oiseau French · revision 17174

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1100, Chanson de Roland (oisel)|origins=la avis}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /wa.zo/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /wa.zo/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /zwa.zo/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Louisiana): /zo.zo/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''oiseau''' ''m'' (plural oiseaux, feminine oiselle)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''oisel'' (1080), plural ''oiseaus'' (about 1165), whence the singular ''oiseau'', ''oisiau'' in Brunetto Latini (about 1265), ''oiseau'' in Froissart (about 1360).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) ''Oisel'' survived long in falconry.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|oisel]], [[inh|la-lat|aucellus|t=bird]], a syncopated form of “*avicellus”, diminutive of [[m|la|avis|t=bird]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|25, 776a)^(Wiktionary) The simple “avis” survives in Romance only in [[es|ave]] and [[pt|ave]]; elsewhere fuller forms replaced it, though it remained as a generic word in compounds behind [[autruche]] and [[outarde]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) “Avis” belongs to the Indo-European root “*aw-”, also seen in [[sa|वि|tr=ví]], [[xcl|հաւ|tr=haw|t=bird]] and [[grc|αἰετός|tr=aietós|t=eagle]], Latin [[m|la|ōvum|t=egg]] seems to be of the same group.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|uccello]], [[pro|auzel]] and [[ca|aucell]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(REW 1935) In northern dialects “oiseau” was often replaced, by [[moineau]] in the Centre and in Picard, and by “moisson” (properly “sparrow”) in Walloon.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ In the ''Chanson de Roland'' (about 1100) ''oisel'' is a bird: ''Plus est isnels que n'est oisel qui vole'' “he is swifter than a flying bird”.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the end of the 14th century, in Froissart, it was used of a person, often ironically, ''rare oiseau'' is in La Fontaine (1665), ''oiseau rare'' in Béranger (1829) and ''drôle d'oiseau'' in Delvau (1883).^(TLFi) ''Oiseau de passage'' meant a migratory bird in 1549 and a person who does not stay in 1675, and ''oiseau de mauvais augure'' became figurative in 1761, ''à vol d'oiseau'' “as the crow flies” is in Trévoux (1771).^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi) ''Se donner des noms d'oiseaux'', to call each other names, is recorded in 1872.^(TLFi) In Quebec ''être aux oiseaux'' means to be delighted.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ From 1358–59 ''oiseau'' was also a builder's hod for carrying mortar, and, from 1832 a roofer's trough, a sense probably influenced by [[auge]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Oisel'', ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1165 – The plural ''oiseaus'', Benoît de Sainte-Maure.^(TLFi)

+ * 1358–59 – A builder's hod.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1360 – ''Oiseau'', of a person, Froissart.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1665 – ''Rare oiseau'', La Fontaine.^(TLFi)

+ * 1771 – ''À vol d'oiseau''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1883 – ''Drôle d'oiseau''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|bird]]: ''les oiseaux migrateurs'', ''oiseau de proie''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(familiar, pejorative)'' A person, a fellow: ''un drôle d'oiseau'', ''un oiseau rare'', a rare person, ''un oiseau de passage''.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)

+ # ''À vol d'oiseau'': as the crow flies.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(technical)'' A builder's [[m|en|hod]] for carrying mortar.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+ # In names of birds: ''oiseau-mouche'', a [[m|en|hummingbird]], ''oiseau-lyre'', a lyrebird, ''oiseau de paradis''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[oiselet]]

+ * [[oisillon]]

+ * [[oiseleur]]

+ * [[oiselier]]

+ * [[oisellerie]]

+ * [[oiselle]]

+ * [[oiseau-mouche]]

+ * [[oiseau-lyre]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[oie]]

+ * [[autruche]]

+ * [[outarde]]

+ * [[aviaire]]

+ * [[la|avis]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ The proverb ''petit à petit, l'oiseau fait son nid'' is recorded by Furetière in 1690.^(GLLF 1989) In Belgian French ''un oiseau pour le chat'' is a frail person.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}