argot French · revision 15744

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|attested=1628, Olivier Chéreau, Le Jargon de l'argot réformé}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /aʁ.ɡo/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /aʁ.ɡɔ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''argot''' ''m'' (plural argots)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is very obscure, and many explanations have been proposed.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) As the word first named the brotherhood of beggars and thieves, not their language, the source must be sought in that sense.^(DHLF 1992) Sainéan linked it with “argot”, the old form of [[ergot|t=claw, spur]], theft being pictured as a claw;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg think it more probably derived from Old French “argoter” “to quarrel”, a variant of [[ergoter]], from [[la|ergō|t=therefore]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Dauzat first proposed Old French “hargaut” “old garment”, from [[pro|argaut]], and later a Spanish “arigote” “contemptible person”;^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Esnault, the verb “arguer” “to draw gold wire”, which Rey finds recorded too late;^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Guiraud, the old verb “hargoter”, the beggar being one who knocks at doors.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Olivier Chéreau's ''Le Jargon ou langage de l'argot réformé'' (Tours, 1628) speaks of the ''royaume d'argot'', the community of beggars: ''Ha ! vive l'Argot et tous les Gueux !''^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The language of this community, earlier its ''jargon'', was itself called ''argot'' by Furetière (1701^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); Sainéan's date of 1690 is wrong according to the TLFi): the cant of vagrants and thieves, understood only by them.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In the 18th century Voltaire extended it to the special words of any profession or group: ''chaque communauté, chaque société a le sien''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Today ''argot'' is the slang of a social group (''argot scolaire'', ''argot militaire'') and, commonly, the popular vocabulary that has passed from the underworld into everyday speech.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse) Victor Hugo called it ''le verbe devenu forçat'', “the word turned convict”.^(Larousse) Its derivatives include ''argotier'' (1628), ''argotique'' (1837) and ''argotologie''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1628 – ''Royaume d'argot'', the community of beggars^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989); ''argotier''.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1701 – The cant of beggars and thieves (Furetière).^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – First recorded by the Académie.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 18th century – The special vocabulary of a profession (Voltaire).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1837 – ''Argotique''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # [[m|en|cant|alt=Cant]], the secret language of the underworld.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # [[m|en|slang|alt=Slang]]; popular words that have passed into common speech.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # The special vocabulary of a group or profession; [[m|en|jargon]]: ''argot militaire''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(historical)'' The community of beggars and thieves.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[argotier]]

+ * [[argotique]]

+ * [[argotisme]]

+ * [[argotiste]]

+ * [[argotologie]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[jargon]]

+ * [[ergot]]

+ * [[en|argot]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A second ''argot'' (1690), an old form of ''ergot'', is a gardening term for the part of a branch above the bud.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}