guère French · revision 16713

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (ne… guaires)|origins=frk *waigaro}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /ɡɛʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''guère''' (adverb); also ''guères'' (dated or poetic)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+ Old French ''guaires'', ''gueres'', ''gaire''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|guaires]], [[bor|frk|*waigaro|t=much]],^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|17, 469a) a form reconstructed from [[goh|weigiro|t=not very, little]] (with a negative) and [[gmh|unweiger|t=not very]], which closely matches the French construction.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Wiktionary) Wiktionary relates it to Frankish [[m|frk|*waigr|t=resistant]].^(Wiktionary) The final ⟨s⟩ of the older spelling is the adverbial ⟨s⟩.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Compare [[oc|gaire]], [[ca|gaire]] and [[it|guari]], which Bloch and Wartburg take as a borrowing from French.^(Wiktionary)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) has ''ne… guaires'' before an adverb or adjective, “not very”, and before a verb, “not long”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Chrétien de Troyes's ''Erec et Enide'' (1165–70) uses ''ne… guere'' with a verb for “not much”, and Marie de France (about 1170) ''ne… guaires de'' with a noun.^(TLFi) Old French also had ''gaire'' alone, “much” (1188); that use without a negative became rare from the 16th century and went out of central French in the 17th, though Montaigne still writes ''aillent guiere avant'' “go very far”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) With a double negative, ''pas guère'', ''point guère'' “not much” survives in regional and rural French, chiefly in the West and along the Rhône valley.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Ne… guère que'' “hardly anything but” is in Commynes (about 1500) and ''ne… guère plus'' in Racine (1667).^(TLFi) The adverb [[naguère]] “not long ago” comes from ''n'a guère'' “it is not long”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Ne… guaires'' “not very; not long”, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1165–70 – ''Ne… guere'' “not much”, Chrétien de Troyes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1188 – ''Gaire'' “much”, without a negative.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1500 – ''Ne… guères que'', Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 17th century – The positive use dies out in central French.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1667 – ''Ne… guère plus'', Racine.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''Ne… guère'': not much, not very, hardly: ''ce n'est guère difficile'', ''je n'aime guère ce quartier''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Ne… guère'': not often, not long: ''cela ne se dit guère''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Ne… guère que'': hardly anything (anyone) but: ''il n'y a guère que lui''.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # ''(obsolete)'' Much, very.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(regional)'' ''Pas guère'': not much.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[naguère]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}