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette