là-bas French · revision 17354

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=1532, Rabelais, Pantagruel}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /la.ba/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA: /la.bɑ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''là-bas'''^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[af|fr|là|bas|t2=down, below]], the adverb “bas”.^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ Rabelais uses it in 1532 in ''Pantagruel'' for “down below, in the [[m|en|underworld]]”.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the 16th century it also meant simply “down there, below”, as in Des Périers (1558) and in a drinking song attributed to Olivier Basselin (before 1616): ''Voulez-vous rien mander Là bas à la rivière ?'' (“Do you want anything sent down there to the river?”).^(TLFi) The usual modern sense, “over there, far off”, is first recorded before 1833 in Béranger and in the Académie's dictionary of 1835.^(TLFi)

+

+ The older senses are now dated: ''là-bas'' as the realm of the dead, the opposite of [[ici-bas]], is still the title of Huysmans' novel ''Là-bas'' (1891).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 1532 – “Down below, in the underworld”, in Rabelais's ''Pantagruel''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1558 – “Down there”, in Des Périers.^(TLFi)

+ * before 1833 – “Over there, far off”, in Béranger.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – The Académie records it under ''bas''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1891 – Huysmans publishes the novel ''Là-bas''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # Over there, in a place some way off: ''là-bas, dans la vallée''.^(Larousse)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' Down there, [[m|en|below]].^(TLFi)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(dated)'' In the [[m|en|underworld]]; in the [[m|en|hereafter]].^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[là-haut]]

+ * [[ici-bas]]

+ * [[bas]]

+ * [[là]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}