voilà French · revision 16375

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1283, Beaumanoir (ves la)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vwa.la/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''voilà''' (defective)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''ves la'' (about 1283), Middle French [[m|frm|vela]] (1342); the spelling ''voilà'' appears in Robert Estienne in 1538.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) The Académie wrote ''voila'' in 1694 and ''voilà'' from 1718.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|vois|là]]: the second person singular imperative of [[voir]] “to see, look” and the adverb [[là]] “there”, literally “look there”.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)^(Larousse) Old French still kept the two parts separate, as in “ves la” in Beaumanoir.^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The older pronunciation “vela”, common in the 16th and 17th centuries, gave the popular form ''v'là''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) It is the counterpart of [[voici]] “look here”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Littré compares the dialect forms “velà” in Berry, ''v'lo“ in Picard and ”velai'' in Burgundian.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In 1342 Guillaume de Machaut uses ''vela'' to point out a person at some distance: ''vela celui qui vainqui la bataille'' “there is the one who won the battle”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the end of the 14th century it also pointed back to what had just been said (Froissart), giving phrases such as ''voilà comment'' (1478–80), ''voilà pourquoi'' (1580) and ''voilà tout'' (1601).^(TLFi) By 1485 it introduced a noun or pronoun set in the circumstances (''me vella'' “here I am”), and, from 1511 ''vela pas'', later ''ne voilà-t-il pas'' (1627), expressed surprise.^(TLFi)

+

+ Grammarians note that it kept a verb's syntax: it takes object pronouns (''le voilà'') and a relative clause (''le voilà qui arrive'', 1607).^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007) From 1757 it was used of time, meaning “it has been, ago” (''voilà dix ans'').^(TLFi) The classical contrast with ''voici'' (near) and ''voilà'' (far) is hardly kept in everyday speech, which uses ''voilà'' for both.^(Petit Robert 2007) ''Et voilà !'' at the end of a statement became fashionable in 1811, according to a song of that year.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1283 – ''Ves la'' in Beaumanoir's ''Coutumes de Beauvaisis''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1342 – ''Vela'' in Guillaume de Machaut.^(TLFi)

+ * Late 14th century – Froissart uses it of what has just been mentioned.^(TLFi)

+ * 1538 – Robert Estienne spells it ''voilà''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1580 – ''Voilà pourquoi'' in Bernard Palissy.^(TLFi)

+ * 1627 – ''Ne voilà-t-il pas'' in Charles Sorel.^(TLFi)

+ * 1757 – First use in the sense “ago”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1811 – The exclamation ''Et voilà !'' is said to be in fashion.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Preposition===

+ # There is, there are: points out a person or thing, especially one at some [[m|en|distance]], in contrast with ''voici''; in everyday use also for what is near: ''Voilà l'argent''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # With an object pronoun: ''le voilà'', ''me voilà'', “there he is”, “here I am”.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Refers back to what has just been said: ''voilà pourquoi'', ''voilà tout''.^(Larousse)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''Et voilà'': marks a [[m|en|conclusion]] or a statement of fact.^(Larousse)

+ # ''En voilà'': stresses a quantity or a quality: ''en voilà une idée !''^(Le Robert)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # Followed by a length of time: ago, for: ''voilà trois ans qu'il est parti''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[revoilà]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[voici]]

+ * [[voir]]

+ * [[là]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Dictionaries class it as a preposition or adverb, but it keeps the syntax of a verb and some grammarians call it a “presentative”.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi) The word was borrowed into English.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}