leur

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lœʁ/^[1]

Forms

leur m pl or f pl^[1] Old French lor, lur (before 950); leur from the 12th–13th century.^[2][3][4] As a possessive it took a plural -s from the 14th century, which became the rule only in the 17th.^[5][4] Brantôme and Malherbe still wrote leur amitiés.^[5][4][6]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lor, inherited from Latin illōrum (“of those, of them”), the masculine genitive plural of the demonstrative “ille”.^[2][7][3][5] Romanian lor shows that the first syllable was lost before 271.^[2] In popular Latin “illōrum”, used as a possessive genitive, tended to replace suus (whence son), which gave the possessive “leur”.^[2] The final “-e” of the feminine was prevented by the analogy of the other possessives.^[1]

Cognate with Italian loro, Romanian lor and Old Occitan lor.^[5] Italian “loro” is still invariable as a possessive.^[5][1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The possessive lor is found before 950, and the personal pronoun about 980 in the Valenciennes fragment.^[2][4]

Semantic evolution

The possessive leur keeps a trace of its old stressed use with the article: le leur voile (1050), and the possessive pronoun le leur, la leur (1080).^[2] Les leurs “their kin, their people” is found in 1080, and le leur “their property” about 1165.^[2][4] In the eastern dialects, from the south of the Vosges to the Dauphiné and the Massif Central, the pronoun often has the value of the stressed eux, elles.^[5] Popular speech says leur z'en, leurzy (with a false liaison) and leux for leur.^[8]

Timeline

• before 950 – The possessive lor.^[2]
• c. 980 – The pronoun lor in the Valenciennes fragment.^[4]
• 1080 – Le leur and les leurs in the Chanson de Roland.^[2][4]
• 14th century – The possessive begins to take -s in the plural.^[5]
• 17th century – Plural leurs becomes the rule.^[5]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (To) them: third person plural indirect object pronoun: je le leur dirai.^[9][1]
2. Le leur, la leur, les leurs: theirs: ma fille et la leur.^[9][4]
3. Les leurs: their family, their people, y mettre du leur, to make an effort.^[9][4]

Determiner

1. their: leur maison, leurs enfants.^[1][9]

Related words

• lui
• il
• son
• Latin ille

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 Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b 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 i Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 551a
8. ^ 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
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert