devenir French · revision 16347

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century|origins=la dēveniō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /də.v(ə).niʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''devenir'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|devenir]], [[inh|la|dēveniō|t=to come to, arrive at]], from [[m|la|dē]] and [[m|la|veniō|t=to come]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)^(FEW|3, 59b) In classical Latin the verb meant “to arrive at, come to” and figuratively “to resort to”; only in Late Latin did it take the sense “to become”, the one French inherited.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Littré 1873) Littré explains the shift: becoming is passing from one state to another.^(Littré 1873) Rey calls it an early borrowing from Latin rather than an inherited word.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[pro|devenir]] and [[it|divenire]].^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found at the end of the 10th century.^(Grand Robert 2005) The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) already uses it with a predicate, ''ne devient chrestien'' “becomes a Christian”, and in the question ''Qu'est devenuz li gasconz Engelers?'' “What has become of Engelier the Gascon?”^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ The impersonal ''il devient'' was used only in classical French, in the 18th century, and ''devenir à rien'' “to come to nothing” (1549) has gone out of use.^(DHLF 1992) The sense “to come or come back from somewhere” (1282, again in 1807), alive in the Centre and West of France, in Canada and in Louisiana, is due to the influence of [[venir]] rather than to the Latin word.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ The infinitive used as a noun, ''le devenir'' “change, becoming”, appears in Michelet in 1839 and belongs mainly to philosophy and literary style.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – First record.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Devenir chrestien'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1200 – ''Redevenir''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1282 – The sense “to come from somewhere”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1549 – ''Devenir à rien'' “to come to nothing”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1839 – ''Le devenir'', the noun, in Michelet.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To [[m|en|become]], to pass from one state to another: ''devenir riche'', ''il est devenu médecin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # In questions, to fare, to end up: ''qu'allons-nous devenir ?'', ''qu'est-il devenu ?''^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(regional, Quebec, Louisiana)'' To come from somewhere: ''j'en deviens''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Le devenir'': [[m|en|change]], becoming, the process by which things are transformed.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # The [[m|en|future]] of someone or something: ''le devenir de la démocratie''.^(Larousse)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[redevenir]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[venir]]

+ * [[avenir]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}