sans French · revision 16257

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Passion de Clermont|origins=la sine}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /sɑ̃.z‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sans'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|sen]], [[m|fro|sens]] (about 980), [[m|fro|senz]] (about 1050), [[m|fro|seinz]] (1080), ''sainz'' (about 1155), ''sans'' (about 1167–1200).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|sens]], [[inh|la|sine|t=without]], with an adverbial “-s”.^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|11, 642a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi) Compare Old French [[m|fro|senoec]] “without that”, from “sine hoc”.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Bloch and Wartburg add that there was crossing with the Latin ablative [[m|la|absentia|t=absence]], used adverbially, perhaps in legal phrases, for “in the absence of”, which explains [[pro|sensa]] and [[it|senza]]; the “z” of “senz” would be due to Old French “enz” “inside”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary) Littré doubted that “senza” could be separated from the other Romance forms.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ “Sine” is related to forms in Tocharian and Irish (“sain” “different”), which point to an original “*s-ni”, and to [[sa|सनुतर्|tr=sanutár|t=separately, away]]; without the initial “s”, compare [[grc|ἄνευ|tr=áneu|t=without]] and [[got|𐌹𐌽𐌿|tr=inu|t=without]].^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[es|sin]], [[pt|sem]] and [[ca|sens]].^(Wiktionary)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The preposition is first found about 980, in the ''Passion de Clermont'' (''sens'') and the ''Vie de saint Léger'', before a noun or pronoun, marking absence or lack.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In its first uses ''sans'' marked the absence or lack of someone or something, and exclusion (1080), whence ''sans plus'' (about 1250).^(DHLF 1992) With an infinitive it is found about 1170, in Marie de France.^(TLFi) ''Senz ceo que'' (about 1150) was later reduced to ''sans que'' (1562, with the subjunctive from 1377).^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873) ''Non sans'' dates from 1549, ''sans cela'' from 1538 and ''sans quoi'' from 1694.^(TLFi) The preposition forms many phrases with a negative value (''sans égal'', ''sans exception'') and compounds such as ''sans-gêne'' and ''sans-abri''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Être sans un'' “to be broke” is recorded by Colette in 1910, and ''sans'' used as an adverb is popular from 1821.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Sens'' in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Senz''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1170 – With an infinitive, in Marie de France.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1200 – The form ''sans''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1562 – ''Sans que''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1910 – ''Être sans un'' in Colette.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|without]]: marks the absence or lack of something: ''un café sans sucre'', ''sans argent''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Without: with an infinitive: ''partir sans rien dire''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # But for, if not for: ''sans toi, j'étais mort'', ''sans cela'', ''sans quoi'': otherwise.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Non sans'': not without, with some: ''non sans peine''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Sans que'' + subjunctive: without: ''il est parti sans que je le voie''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|sine]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}