sous

Pronunciation

• IPA: /su/^[1]

Forms

sous^[1] Old French sost (about 980), soz and suz (late 11th century), sos, with an etymological ⟨b⟩ soubz, soubs, sous from about 1180.^[2][3]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French soz, inherited from Latin subtus (“below, underneath”), an adverb in classical Latin and a preposition in imperial and Late Latin.^{[2][4][3][1][5]} Rare in texts, this derivative of sub (“under”) must have been common in speech; the preposition “sub” itself left few traces.^[2][4] “Sub” goes back to an Indo-European “*upo”, seen in Ancient Greek ὑπό (hupó) and Sanskrit उप (úpa).^[6][7]

Cognate with Italian sotto, Occitan sot and Catalan sots; Spanish so, from “sub”, is now less used than “bajo”.^[6][4] In many Gallo-Romance dialects “sous” competes with dessous.^[4]

Earliest recorded meaning

It is first found as sost in the Jonas fragment of Valenciennes (about 980), introducing something overhung by another thing without touching it.^[8][2]

Semantic evolution

Sous marks a position below.^[2] About 1050 it was used of a thing resting under another (suz ciel “under heaven”), and by 1080 of a surface, as in sous terre.^[8][2] About 1160–1175 it introduced a dominating place, the basis of place names such as La Ferté-sous-Jouarre.^[8][2] From the 15th century it meant “behind (what hides)”, as in sous couleur de and sous tel nom (1559), and it expresses subordination in sous les ordres de (1363) and servir sous quelqu'un (1405).^[8][2] Metaphorical phrases include sous les armes (about 1650), sous le drapeau (1694), sous les drapeaux “serving as a soldier” (1835) and sous les verrous (1829).^[2] Belgian French says sous eau without the article.^[2]

Timeline

• c. 980 – Sost in the Jonas fragment of Valenciennes.^[8]
• c. 1050 – Suz ciel in the Vie de saint Alexis.^[8]
• c. 1180 – The spelling sous.^[2][6]
• 1363 – Sous les ordres de.^[2]
• 1563 – Il y a anguille sous roche.^[8]
• 1671 – Rire sous cape in La Fontaine.^[8]
• 1835 – Sous les drapeaux.^[2]

Meanings

Preposition

1. Under, beneath: sous la table, un oreiller sous la tête.^[6][1]
2. Under, covered by: sous enveloppe, sous la pluie.^[6][2]
3. Under the authority of, in the reign of: sous les ordres de, sous Louis XIV.^[2][6]
4. Under (a name, an appearance): sous un faux nom, sous prétexte de.^[2][8]
5. Sous terre, sous l'eau: underground, underwater.^[2][6]

Word family

• dessous

Related words

• Latin subtus

Usage notes

Sous is also the plural of sou, whence de deux sous and de quatre sous “worthless”, recorded from 1791.^[1][9] As a prefix, sous- can mean “inferior imitation”, as in des sous-Matisse (1930).^[9]

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
4. ^ a b c d Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 12, 369b
6. ^ a b c d e f g Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
7. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i 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 Quemada, Bernard, ed. (1959–2006), Datations et documents lexicographiques (Base historique du vocabulaire français, BHVF), Paris: Klincksieck / CNRS / Champion; ATILF