prononcer French · revision 16992

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=borrowing|attested=c. 1119, Philippe de Thaon|origins=la nuntius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /pʁɔ.nɔ̃.se/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''prononcer'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|pronuncier]], ''purnuncier'', ''prononcer'' from the 13th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[bor|la|prōnūntiō|t=to announce aloud; to proclaim; to pronounce, recite]] (1121–1134),^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|9, 445a) formed with [[m|la|prō|t=forth]] and [[m|la|nūntiō|t=to announce]],^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(GLLF 1989) a verb of the family of [[m|la|nūntius|t=messenger]] that French replaced by its prefixed forms ([[annoncer]], [[dénoncer]], [[énoncer]], [[renoncer]]).^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Compare [[es|pronunciar]] and [[it|pronunziare]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Philippe de Thaon has ''pronuncier'' about 1119;^(GLLF 1989) the Grand Robert gives it the sense “to declare, proclaim” at its first record about 1120,^(Grand Robert 2005) and an early 12th-century psalter says ''Purnuncera ma langue le tuen parlement'', “my tongue will utter your word”.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As in Latin, it first meant “to declare, proclaim” and, with a person as object, “to name” (after 1350), uses lost in the 17th century.^(DHLF 1992) The legal sense “to pronounce (a sentence)” survived; it is in Beaumanoir about 1283.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) In Middle and classical French ''prononcer sur'', ''contre'', ''pour'' (1604) meant “to decide”, before ''se prononcer sur'' took over (1798).^(DHLF 1992)^(BHVF)

+

+ From about 1225 the stress fell on the act of speaking: “to utter, articulate”; by extension “to deliver (a speech)” (1538) and simply “to say”.^(DHLF 1992) In classical French the verb also meant “to mark clearly” a feature in art (1667), a sense that lives on in the participle [[prononcé]] “marked, pronounced”.^(DHLF 1992) The noun [[prononciation]] (16th century) first kept the legal sense of Latin ''prōnūntiātiō'' “declaration”, ''prononçable'' is from 1611.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1119 – ''Pronuncier'', in Philippe de Thaon.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * c. 1225 – “To utter, articulate”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1283 – Of pronouncing a judgment, in Beaumanoir.^(GLLF 1989)^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1538 – “To deliver (a speech)”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1604 – ''Prononcer sur'' “to decide”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1611 – ''Prononçable''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1667 – “To mark clearly”, in the arts.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1798 – ''Se prononcer'' recorded by the Académie.^(BHVF)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Verb===

+ # To pronounce, deliver (a [[m|en|judgment]], a decision) by virtue of one's authority: ''prononcer un arrêt, une sentence''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # To [[m|en|utter]], say: ''prononcer un mot''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # To [[m|en|deliver]] (a speech): ''prononcer un discours''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # To [[m|en|articulate]] (sounds, words) in a given way: ''bien, mal prononcer''.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''Se prononcer'': to give one's opinion, to come down for or against something; also, of a word or letter, to be pronounced.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[prononciation]]

+ * [[prononçable]]

+ * [[imprononçable]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[prononcé]]

+ * [[annoncer]]

+ * [[énoncer]]

+ * [[nonce]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}