parfois French · revision 17384

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=late 13th century, Mahieu le Vilain (par fois)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /paʁ.fwa/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''parfois'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Written ''par fois'' until it was joined as ''parfoys'' in 1530 (Palsgrave); Anglo-Norman had ''parfeiz'', ''parfiez''.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(AND)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is a compound of [[par]], marking repetition in time, and [[fois]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 411b)^(Wiktionary) “Fois” is inherited from [[la|vicis|t=change, turn, succession]], the plural “vicēs” having given the word for each occasion on which something happens.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The phrase ''par fois'' “from time to time, at moments” is first found at the end of the 13th century in Mahieu le Vilain's translation of Aristotle's ''Meteorology'' (in a manuscript of the 14th century); it is isolated until Commynes uses it in the 15th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Joined as ''parfoys'' in 1530, it settled into the meaning “now and then, in some cases”.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Rey places it between the neutral [[quelquefois]] and the familiar ''des fois''; it is mainly written, but popular speech uses ''si parfois'' for ''si par hasard'' “if by chance”.^(DHLF 1992)^(TLFi) ''Parfois…, parfois…'' “now…, now…” is recorded in Victor Hugo (1869).^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 13th century – ''Par fois'' in Mahieu le Vilain.^(TLFi)

+ * 15th century – In Commynes.^(TLFi)

+ * 1530 – ''Parfoys'', in Palsgrave.^(TLFi)

+ * 1869 – ''Parfois…, parfois…'' in Hugo.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # [[m|en|sometimes]], now and then: ''il vient parfois nous voir''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In some cases, occasionally: ''il neige parfois sur la Côte d'Azur''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Parfois…, parfois…'': now…, now…: ''parfois gai, parfois mélancolique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fois]]

+ * [[quelquefois]]

+ * [[autrefois]]

+ * [[toutefois]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}