fils French · revision 17467

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=2nd half of the 10th century, Vie de saint Léger|origins=la fīlius}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /fis/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (Quebec): /fɪs/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (archaic): /fi/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''fils''' ''m'' (invariable)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French subject case ''fils'', ''fiz'', object case ''fil'', Picard ''fieu''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The ''s'' is pronounced (/fis/); the older pronunciation /fi/ lasted until the 19th century.^(Grand Robert 2005)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|fils]], [[inh|la|fīlius|t=son, child]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(FEW|3, 521a)^(Wiktionary) The modern form is the Old French subject case, kept because it was often used as a vocative, and probably also to avoid confusion with [[fil]] “thread”.^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ Latin “fīlius”, like [[m|la|fēcundus]], goes back to an Indo-European root “*dhē-” “to suck”; it first meant “nursling” and replaced the old Indo-European word for “son”.^(DHLF 1992)^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873) Cognate with [[ro|fiu]], [[it|figlio]], [[oc|filh]], [[ca|fill]], [[es|hijo]] and [[pt|filho]].^(Petit Robert 2007)^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ It is first found in the second half of the 10th century in the ''Vie de saint Léger'', for a male child considered in relation to his parents; the ''Passion'' of Clermont (late 10th century) has ''fils Deu'', the Son of God.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ In the early 12th century it also meant descendants, as in ''li fil des humes'' “the sons of men” (Oxford Psalter).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From about 1196 it was used for any boy, without displacing ''garçon''; it survives as a form of address (''mon fils !''), especially in the south of France.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ''Fils de famille'' dates from 1606, ''fils à papa'' is more recent.^(DHLF 1992) The old pronunciation /fi/ gave insults such as ''fi de garce''.^(DHLF 1992) The diminutive [[fiston]] dates from 1585, ''beau-fils'' from 1468 and ''petit-fils'' from the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 2nd half of the 10th century – ''Fils'' in the ''Vie de saint Léger''.^(TLFi)

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

+ * Early 12th century – ''Li fil des humes'', descendants.^(TLFi)

+ * 13th century – ''Petit-fils''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1468 – ''Beau-fils''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1585 – ''Fiston''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1606 – ''Fils de famille''.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Noun===

+ # A [[m|en|son]]: ''il a deux fils'', ''fils unique''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # After a surname: junior: ''Dumas fils''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # ''(literary)'' A descendant: ''les fils des Gaulois''; a native: ''un fils du pays''.^(Larousse)

+ # ''Le Fils'': the Son, the second person of the Trinity, ''le Fils de l'homme''.^(Wiktionary)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''(form of address)'' ''Mon fils'': my boy.^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[fille]]

+ * [[filial]]

+ * [[fiston]]

+ * [[la|fīlius]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}