mien French · revision 17518

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=842, Strasbourg Oaths|origins=la meus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /mjɛ̃/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''mien''' (feminine mienne, masculine plural miens, feminine plural miennes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French [[m|fro|meon]] (842), [[m|fro|mens]] (about 1050), ''mien''; old feminine [[m|fro|meie]], [[m|fro|moie]], replaced by ''mienne'' (about 1340).^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is the stressed form of the possessive, [[inh|fro|mien]], [[inh|la|meus|t=my, mine]], from its accusative case; the unstressed form gave [[mon]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005)^(REW 1935) The feminine form was remade on the masculine and ousted the older feminine forms, from Latin [[m|la|mea]], used from about 1100 to the 15th or 16th century.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré reports that Diez saw in the masculine an old possessive form with an added ending, while others took it for a diphthongized form of [[pcd|men]].^(Littré 1873)

+

+ Compare [[it|mio]], [[es|mío]], [[pt|meu]], [[oc|mieu]] and [[ro|mieu]].^(REW 1935)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The Strasbourg Oaths (842) have ''meon'' in ''cist meon fradre Karlo'', “this my brother Charles”.^(TLFi)^(Grand Robert 2005)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ As an adjective before a noun after an article (''un mien filz'', ''Chanson de Roland'') it was already called old-fashioned by the Académie in 1694 and survives only as a playful archaism (''un mien cousin'').^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) As a predicate (''je le fais mien'', and ''sois mienne'' in the language of love, late 12th century) it is literary.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989) The usual use is as a pronoun with the article, ''le mien'', from the ''Chanson de Roland'' on.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ As a noun ''le mien'' “my property” (about 1140) is archaic;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''les miens'' “my family, my people” is from the 14th century, ''j'y mets du mien'' “I do my bit” from 1668, and Furetière records ''j'ai bien fait des miennes'' “I sowed my wild oats” in 1690.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Timeline==

+ * 842 – ''Meon'' in the Strasbourg Oaths.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1050 – ''Mens'', in the ''Vie de saint Alexis''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1100 – Pronoun use and ''un mien filz'', in the ''Chanson de Roland''.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1340 – The feminine ''mienne'', in Guillaume de Machaut.^(TLFi)

+ * 14th century – ''Les miens'' “my kin”.^(TLFi)

+ * 1668 – ''Y mettre du mien''.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1690 – ''Faire des miennes'', in Furetière.^(TLFi)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Pronoun===

+ # ''Le mien, la mienne, les miens, les miennes'': [[m|en|mine|alt=mine]]: ''votre fils et le mien''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(TLFi)

+

+ ===Adjective===

+ # ''(literary, as predicate)'' Mine: ''ses idées que j'ai faites miennes'', ''tu es mienne''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # ''(dated or humorous)'' My, of mine: ''un mien cousin''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # ''Les miens'': my family, my people.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+ # ''Y mettre du mien'': to do my share, make an effort.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873)

+ # ''(dated)'' ''Le mien'': what is mine, my property.^(Littré 1873)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[mon]]

+ * [[moi]]

+ * [[tien]]

+ * [[sien]]

+ * [[la|meus]]

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}