pourquoi French · revision 16280

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /puʁ.kwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''pourquoi'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|pur quei]], [[m|fro|porqueit]] and [[m|fro|purquei]]; the Académie wrote ''pourquoy'' in 1694 and 1718, and ''pourquoi'' from 1740.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|pour|quoi]], first written separately, “pur quei” (about 1050), and later welded into one.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|9, 401a) The pronoun “quoi” continues [[la|quid|t=what]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Littré compares the dialect forms [[wa|pokoi]] (Walloon) and Burgundian “porquey”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found about 1050 in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'' as a direct question: ''Filz Alexis, pur quei portat ta medre?'' “Son Alexis, why did your mother bear you?”^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the early 12th century it also introduced an indirect question.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Old French used it as a relative pronoun meaning “for which” (about 1165) and, from about 1250, as a linking relative meaning “and that is why”, a use frequent in the 16th century; both have died out except in the phrases ''c'est pourquoi'' and ''voilà pourquoi'' (1580, Montaigne).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun, ''le pourquoi'' meant “the cause, the motive” by about 1175, and, from 1764 also the word or question asking for a reason.^(DHLF 1992) ''Pourquoi non ?'' is recorded in La Fontaine (1668), ''pourquoi pas ?'' in Victor Hugo (1856).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1050 – ''Pur quei'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis'', in a direct question.^(TLFi)

+ * Early 12th century – First used in an indirect question, in Benedeit's ''Voyage de saint Brendan''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – Benoît de Sainte-Maure uses it as a relative, “for which”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1174–1176 – ''Le purquei'', the noun “cause, reason”, in Guernes de Pont-Sainte-Maxence.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1580 – ''C'est pourquoi'' and ''voilà pourquoi'' in Montaigne's ''Essais''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Pourquoi non ?'' in La Fontaine.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1740 – The Académie adopts the spelling ''pourquoi'' for ''pourquoy''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1856 – ''Pourquoi pas ?'' in Victor Hugo.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Why, for what [[m|en|reason]] or with what [[m|en|intention]], in a direct question: ''Pourquoi partez-vous ?''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Why, in an indirect question: ''Je vous demande pourquoi vous êtes ici.''^(Larousse)

+ # Followed by an infinitive: what is the point of: ''Pourquoi ne pas l'avouer ?''^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''C'est pourquoi'', ''voilà pourquoi'': that is why, for that reason.^(Larousse)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Pourquoi pas ?'': why not, a favourable answer to a suggestion.^(Larousse)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|cause]] or reason of something: ''le pourquoi et le comment''.^(Larousse)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # A question asking for a reason: ''les pourquoi des enfants''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[pour]]

+ * [[quoi]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ As a noun it is invariable: ''des pourquoi''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}