montagne French · revision 15695

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (montaigne)|origins=la mōns}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mɔ̃.taɲ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''montagne''' ''f'' (plural montagnes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old and Middle French ''montaigne'';^(Grand Robert 2005) ''montagne'' from the 14th century.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|montaigne]], [[inh|la-lat|montānea]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|6/3, 100b) the feminine used as a noun of the Late Latin adjective [[m|la-lat|montāneus]], a variant of classical [[la|montānus|t=of the mountains]], from [[m|la|mōns|t=mountain]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007) Littré notes that [[m|la|montānus]] alone would have given “montain”, without the palatal consonant.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|montagna]], [[oc|montanha]], [[ca|muntanya]] and [[es|montaña]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) uses it both for a great height of land and, as ''la montagne'' or ''les montagnes'', for a mountainous region.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The figurative sense “heap, pile” is from 1644 (Corneille),^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) and ''la montagne qui accouche d'une souris'' “the mountain that gives birth to a mouse” goes back to La Fontaine (1668).^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Mme de Sévigné uses it for a great difficulty (1689), as in ''se faire une montagne de''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ In Savoy and Switzerland it named a high alpine pasture (1761).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) In 1792 ''la Montagne'' was the group of left-wing deputies on the highest benches of the Convention, the ''Montagnards''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''Montagnes russes'', a switchback or roller coaster, are recorded in 1816.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Montaigne'' (''Roland'').^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1512 – ''Montagnard''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1644 – “A heap” (Corneille).^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – The mountain in labour (La Fontaine).^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1761 – An alpine pasture.^(TLFi)

+ * 1792 – ''La Montagne'' in the Convention.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1816 – ''Montagnes russes''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|mountain]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''La montagne'': mountainous country, the mountains: ''vacances à la montagne''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(figurative)'' A great heap: ''une montagne de dossiers''; a great difficulty.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Montagnes russes'': a [[m|en|roller coaster]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''(history)'' ''La Montagne'': the radical deputies of the Convention.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[montagnard]]

+ * [[montagneux]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[montagnais]]

+ * [[mont]]

+ * [[la|mōns]]

+ * [[en|mountain]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}