brouhaha French · revision 15748

+ {{infobox|confidence=disputed|formation=borrowing|attested=1548, Farce du Savetier, brou, brou, brou, ha, ha|origins=hbo בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bʁu.a.a/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''brouhaha''' ''m'' (plural brouhahas)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ The origin is disputed.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) The most probable explanation is a phonetic distortion of [[hbo|בָּרוּךְ הַבָּא|tr=bārūkh habbā|t=blessed is he who comes]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Académie 9)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|20, 24a) from the verse “blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord” (Psalm 118:26) with which the Levites welcomed the people coming to the Temple, often repeated in Jewish prayers and garbled by those who did not know Hebrew.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) It is supported by the Arezzo dialect word “barrus cabà” “confusion, disorder” and by other borrowings from synagogue prayers, such as Italian “badanai” “chatter of voices”, from “be adonai” “ah, Lord”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ The Petit Robert calls the origin unknown, and Littré and the GLLF see a simple onomatopoeia.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In a farce of 1548 a priest dressed as the devil cries ''Brou, brou, brou, ha, ha, brou, ha, ha'', an interjection meant to strike terror.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The word soon became a noun among clerks (1552, Charles Estienne), at first figuratively, as in ''faire un grand brouhaha pour un rien'' “to make a great fuss about nothing”.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) In the classical period it was the confused noise of an audience approving or disapproving, applause (La Fontaine: ''de toute l'assemblée il a les brouhahas''), and also from Molière (1659) a loud confused noise of voices, its present sense.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) The Académie called it familiar from 1718 to 1932, but it is not so marked today.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1548 – ''Brou, brou, brou, ha, ha'', a devil's cry.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1552 – A noun, “fuss” (Charles Estienne).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1659 – A confused noise of voices (Molière).^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1718 – Recorded as familiar by the Académie.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A confused noise of voices; a [[m|en|hubbub]], a [[m|en|brouhaha]]: ''le brouhaha des conversations''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(dated)'' A murmur of approval from an audience; [[m|en|applause]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tohu-bohu]]

+ * [[en|brouhaha]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}