Etymologically
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là-bas

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /la.ba/[1]
  • IPA: /la.bɑ/[1]

Forms

là-bas[1]

Etymology

It is from French là + bas (“down, below”), the adverb “bas”.[2][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

Rabelais uses it in 1532 in Pantagruel for “down below, in the underworld”.[2]

Semantic evolution

In the 16th century it also meant simply “down there, below”, as in Des Périers (1558) and in a drinking song attributed to Olivier Basselin (before 1616): Voulez-vous rien mander Là bas à la rivière ? (“Do you want anything sent down there to the river?”).[2] The usual modern sense, “over there, far off”, is first recorded before 1833 in Béranger and in the Académie's dictionary of 1835.[2]

The older senses are now dated: là-bas as the realm of the dead, the opposite of ici-bas, is still the title of Huysmans' novel Là-bas (1891).[2]

Timeline

  • 1532 – “Down below, in the underworld”, in Rabelais's Pantagruel.[2]
  • 1558 – “Down there”, in Des Périers.[2]
  • before 1833 – “Over there, far off”, in Béranger.[2]
  • 1835 – The Académie records it under bas.[2]
  • 1891 – Huysmans publishes the novel Là-bas.[2]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. Over there, in a place some way off: là-bas, dans la vallée.[3][1]
  2. (dated) Down there, below.[2][1]
  3. (dated) In the underworld; in the hereafter.[2]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ 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
  3. ^ Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)