sous French · revision 16312

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980, Jonas fragment of Valenciennes|origins=la sub}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /su/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sous'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|sost]] (about 980), [[m|fro|soz]] and [[m|fro|suz]] (late 11th century), [[m|fro|sos]], with an etymological ⟨b⟩ ''soubz'', ''soubs'', ''sous'' from about 1180.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|soz]], [[inh|la|subtus|t=below, underneath]], an adverb in classical Latin and a preposition in imperial and Late Latin.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|12, 369b) Rare in texts, this derivative of [[m|la|sub|t=under]] must have been common in speech; the preposition “sub” itself left few traces.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) “Sub” goes back to an Indo-European “*upo”, seen in [[grc|ὑπό|tr=hupó]] and [[sa|उप|tr=úpa]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|sotto]], [[oc|sot]] and [[ca|sots]]; [[es|so]], from “sub”, is now less used than “bajo”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) In many Gallo-Romance dialects “sous” competes with [[dessous]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''sost'' in the Jonas fragment of Valenciennes (about 980), introducing something overhung by another thing without touching it.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Sous'' marks a position below.^(DHLF 1992) About 1050 it was used of a thing resting under another (''suz ciel'' “under heaven”), and by 1080 of a surface, as in ''sous terre''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) About 1160–1175 it introduced a dominating place, the basis of place names such as ''La Ferté-sous-Jouarre''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From the 15th century it meant “behind (what hides)”, as in ''sous couleur de'' and ''sous tel nom'' (1559), and it expresses subordination in ''sous les ordres de'' (1363) and ''servir sous quelqu'un'' (1405).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Metaphorical phrases include ''sous les armes'' (about 1650), ''sous le drapeau'' (1694), ''sous les drapeaux'' “serving as a soldier” (1835) and ''sous les verrous'' (1829).^(DHLF 1992) Belgian French says ''sous eau'' without the article.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Sost'' in the Jonas fragment of Valenciennes.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Suz ciel'' in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1180 – The spelling ''sous''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ * 1363 – ''Sous les ordres de''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1563 – ''Il y a anguille sous roche''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1671 – ''Rire sous cape'' in La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – ''Sous les drapeaux''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # [[m|en|under|alt=Under]], [[m|en|beneath]]: ''sous la table'', ''un oreiller sous la tête''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Under, covered by: ''sous enveloppe'', ''sous la pluie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Under the authority of, in the reign of: ''sous les ordres de'', ''sous Louis XIV''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Under (a name, an appearance): ''sous un faux nom'', ''sous prétexte de''.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Sous terre'', ''sous l'eau'': underground, underwater.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[dessous]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[la|subtus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ ''Sous'' is also the plural of [[sou]], whence ''de deux sous'' and ''de quatre sous'' “worthless”, recorded from 1791.^(Wiktionary)^(BHVF) As a prefix, ''sous-'' can mean “inferior imitation”, as in ''des sous-Matisse'' (1930).^(BHVF)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}