falaise French · revision 15876

+ {{infobox|confidence=probable|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1130, Eneas|origins=frk *falisa}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fa.lɛz/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''falaise''' ''f'' (plural falaises)^(Wiktionary)

+ [[fro|faleise]], [[m|fro|faloise]], [[m|fro|falise]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|faleise]], originally a dialect word of the coasts of Normandy and Picardy,^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) probably from [[frk|*falisa|t=rock]],^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|15/2, 104a) answering to [[goh|felisa]] and [[de|Fels|t=rock]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Since Gallo-Romance had no words stressed on the third-last syllable ending in -esa, the word was treated like nouns in -ésa and its stress moved.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(TLFi) Wiktionary takes the Frankish word from [[gem-pro|*falisaz|t=rock, cliff]] and compares [[en|fell]].^(Wiktionary) The form “falise” is Picard and Walloon.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ P. Guiraud proposed instead a link with Old French [[m|fro|faloise|t=deceit]], from [[fro|falir]], a form of [[faillir]], the cliff being ground that “gives way”;^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) the Grand Robert calls the origin uncertain.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It first appears as ''faleise'' about 1130 in the ''Roman d'Eneas'';^(GLLF 1989) Wace (about 1155) uses it of the cliffs that border the sea.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The spelling ''falaise'' is found about 1182.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992) In Old French it could also mean sandy ground, and Ronsard uses it for a sandbank.^(Littré 1873) Its main sense has stayed the rocky escarpment along the sea, as at Étretat or Dover;^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) by analogy it is used of a rock face above a river, and in geography of any steep scarp, such as the ''falaise d'Île-de-France''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989) Geologists speak of a ''falaise morte'', a cliff now set back from the shore.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ The Anglo-Norman ''faleise'' was used in England, also as a surname.^(AND) French ''falaise'' was borrowed into [[pt|falésia]] and [[ro|faleză]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1130 – ''Faleise'' in the ''Roman d'Eneas''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1155 – Wace's sea cliffs.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1182 – The spelling ''falaise''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 15th century – Deschamps's ''falize'' of England.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 1694 – Recorded by the Académie.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|cliff]]: a steep rock face along the sea, formed by [[m|en|erosion]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # A steep rock face above a river; in geography, an [[m|en|escarpment]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Falaise morte'': an old cliff now set back from the coast.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[de|Fels]]

+ * [[en|fell]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}