sinon French · revision 17263

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=c. 1350 (se non); 1580, Montaigne (sinon)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /si.nɔ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sinon'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''se… non'', ''se… nun'', with other words between (''Chanson de Roland''); ''senon'' early 14th century, ''sinon'' in one word from the late 15th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound [[af|fr|si|non]], joining the construction [[fro|se|alt=se… nun]] “except”, in which other words stood between the two parts.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|11, 561b) “Se” was the usual Old French form of the conjunction [[si]], from [[la|sī|t=if]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) Wiktionary compares [[ca|sinó]] and [[pt|senão]].^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Chanson de Roland'' already has the separated construction: ''ne me crerez se de vostre prod nun'' “you will not believe me except for your own good”; the two parts are first found together about 1350, ''se non'' in Gilles le Muisit.^(Littré 1873)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the early 15th century ''senon'' meant “if not, except” (the ''Journal d'un bourgeois de Paris''), and Commynes writes ''sinon'' about 1500.^(TLFi) Montaigne (1580) uses it in concessions, often with ''au moins'', and by 1588 for “and perhaps even”: ''me voicy comme j'y entray, sinon un peu mieux''.^(TLFi) The meaning “otherwise, or else” after an order or condition is noted in d'Aubigné at the end of the 16th century.^(GLLF 1989) ''Sinon que'' “unless” and “except that” dates from the 14th and 15th centuries.^(TLFi) In current colloquial speech ''sinon'' is also used for “otherwise, apart from that, by the way”, a use Wiktionary marks as proscribed.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * c. 1100 – ''Se… nun'' “except”, ''Chanson de Roland''.^(Littré 1873)

+ * c. 1350 – ''Se non'' together, Gilles le Muisit.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1500 – ''Sinon'', Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1580 – Concessive ''sinon… au moins'', Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+ * 1588 – ''Sinon'' “and perhaps even”, Montaigne.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Conjunction===

+ # [[m|en|otherwise]], or else: ''dépêche-toi, sinon tu seras en retard''.^(GLLF 1989)^(Larousse)

+ # [[m|en|except]], if not, other than: ''que faire, sinon attendre?'', ''il ne pense à rien, sinon à partir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # If not, not to say: ''il est un des rares, sinon le seul''.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+ # ''Sinon que'': except that.^(Larousse)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # ''(colloquial)'' Otherwise, apart from that; by the way.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[si]]

+ * [[non]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}