dont French · revision 16276

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 9th century, Séquence de sainte Eulalie|origins=la-vul dē unde}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /dɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /dɔ̃.t‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''dont''' ''m or f''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|dunt]], [[inh|la-vul|dē unde|t=from where]], a strengthening of [[la|unde|t=whence, from where]] with the preposition [[m|la|dē|t=from]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|14, 32b) Already in classical Latin “unde” could serve as a relative pronoun, equivalent to “from, out of, about which”, and this use spread in Late Latin, preparing the role of “dont” in French.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Old French also used “dont” as an interrogative, “whence?” (“Sire niés, dont venez ?”, about 1119).^(TLFi) The simple “unde” gave Old French [[m|fro|ont]] and survives in many dialects, especially in the south.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)

+

+ Rey explains “unde” as originally “*cunde”, one of the Latin relatives and interrogatives that lost the initial /kʷ/ before /u/.^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[it|donde|t=whence]], [[es|donde|t=where]] and [[pt|donde]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the ''Séquence de sainte Eulalie'' (late 9th century): ''Il li enortet, dont lei nonque chielt, qued elle fuiet lo nom christiien'' “he urges her, a thing she does not care about, to flee the Christian name”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Its modern use was not yet fixed in the classical period: ''dont'' was almost confused with ''d'où'', even in pronunciation, a use that Malherbe, Vaugelas and the grammarians condemned but that the best 17th-century writers kept, and that modern writers still use with verbs taking ''de''.^(DHLF 1992) It also expressed means, manner or cause where modern French says ''avec lequel'', ''à cause duquel'', ''par lequel'', and could introduce a consequence (“because of which”).^(DHLF 1992) Classical French could repeat it with ''en'' inside the relative clause, now considered incorrect, and give it a whole clause as antecedent without ''ce''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 9th century – ''Dont'' in the ''Séquence de sainte Eulalie''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Dunt'' in the ''Chanson de Roland'': ''Le blanc haubert dunt la maille est menue''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1119 – Interrogative ''dont'' “whence” in Philippe de Thaon.^(TLFi)

+ * 17th century – Malherbe and Vaugelas condemn ''dont'' in the sense “from where”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Of which, of whom, [[m|en|whose]], as complement of a noun: ''une plante dont j'ai oublié le nom''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # As complement of a verb or adjective construed with ''de'': ''le détail dont il se souvient'', ''une voiture dont je suis content''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # From which, out of which, marking origin: ''la chambre dont je sors'', ''la famille dont il sortait''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # In which, with which, of manner: ''la manière dont elle est habillée''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Among whom, among which, [[m|en|including]]: ''des touristes dont beaucoup sont étrangers''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[où]]

+ * [[la|unde]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Dont'' cannot be the complement of a noun that is itself preceded by a preposition: one says ''l'homme au sort duquel je m'intéresse'', not ''l'homme dont je m'intéresse au sort''.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}