langue French · revision 15646

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=second half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger (lingua)|origins=la lingua}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA (Europe): /lɑ̃ɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Canada): /lãɡ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''langue''' ''f'' (plural langues)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Lingua'', ''lingue'' (about 980); ''langue'' from the early 12th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|langue]], [[inh|la|lingua|t=tongue; language]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|5, 358a) which already had both senses, and the figurative one of a tongue-shaped object.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Rey groups the Latin word with related but divergent Indo-European words, among them [[en|tongue]] and [[de|Zunge]].^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|lingua]], [[oc|lenga]], [[ca|llengua]] and [[es|lengua]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Léger'' (second half of the 10th century) uses it for the organ in the mouth and for that organ as the instrument of speech.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As the organ of speech it gave many phrases: ''mauvaises langues'' “evil talk” (about 1260), then “slanderers” (1528); ''longue langue'' “chatterbox” (1424) and ''avoir la langue bien pendue'' (1606); ''prendre langue'' “to make contact” (1574); ''jeter sa langue aux chiens'' (Mme de Sévigné, 1676), later ''donner sa langue au chat'' “to give up guessing”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The sense “language”, the system of expression of a people, is also inherited and runs through the history of the word, from ''langue d'oc'' and ''langue d'oïl'' to the modern ''langue maternelle'' and ''langue de bois'' “stock phrases, cant”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary) Shapes like a tongue gave ''langue de terre'' “spit of land” and the flames' ''langues de feu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * second half of the 10th century – ''Lingua'' (''Saint Léger'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * early 12th century – The form ''langue''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1260 – ''Mauvaises langues''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1424 – ''Longue langue'' (Alain Chartier).^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Sur le bout de la langue''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1676 – ''Jeter sa langue aux chiens''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1842 – ''Donner sa langue aux chiens'' (Eugène Sue).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|tongue]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A [[m|en|language]]: ''langue maternelle'', ''langue étrangère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # A way of speaking or writing, a style: ''la langue de Racine'';^(Petit Robert 2007) ''langue de bois'' “[[m|en|cant]]”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Something tongue-shaped: ''langue de terre'', ''langue de feu''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Mauvaise langue'': a gossip or slanderer.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[langage]]

+ * [[languette]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[linguiste]]

+ * [[linguistique]]

+ * [[la|lingua]]

+ * [[en|language]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}