quel French · revision 16363

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger (qual)|origins=la quālis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /kɛl/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''quel''' ''m'' (feminine quelle, masculine plural quels, feminine plural quelles)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''qual'' (about 980), then ''quel'' (1050); the feminine ''quele'', later ''quelle'', was formed by analogy and replaced the inherited feminine ''quel'' by the 16th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|quel]], [[inh|la|quālis|t=of what kind]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 1411b)^(Wiktionary) The Latin word, correlative of [[m|la|tālis]] (whence [[tel]]), was used in direct and indirect questions; in late popular Latin it was also used for the relative [[m|la|quī]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) It is formed on the stem of the interrogative [[m|la|quis]] with a suffix “-li-”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Old French declined it: subject “quels”, “queus”, “quieus”, object “quel”; the feminine was at first the same as the masculine.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Cognate with [[ro|care]], [[it|quale]], [[oc|qual]], [[ca|qual]], [[es|cual]] and [[pt|qual]].^(REW 1935)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the second half of the 10th century the ''Vie de saint Léger'' uses ''qual'' as an adjective; the ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) has it in an indirect question, ''Qual agre dol, no'l sab om vius'' “what sorrow he had, no living man knows”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the first texts it asked about the quality, nature or identity of a person or thing, and also about quantity or rank, roles that were Latin [[m|la|quis]], [[m|la|quantus]] and [[m|la|quotus]].^(DHLF 1992) The exclamatory use is as old: ''quels dols m'est presentet !'' (about 1050).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Quel que'' with the subjunctive, “whatever”, is found in 1080; it survives before ''être'' (''quelle que soit'') but elsewhere gave way to ''quelque… que''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) As a pronoun ''quel'' competed with [[lequel]] until the classical period (''quel veux-tu ?''); today it is used so only before ''être'' (''quelle est la plus courte ?'').^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) It also formed ''lequel'' (1080) and [[quelque]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – ''Qual'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Quel'' as an exclamation in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1080 – ''Quel que'' and ''lequel'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * c. 1112 – The welded form ''quelque''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 16th century – The feminine ''quelle'' replaces the old form.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # [[m|en|which]], [[m|en|what]]: in direct or indirect questions: ''Quelle heure est-il ?'', ''je ne sais quel chemin prendre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # What a…: in exclamations: ''Quelle chance !''^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''Quel que'': whatever: ''quelles que soient ses raisons''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # Which one: only before ''être'': ''de ces routes, quelle est la plus courte ?''^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[lequel]]

+ * [[quelque]]

+ * [[quelquefois]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[tel]]

+ * [[qualité]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}