avoir French · revision 16188

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=881, Sequence of Saint Eulalia|origins=la habeō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /a.vwaʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [a.waɾ]^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): [a.vwaɾ]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''avoir'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|aveir]], [[m|fro|avoir]], [[m|fro|aver]].^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989) The medieval future was ''arai'' (beside ''avrai'', ''averai''); ''aurai'' replaced it in the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|avoir]], [[inh|la|habeō|t=to have, hold, possess]].^(TLFi)^(FEW|4, 361b)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The Latin verb meant at first “to hold, occupy” and “to dwell”, like its derivative [[m|la|habitō]] (whence [[habiter]]), and already served as an auxiliary in Cato.^(DHLF 1992) Its clear relatives are only in the other Italic languages (Oscan, Umbrian) and Celtic ([[ga|gaibim|t=I take]]); Wiktionary derives it from [[itc-pro|*habēō]], perhaps from [[ine-pro|*gʰh₁bʰ-|t=to grab, take]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) It is not related to [[en|have]] and [[goh|habēn]], which belong to the family of [[m|la|capiō|t=to seize]], though these Germanic verbs may have reinforced it.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The future “aurai”, which replaced “arai” during the 16th century, is not well explained (“orai” is already found in 13th-century Picard), and “arai” is still common in northern dialects.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Cognate with [[it|avere]], [[oc|aver]], [[es|haber]], [[pt|haver]] and [[ro|avea]]; [[en|aver]] was borrowed through Old French.^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The verb is one of the earliest recorded French words: the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia'' (about 880) has the pluperfect ''avret'' “she had” (''Bel avret corps'' “she had a beautiful body”), a direct survival of Latin ''habuerat''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Before 1100 the verb mostly meant “to possess (a quality)”, “to feel (an emotion or sensation)”, as in ''avoir mal'', “to obtain” and “to own (goods)”.^(DHLF 1992) It was an auxiliary from the 10th century, and was used with ''à'' and an infinitive and in the impersonal ''il y a'' “there is”;^(DHLF 1992) Old French said simply ''il a'', and the adverb ''y'' appears in the phrase in the 13th century.^(Littré 1873) ''Avoir à'' + infinitive has expressed obligation since the 11th century.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ An old sense “to possess sexually” (about 1150) led to “to get the better of, to trick”, recorded by Furetière (''je l'aurai'').^(DHLF 1992) Uses with an attribute (''avoir vil'' “to consider vile”, 1080) and “to know” (13th century) died out before the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992) Belgian French says ''avoir facile, difficile'' “to find it easy, hard” and ''avoir le temps long'' “to be bored”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ The infinitive became a noun about 1040, “property, wealth”; the bookkeeping sense, the credit side of an account opposed to ''doit'', dates from 1680.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 880 – The pluperfect ''avret'' appears in the ''Sequence of Saint Eulalia''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+ * 10th century – First used as an auxiliary.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1040 – ''Avoir'' is used as a noun, “possessions”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1080 – ''Avoir vil'' “to hold in contempt” is recorded.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1150 – First sexual sense, “to possess”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 13th century – ''Il y a'' appears beside older ''il a''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * 16th century – The future ''aurai'' replaces ''arai''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1680 – The noun means the credit side of an account.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|have]], to [[m|en|own]], to possess.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To have the use of, to have at one's disposal: ''avoir le temps''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # To get, to obtain.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To have, to feel (a sensation, a feeling) or to suffer from (an illness): ''avoir faim'', ''avoir peur''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To be (a certain age): ''il a vingt ans''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(auxiliary)'' Forms the compound tenses of most verbs: ''j'ai mangé''.^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse)

+ # ''Avoir à'' + infinitive: to have to, must.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(familiar)'' To get the better of, to [[m|en|trick]]: ''se faire avoir''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Il y a'': there is, there are, (of time) ago.^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # What one owns; property, [[m|en|wealth]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # ''(accounting)'' The [[m|en|credit]] side of an account: ''le doit et l'avoir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # A credit note given by a shop to a customer.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[habiter]]

+ * [[la|habeō]]

+ * [[en|aver]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''N'avoir qu'à'' and ''il n'y a qu'à'' mean “one only has to”; the second, run together as ''nyaka'', is used mockingly of people who think problems are easy to solve.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}