beaucoup French · revision 16323

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1272, as a noun (biau cop)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /bo.ku/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /bo.ku/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /bu.ku/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''beaucoup'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|beau|coup]].^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|2, 868b) “Coup” is probably used here in the sense “part cut off from a whole”, as in Old French “grant coup de la terre” “a large part of the land” (Joinville).^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873) Wiktionary adds that “coup” also meant “a helping of soup or drink” (about 1375), a sense that may have helped, Etymonline glosses “beaucoup” as “a great heap” and compares Spanish “golpe” “multitude”.^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline) “Coup” itself comes from popular Latin “colpus”, from [[la|colaphus|t=blow with the fist]], from [[grc|κόλαφος|tr=kólaphos|t=slap]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Old Occitan had “belcop” in the same sense.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) “Beaucoup” replaced Old French [[m|fro|moult|t=much]], from Latin “multum”, in the 16th century.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the 13th century as a noun, ''biau cop'' “a fine, great thing”, in Joinville, where it is used of the shots of siege engines.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In 1379 ''beaucoup'' after a verb meant “a great quantity”: the ewes ''menge[nt] beaucoup au mois de juing''.^(TLFi) ''Beaucoup de'' with a noun appears at the end of the 14th century in Froissart, and the adverb is recorded in 1465.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005) In Louisiana French ''beaucoup'' also means “very”, and English has borrowed the word in slang (''boocoo'').^(Wiktionary)^(Etymonline)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 13th century – ''Biau cop'' “a fine thing”, in Joinville.^(TLFi)

+ * 1379 – “A great quantity”, in Jean de Brie.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – ''Beaucoup de'' in Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1465 – Adverb ''belcop''.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 16th century – Replaces ''moult''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # A lot, much: ''Il pleut beaucoup'', ''aimer beaucoup''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Beaucoup de'': many, much, a lot of: ''beaucoup de gens''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # As a pronoun: many people, many things: ''Beaucoup pensent que…''^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # With a comparative: much, far: ''beaucoup plus'', ''beaucoup trop'', ''de beaucoup'', by far.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Merci beaucoup'': thank you very much.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(Louisiana)'' Very.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[beau]]

+ * [[coup]]

+ * [[moult]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}