aucun French · revision 16418

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 980 (alcun)|origins=la aliquis, la ūnus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /o.kœ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /o.kœ̃.n‿/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''aucun''' ''m'' (feminine aucune, masculine plural aucuns, feminine plural aucunes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|alcun]] (about 980), ''aucun'' from 1209, Anglo-Norman also ''ascun'', ''alcon'', ''akun''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(DHLF 1992)^(AND)

+ The spelling ''aulcun'' was used in the 16th century, though the ⟨l⟩ was not pronounced.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|alcun]], [[inh|la-vul|*alicūnus|t=someone]], formed from the stem of [[la|aliquis|t=someone]] and [[m|la|ūnus|t=one]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|24, 322b)^(REW 1935) It continues the Latin phrase “aliquem unum” “a certain one”, found in Varro.^(DHLF 1992) “Aliquis” is from [[m|la|alius|t=other]] and [[m|la|quis|t=who]].^(DHLF 1992) Diez suggested that old forms such as “alquen” might instead come from “aliquis” with “homo”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|alcuno]], [[oc|alcun]], [[ca|algun]], [[es|alguno]] and [[pt|algum]], which mostly kept the sense “some”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''alcun'' at the end of the 10th century, with the positive sense “someone, some”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used with ''ne'' in negative sentences, the adjective took a negative value by 1000–1050, and ''aucun'' gradually came to mean “none, not any”, as Italian ''alcuno'' also did.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) The positive sense “some, someone” lasted until the 17th century; in the plural it was still common in Rabelais (''les aucuns'', 1532), and ''d'aucuns'' “some people” survives as an archaism.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(GLLF 1989) In questions and conditional clauses it keeps a positive sense in literary French: ''plus qu'aucun autre''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert) The adverb [[aucunement]] went the same way, from “somewhat” to “in no way”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 980 – ''Alcun'', pronoun, “someone”.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1000–1050 – Negative use with ''ne''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 12th century – ''Alcunement'' “in no way”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1209 – The form ''aucun''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1532 – ''Les aucuns'' “some people” in Rabelais.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # ''(with ne or sans)'' No, not any: ''il n'a aucun ami'', ''sans aucun doute''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary, positive)'' Any: ''plus qu'aucun autre''.^(Le Robert)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''(with ne)'' None, not one: ''aucun n'est venu''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''D'aucuns'': some people ''(literary)''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[aucunement]]

+ * [[un]]

+ * [[autre]]

+ * [[la|aliquis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ Before a vowel the ⟨n⟩ is linked: ''aucun ami'' /o.kœ̃.n‿a.mi/.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}