où French · revision 16207

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la ubi}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /u/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''où'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|ut]] (10th century), [[m|fro|o]] (late 10th century), [[m|fro|u]] (1080) and [[m|fro|ou]] (1050).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The grave accent, which distinguishes it from ''ou'' “or”, dates from 1539.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|ou]], [[inh|la|ubi|t=where; when]], a relative and interrogative adverb of place without motion, also used of time.^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|14, 1b)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) Latin “ubi” belongs to the group of the relative [[m|la|quī]]; comparison with [[osc|puf]] and Umbrian “pufe”, and the compound [[m|la|alicubi|t=somewhere]], show that it was originally “*cubi”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary gives Old Latin [[m|la|cubī]], from [[itc-pro|*kʷuðei]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|ove]], [[pro|o]] and Old Spanish [[m|osp|o]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Léger'' (second half of the 10th century) has ''ut'' as a relative adverb of place: ''Cio fud Lusos ut il intrat'' “it was Luxeuil that he entered”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As a relative adverb of place, ''où'' was first used after an antecedent, especially an adverb of place (''lai… o'' “there … where”, late 10th century), and after prepositions from 1176–81 (''par ou'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1160–70 it was extended to people and things, meaning “to whom, in which”.^(TLFi) Its use without antecedent was common in Old and Middle French, then declined after the 16th century in favour of ''là où''.^(DHLF 1992) It has been an interrogative adverb from 1080, and is used of time (''le jour où'').^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1050 – The form ''ou''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1080 – As an interrogative, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1176–81 – After a preposition: ''par ou''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1539 – Robert Estienne writes ''où'' with a grave accent.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|where]]: in questions: ''où vas-tu ?''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Where, in which: relative, after a noun of place or state: ''la maison où j'habite'', ''d'où'', ''par où''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # When: relative, after a noun of time: ''le jour où il est parti''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # Where, wherever: without antecedent: ''allez où vous voudrez''.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[qui]]

+ * [[la|ubi]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}