longtemps French · revision 17440

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=compound|attested=late 10th century, Passion de Clermont (long temps); 1498–1515 (longtemps)}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /lɔ̃.tɑ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''longtemps'''^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''lonc tens'' (about 980), Middle French ''long temps'' (about 1361); written as one word from the early 16th century.^(GLLF 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is formed [[af|fr|long|temps]], the welding (1498–1515) of the old adverbial phrase “long temps”, Old French [[m|fro|lonc tens]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|5, 417a) The adjective continues [[la|longus|t=long]], the noun [[la|tempus|t=time]].^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ ''Long temps'' is first found at the end of the 10th century in the ''Passion'' of Clermont, in the sense “for a long time”; the one-word spelling is in Pierre Gringore (1498–1515).^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Used as a noun after a preposition it is found from about 1145 (Wace, ''de lonc tens''), and ''longtemps avant'' or ''après'' in Wace about 1155.^(TLFi)^(GLLF 1989) ''Il y a longtemps que'' dates from 1563 (Bernard Palissy).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Classical French used ''de longtemps'' for both “for a long while” and “since long ago”, also ''dès longtemps''; with a negative future, as in ''on ne le reverra pas de longtemps'', the word has pointed to a long time ahead since 1835.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ''Longtemps'' does not duplicate ''longuement'', an adverb of manner implying that something takes all the time it needs, or too much.^(DHLF 1992) In the French of the Indian Ocean, after the Creole, ''létemps longtemps'' means “long ago”.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * Late 10th century – ''Long temps'' in the ''Passion'' of Clermont.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1145 – ''De lonc tens'', in Wace.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1361 – The spelling ''long temps'', in Oresme.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1498–1515 – ''Longtemps'' as one word, in Pierre Gringore.^(TLFi)

+ * 1563 – ''Il y a longtemps que'', in Bernard Palissy.^(TLFi)

+ * 1835 – With a negative future.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adverb===

+ # For a long time, over a long [[m|en|period]]: ''il a longtemps vécu à Paris''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''Longtemps avant'', ''longtemps après'': long before, long after.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # After a preposition: a long time: ''depuis longtemps'', ''pour longtemps'', ''avant longtemps''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Il y a longtemps que'': it has been a long time since.^(TLFi)^(Petit Robert 2007)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[long]]

+ * [[temps]]

+ * [[longuement]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}