rien French · revision 16262

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

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ʁjɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): [ʁjɛn]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''rien''' n^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|ren]] (about 980), ''rien'' (11th–12th century); subject singular ''riens''.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|rien]], [[inh|la|rēs|alt=rem|t=thing]], the accusative of “rēs”, “reī” “thing”.^(DHLF 1992)^(FEW|10, 285a)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin word first meant “property, possessions”, as in “res publica” (whence [[république]]), then a matter to discuss or an affair at law, and so anything that exists, a thing; it competed with [[m|la|causa]], which reached the same sense and gave [[chose]].^(DHLF 1992) Bloch and Wartburg explain the survival of the accusative by the fact that a thing is more often the object of an action, unlike [[on]], which comes from a nominative.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) [[oc|res]] and [[ca|res]] continue the nominative “rēs” with a similar development.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Passion de Clermont'' (about 980) has ''ren'' with a negation, “nothing”: ''El mor a tort, ren non forsfist'' “he died wrongly, he did nothing wrong”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In accordance with its origin, ''rien'' was at first a feminine noun, “thing” (about 1050), and kept this value until the end of the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005) Through its use in negative sentences it became a negative word itself and took the masculine gender, which appears in the 15th century; it eliminated the negative pronoun [[néant]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) ''Rien'' alone meaning “nothing” is recorded from 1538.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ Phrases followed: ''ne… rien du tout'' (1559), ''ne… rien de rien'' (1690), ''ce n'est rien'' (1538) and ''ne rien être à qqn'' (1680).^(GLLF 1989) ''Cela n'est pas rien'' “that is something” is recorded in 1640.^(TLFi) The noun ''un rien'' “a trifle” and the compound ''vaurien'' are later formations.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Ren non'' “nothing” in the ''Passion de Clermont''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Rien'' as a feminine noun, “thing”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1130–40 – ''Ne… rien'' in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – ''Rien'' becomes masculine.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1538 – ''Rien'' alone, “nothing”.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * late 16th century – Last uses of the feminine noun “thing”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # [[m|en|nothing]]: with ''ne'' or alone: ''je ne vois rien'', ''rien à faire''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(literary, archaic)'' Anything: ''sans rien dire'', ''avant de rien décider''.^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Ce n'est rien'': it doesn't matter, ''de rien'': you're welcome.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|trifle]], a nothing: ''un rien l'amuse'', ''en un rien de temps''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[réel]]

+ * [[république]]

+ * [[néant]]

+ * [[la|rēs]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}