cou French · revision 16600

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1170, Benoît de Sainte-Maure (cou); c. 1100 (col)|origins=la collum}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ku/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''cou''' ''m'' (plural cous)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French singular [[m|fro|col]], plural ''cous'', ''cou'' in the singular from about 1170, while ''col'' stayed usual until the 17th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the old oblique plural “cous” of Old French [[m|fro|col]] (see [[col]]), [[inh|la|collum|t=neck]], earlier “collus”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|2, 911a) The neuter “collum” may have been drawn in by other neuter names of body parts, “collus” goes back to “*kol-so-s”, related either to the root [[ine-pro|*kel-|t=high]] or, more likely, to [[ine-pro|*kʷel-|t=to turn]].^(DHLF 1992) “Cou” and “col” are doublets: “cou” kept the anatomical sense, “col” the collar and the narrow pass.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|collo]], [[es|cuello]], [[pt|colo]], [[oc|col]] and [[ca|coll]].^(REW 1935)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Benoît de Sainte-Maure's ''Chronique des ducs de Normandie'' (about 1170) has ''cou'' in the singular for the part of the body joining the head to the trunk; the ''Chanson de Roland'' (1080) has ''col''.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ ''Jusqu'au cou'' “up to one's neck” is in Froissart (late 14th century), ''se jeter au cou de qqn'' in Corneille (1644) and ''la bride sur le cou'' “given free rein” in Vaugelas (before 1650).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) By analogy it was used for the neck of a bottle (1690), and it forms bird and plant names such as ''cou-rouge'' “robin” (1767).^(TLFi) In Swiss French, Savoy and parts of Africa ''avoir mal au cou'' means to have a sore throat, a use from Franco-Provençal dialects.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Col'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1170 – Singular ''cou'', Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * late 14th century – ''Jusques au cou'', Froissart.^(TLFi)

+ * 1644 – ''Se jeter au cou de qqn'', Corneille.^(TLFi)

+ * 1690 – The neck of a bottle, Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # The [[m|en|neck]]: ''un long cou'', ''porter un collier au cou'', ''se jeter au cou de qqn''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Jusqu'au cou'': up to one's neck: ''être endetté jusqu'au cou''.^(TLFi)^(BHVF)

+ # ''(Switzerland)'' Throat: ''avoir mal au cou''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # The neck (of a bottle, a vessel).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[accoler]]

+ * [[accolade]]

+ * [[encolure]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[col]]

+ * [[collier]]

+ * [[la|collum]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}