leur French · revision 16245

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=before 950|origins=la ille}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lœʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''leur''' ''m pl'' or f pl^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|lor]], [[m|fro|lur]] (before 950); ''leur'' from the 12th–13th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) As a possessive it took a plural ''-s'' from the 14th century, which became the rule only in the 17th.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) Brantôme and Malherbe still wrote ''leur amitiés''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|lor]], [[inh|la|ille|alt=illōrum|t=of those, of them]], the masculine genitive plural of the demonstrative “ille”.^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|4, 551a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Romanian [[m|ro|lor]] shows that the first syllable was lost before 271.^(DHLF 1992) In popular Latin “illōrum”, used as a possessive genitive, tended to replace [[m|la|suus]] (whence [[son]]), which gave the possessive “leur”.^(DHLF 1992) The final “-e” of the feminine was prevented by the analogy of the other possessives.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|loro]], [[ro|lor]] and [[pro|lor]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Italian “loro” is still invariable as a possessive.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The possessive ''lor'' is found before 950, and the personal pronoun about 980 in the Valenciennes fragment.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The possessive ''leur'' keeps a trace of its old stressed use with the article: ''le leur voile'' (1050), and the possessive pronoun ''le leur'', ''la leur'' (1080).^(DHLF 1992) ''Les leurs'' “their kin, their people” is found in 1080, and ''le leur'' “their property” about 1165.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In the eastern dialects, from the south of the Vosges to the Dauphiné and the Massif Central, the pronoun often has the value of the stressed ''eux'', ''elles''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Popular speech says ''leur z'en'', ''leurzy'' (with a false liaison) and ''leux'' for ''leur''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * before 950 – The possessive ''lor''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 980 – The pronoun ''lor'' in the Valenciennes fragment.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1080 – ''Le leur'' and ''les leurs'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 14th century – The possessive begins to take ''-s'' in the plural.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 17th century – Plural ''leurs'' becomes the rule.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # (To) [[m|en|them]]: third person plural indirect object pronoun: ''je le leur dirai''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Le leur'', ''la leur'', ''les leurs'': theirs: ''ma fille et la leur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Les leurs'': their family, their people, ''y mettre du leur'', to make an effort.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Determiner===

+ # [[m|en|their]]: ''leur maison'', ''leurs enfants''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[lui]]

+ * [[il]]

+ * [[son]]

+ * [[la|ille]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}