Etymologically
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pourtant

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Pronunciation

  • IPA: /puʁ.tɑ̃/[1]

Forms

pourtant[1] Old French portant (about 1130), pourtant from the end of the 12th century, Anglo-Norman also purtaunt.[2][3][4]

Etymology

It is a compound of pour and tant, at first written separately: “pour tant” “for so much, for all that”.[5][2][6][7][1] “Tant” is inherited from Latin tantum (“so much”).[8]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as portant about 1130 in the Roman d'Eneas, meaning “because of that, for that reason”.[3][2][5]

Semantic evolution

Until the 17th century it meant “therefore”: Rabelais writes pourtant, mon filz bien aymé… retourne “so, my beloved son, come back”.[8][6] The modern sense of opposition, “nevertheless”, arose in negative sentences (ne pourtant, about 1445), where “not for all that” meant “not however”.[5][2][8] Montaigne uses it in affirmative sentences, with et pourtant and mais pourtant (1580–1588).[5][2] Littré still marked the old sense “for that” as entirely obsolete.[6]

Timeline

  • c. 1130 – Portant “for that reason”, in Eneas.[3]
  • c. 1445 – Opposition in a negative sentence, in Pierre de Hauteville.[5]
  • 1580 – Et pourtant, mais pourtant in Montaigne.[2]
  • 17th century – The causal sense dies out.[8]

Meanings

Adverb

  1. yet, however, nevertheless: il est riche, pourtant il n'est pas heureux.[9][1]
  2. Stressing a fact against expectation: je te l'avais pourtant dit.[9][10]
  3. Et pourtant: and yet: et pourtant elle tourne.[10]
  4. (obsolete) For that reason, therefore.[6][11]

References

  1. ^ a b c d Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
  2. ^ a b c d e f Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  3. ^ a b c Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
  4. ^ Anglo-Norman Dictionary (AND2), Aberystwyth University, anglo-norman.net (2nd ed., 2005–)
  5. ^ a b c d e 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
  6. ^ a b c d 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. 13/1, 90a
  8. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
  9. ^ a b Dictionnaire de français Larousse, larousse.fr/dictionnaires/francais (accessed 2024)
  10. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
  11. ^ Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert