gué French · revision 15684

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (guez)|origins=frk *wad}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡe/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''gué''' ''m'' (plural gués)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French plural ''guez'' (1080), singular ''gué'' from about 1170.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ According to the TLFi, Rey, the Grand Robert and the GLLF it is [[bor|frk|*wad|t=ford]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(FEW|17, 438b) reconstructed from [[goh|wat]] and [[dum|wat]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) with the usual change of Germanic /w/ to /g/.^(TLFi) Bloch and Wartburg, the Petit Robert and Littré instead derive it from [[la|vadum|t=ford]], which took its initial /w/ from the related Germanic word;^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary allows both, the Latin word perhaps reinforcing the Frankish one.^(Wiktionary) Latin “vadum” gave [[es|vado]], [[pt|vau]] and [[ro|vad]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) while [[it|guado]] and [[pro|ga]] have the Germanic consonant.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Both go back to an Indo-European root meaning “to go”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''guez'', shallow places in a river where it can be crossed on foot.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word has kept its sense.^(DHLF 1992) About 1200 it also meant a pond or watering place, a sense it took from Frankish and which is still common in northern and eastern dialects.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Passer à gué'' “to ford” and the old figurative ''sonder le gué'' “to test the water” (Retz, before 1679) are the main phrases.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) The verb ''guéer'' (early 12th century ''guaër'') and ''guéable'' “fordable” are from the same family.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Guez'' (''Roland'').^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1170 – Singular ''gué''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1200 – “Pond, watering place”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * before 1679 – ''Sonder le gué''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|ford]], a shallow place for crossing a river: ''passer à gué''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Au milieu du gué'': halfway through an undertaking.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|vadum]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Ô gué'', in songs such as ''La bonne aventure, ô gué'', is a different word, a variant of [[gai]] “merry” (Molière, 1666).^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}