de French · revision 16184

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Serments de Strasbourg|origins=la dē}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /də/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Paris): /dø/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''de'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Elided ''d''' before a vowel since the first texts (842); contracted with the article in ''du'' (from ''de le'', ''del'', ''deu'') and ''des'' (from ''de les'', ''dels'').^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|de]], [[inh|la|dē|t=down from, away from; about]].^(TLFi)^(FEW|3, 21a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) In Latin it marked origin, distance and separation, with an added idea of movement downwards, and also the part taken from a whole.^(DHLF 1992) In Late Latin the phrase with “de” increasingly took the place of the genitive, as in “nebula de pulvere” “a cloud of dust” in Sidonius Apollinaris, and Plautus already has “dimidium de praeda” “half of the booty”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) In spoken Latin it also replaced [[m|la|ab]] and [[m|la|ex]], having the advantage of a fuller form beginning with a consonant.^(DHLF 1992) Rey notes that the word is found elsewhere only in Celtic ([[ga|di]]); Wiktionary derives it from [[itc-pro|*dē]], from [[ine-pro|*déh₁]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|di]], [[es|de]] and [[pro|de]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have ''d'ist di'' “from this day on” and ''de suo part'' “on his part”: the preposition already marks a starting point in time and an origin.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ By the 10th century ''de'' introduced the complement of a noun (''in figure de colomb'' “in the form of a dove”, 881), the cause, the agent and the means, and the matter something is made of.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) Its partitive use, the source of the partitive article (''du pain'', ''de la viande''), is found from the second half of the 10th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The use of the word was settled before the end of the 12th century.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From its sense of cause came its use before a subject placed after the verb and before an infinitive subject (''il me déplaît de…''), very common since the 16th century.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''De'' in the Strasbourg Oaths, of time and origin.^(TLFi)

+ * 881 – It introduces the complement of a noun in the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia''.^(TLFi)

+ * 2nd half of 10th century – First partitive use in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – Of the agent and the means in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – The partitive article ''du'', ''de la'', ''des'' is established.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|from]]: marks the place of origin or departure: ''venir de Paris''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Of: marks possession, belonging or relation: ''le livre de Paul''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # From: marks the starting point in time or of a range: ''de lundi à vendredi''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of, from: marks the cause: ''mourir de faim''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # With, by: marks the means or manner: ''frapper de l'épée''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Of: marks the matter or content: ''une table de bois'', ''un verre d'eau''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # By (an amount): ''avancer d'un pas''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # Before an infinitive, after verbs, nouns, adjectives and impersonal phrases: ''il est facile de…''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Article===

+ # ''(partitive)'' Some, any: ''du pain'', ''de l'eau''; plural ''des''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|dē]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}