votre French · revision 17485

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=937–952, Sermon sur Jonas (vost)|origins=la vōs}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /vɔtʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+ * IPA (informal): /vɔt/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''votre''' sg^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''vostre''; plural ''voz'', ''vos''; reduced forms ''vo'' in Picard and the north-east.^(TLFi) The Académie wrote ''vostre'' in 1694 and 1718, ''votre'' from 1740.^(TLFi)^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|vostre]], [[inh|la|voster|t=your]], an archaic and popular form of [[m|la|vester]], perhaps remade after [[m|la|noster|t=our]] and [[m|la|vōs|t=you]].^(TLFi)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(FEW|14, 349b)^(Wiktionary) The form “voster” is found in Plautus and Terence.^(TLFi)

+

+ Old French had stressed and unstressed forms: “vostre” (from “voster”, “vostrum”, “vostra”) and the plural object form “voz”, which gave the modern plural “vos”.^(TLFi) Cognate with [[pro|vostre]], [[es|vuestro]], [[pt|vosso]] and [[it|vostro]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Sermon on Jonah (937–952) has the plural ''vost'' in ''faites vost alsmosnes'' “give your alms”; the singular ''vostre'' is in the ''Passion'' of Clermont at the end of the 10th century.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ From the first texts it referred to several persons and, as a polite plural, to a single person: ''Cum est mudede vostra bela figure !'' (''Vie de saint Alexis'', about 1050) and ''Cumpaign Rollant, kar sunez vostre corn'' (''Chanson de Roland'').^(TLFi) It is used in titles of respect (''Votre Majesté'') and, with scorn, of what the other person speaks of (''votre hideuse réalité'', Flaubert).^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

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+ The stressed form, with a circumflex, became the separate possessive [[vôtre]].^(Littré 1873)^(Wiktionary) In informal speech the final ''-re'' is often dropped (/vɔt/).^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 937–952 – ''Vost alsmosnes'' in the Sermon on Jonah.^(TLFi)

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

+ * c. 1050 – ''Vostra bela figure'', a polite plural, in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – ''Voz filz, voz freres'' in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * 1740 – The Académie spells it ''votre''.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Determiner===

+ # [[m|en|your]]: belonging to or related to the persons addressed: ''vos enfants''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Larousse)

+ # Your, said to one person in the polite form: ''votre manteau, Monsieur''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # In titles: ''Votre Majesté'', ''Votre Excellence''.^(Petit Robert 2007)

+ # Expressing scorn or impatience: the thing you talk of: ''laissez-moi avec votre réalité''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[vous]]

+ * [[vôtre]]

+ * [[notre]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}