haut French · revision 17435

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=late 10th century (alta); c. 1050 (halt)|origins=la alō}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /o/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Alsace, Louisiana): [ho]^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''haut''' (feminine haute, masculine plural hauts, feminine plural hautes)^(Wiktionary)

+ ''Alta'' (980), Old French [[m|fro|halt]] (about 1050), then ''haut'' (12th century); Middle French ''hault''.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary) The ''h'' is aspirated: ''le haut'', ''en haut''.^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|halt]], [[inh|la|altus|t=high; deep]], crossed in the northern French area with the Frankish adjective of the same meaning, [[m|frk|*hōh]], from which it took its initial “h”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|24, 367a)^(Wiktionary) Bloch and Wartburg date the crossing to the Merovingian period; the “h” is absent from the other Romance outcomes of “altus”.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(DHLF 1992) Littré, before them, ascribed it to a tendency to add an “h”, as in “huile” and “huit”.^(Littré 1873) The Germanic word is related to [[de|hoch]] and [[en|high]].^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ Latin “altus” was the old past participle of [[m|la|alō|t=to nourish, make grow]], hence “grown tall”; it meant “high” and “deep”, both senses of intensity.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) “Alō” goes back to an Indo-European root “*al-” “to nourish, grow”, also seen in [[de|alt]] and [[en|old]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007) The vowel “au” comes from the vocalization of the ⟨l⟩.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ Cognate with [[it|alto]], [[pro|alt]], [[ca|alt]], [[es|alto]] and [[pt|alto]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found as ''alta'' at the end of the 10th century; about 1050 it means “high in rank or worth”, and the ''Chanson de Roland'' (1080) uses it for what is physically high, for a loud voice (''voix halte'') and for proud words (''paroles haltes'').^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Most of the Latin senses appear between 1050 and the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992) Of people it meant “tall” (about 1165) before ''grand'' replaced it, though ''haute taille'' remains.^(DHLF 1992) The adverb dates from 1080: ''parler haut'', ''porter haut la tête'' (1119), ''voler haut'' (1160–1174); ''haut les bras !'' (1640) gave way to ''haut les mains !'' (1922).^(DHLF 1992) ''En haut'' is found about 1120, ''de haut'' about 1170, ''de haut en bas'' in 1268 and ''là-haut'', at first “in heaven”, in 1553, ''tomber de haut'' (1580) became figurative in the 19th century.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ About 1121 ''haut'' took up the Latin sense “deep” (''la haute mer'').^(DHLF 1992) The general sense “very great” spread in classical French and survives in ''haute trahison'' (1669) and ''haute estime''.^(DHLF 1992) The noun ''le haut'', the height or upper part of something, appears about 1283 (Beaumanoir); ''tenir le haut du pavé'' is recorded in 1640.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Alta''.^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Halt'' “high in rank”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+ * 1080 – Physical height, a loud voice and the adverb, in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1121 – “Deep”.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * c. 1283 – The noun ''le haut'', in Beaumanoir.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1501 – ''Haut-bois'', later ''hautbois''.^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+ * 1640 – ''Haut les bras !''^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1669 – ''Haute trahison''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1922 – ''Haut les mains !''^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|high]], [[m|en|tall]]; situated high up: ''une haute montagne'', ''la ville haute''.^(Wiktionary)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Of a sound or voice: loud; high-pitched: ''à voix haute''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Great, high in rank, degree or worth: ''haute trahison'', ''haute couture'', ''haut fonctionnaire''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Remote in time; early: ''le haut Moyen Âge''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Of the sea or a river: deep, open; upstream: ''la haute mer'', ''la haute Loire''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Adverb===

+ # High, at a great height: ''voler haut'', ''haut les mains !''^(DHLF 1992)

+ # Aloud, loudly; openly: ''parler haut'', ''penser tout haut''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''En haut'', ''là-haut'', ''de haut'': above, up there, from above.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # Height: ''un mur de trois mètres de haut''.^(GLLF 1989)

+ # The [[m|en|top]] or upper part of something: ''le haut de la page''; a top worn with trousers or a skirt.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Des hauts et des bas'': ups and downs.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[hautain]]

+ * [[hauteur]]

+ * [[haut-le-cœur]]

+ * [[haut-de-forme]]

+ * [[haute-contre]]

+ * [[hautbois]]

+ * [[hausser]]

+ * [[là-haut]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[altitude]]

+ * [[exhausser]]

+ * [[la|altus]]

+ * [[en|haughty]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}