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japper

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Etymology and origin of the French word japper

Confidence
Probable
Formation
Onomatopoeia
First attested
1257 Isopet de Lyon More words from the 13th century

Pronunciation

Forms

japper[1] Old French japer; the spelling japper is recorded in 1549, in Robert Estienne.[2][3]

Etymology

It is an onomatopoeic verb in -er on a stem ⟨jap-⟩ imitating a yelp, which arose in the domains of Occitan and of Franco-Provençal, and passed into French: it is found as Old Occitan japar (“to yelp, bark”) and its deverbal noun jap, jaup.[4][5][6][2][7] Rey calls the origin uncertain, and the Grand Robert obscure, perhaps onomatopoeic.[5][3] Wiktionary instead proposes a Germanic origin, perhaps Frankish *galpōn (“to boast, bark”), from Proto-Germanic *galpōną; compare English yap.[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The first record, in the Isopet de Lyon (1257), is transitive: li chiens lo larron jape “the dog yaps at the thief”.[4]

Semantic evolution

In French the verb kept the narrow sense “to bark in a sharp, clear way”, mostly of a young or small dog, while the broader sense “to bark” lived on in Normandy, the dialects of the Centre and Franco-Provençal, and in Quebec French.[5][4][6] Of a person it means “to shout, squawk”, from 1306 in Guillaume Guiart.[4][5] Cotgrave recorded the proverb chien qui jappe ne mord pas.[8]

Its derivatives include jappement (1529) and jappeur (1546), and in Quebec jappeux of a dog that barks a lot.[5]

Timeline

  • 1257 – First recorded, transitively, in the Isopet de Lyon.[4]
  • 1306 – Guillaume Guiart uses it of a person.[4][5]
  • 1529 – The noun jappement is recorded.[5]
  • 1546 – Jappeur appears.[5][6]
  • 1549 – Robert Estienne spells it japper.[2][3]
  • 1611 – Cotgrave records chien qui jappe ne mord pas.[8]

Meanings

Verb

  1. Of a young or small dog, to yap or yelp, to bark sharply: Le chiot jappait derrière la porte.[9][10][1]
  2. Of a fox or a jackal, to give its cry.[10][9][4]
  3. (familiar) Of a person, to shout or squawk.[5][8][4]
  4. (Quebec) To bark.[5][1]

Word family

  • jappement
  • jappeur

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
  4. ^ a b c d e f g h 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 g h i j Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  6. ^ a b c Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 5, 30a
  8. ^ a b c Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
  9. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  10. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
Cite this entry

“Japper.” Etymologically, 15 Nov. 2026, etymologically.com/fr/japper. Accessed 15 Nov. 2026.

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