sourd French · revision 17696

+ {{infobox|confidence=established|formation=inherited|attested=c. 1050, Vie de saint Alexis|origins=la surdus}}

+

+ ==Pronunciation==

+ * IPA: /suʁ/^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Forms==

+ '''sourd''' (feminine sourde, masculine plural sourds, feminine plural sourdes)^(Wiktionary)

+ Old French ''surz'', ''surt'' (about 1050), ''sort'' (1138), ''sourt'';^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary) ''sourd'' from the 13th century.^(DHLF 1992)^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Etymology==

+ It is [[inh|fro|sort]], [[inh|la|surdus|t=deaf; that will not hear; dull, muffled]].^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989) The Latin word has no clear etymology; it has been compared with [[m|la|susurrus|t=whisper]] and a root for humming or murmuring, which does not account for the sense.^(DHLF 1992) Wiktionary connects it with [[ine-pro|*swer-]].^(Wiktionary) Cognate with [[it|sordo]], [[es|sordo]], [[ca|sord]] and [[pt|surdo]].^(DHLF 1992)^(Bloch & Wartburg 1989)

+

+ ==Earliest recorded meaning==

+ The ''Vie de saint Alexis'' (about 1050) has ''surz'' for a person who cannot hear;^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) Geffrei Gaimar (about 1140) uses ''les surz'' as a noun.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Semantic evolution==

+ Benoît de Sainte-Maure (about 1175) has ''faire la sorde oreille'', to turn a deaf ear, and the Renclus de Moiliens (1204) uses it for someone who hears but behaves as if deaf.^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) The proverb ''il n'est pire sourd que celui qui ne veut pas entendre'' goes back to about 1330, in the form ''il n'est si mavais sours que chuis ch'oïr ne voeilt''.^(DHLF 1992)^(Littré 1873) ''Frapper comme un sourd'', with all one's strength, is found in 1593 and ''crier comme un sourd'' in 1690;^(BHVF)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) ''sourd comme un pot'' is in Voltaire in 1763.^(BHVF)^(TLFi)^(DHLF 1992) From the 16th century it described dull, muffled sounds (Robert Estienne, 1552) and hidden, secret things.^(GLLF 1989)^(Petit Robert 2007) Phoneticians use ''consonne sourde'' for a voiceless consonant (1845).^(GLLF 1989)^(Wiktionary)

+

+ ==Timeline==

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

+ * c. 1140 – ''Les surz'', the deaf, in Gaimar.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1175 – ''Faire la sorde oreille'', in Benoît.^(TLFi)

+ * c. 1330 – The proverb of the worst deaf man.^(DHLF 1992)

+ * 1552 – Of muffled sounds, in Robert Estienne.^(GLLF 1989)

+ * 1593 – ''Frapper comme un sourd''.^(BHVF)

+ * 1763 – ''Sourd comme un pot'', in Voltaire.^(TLFi)

+ * 1845 – A voiceless consonant.^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ==Meanings==

+ ===Adjective===

+ # [[m|en|deaf|alt=Deaf]], hard of hearing: ''sourd d'une oreille'', ''sourd comme un pot''.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Le Robert)

+ # Unwilling to listen, insensitive, ''faire la sourde oreille'', to turn a deaf ear.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Littré 1873)

+ # Of a sound, [[m|en|muffled]], dull.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(Wiktionary)

+ # Hidden, secret; of a pain, dull.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(GLLF 1989)

+ # ''(phonetics)'' [[m|en|voiceless]]: ''consonne sourde''.^(Wiktionary)^(GLLF 1989)

+

+ ===Noun===

+ # A deaf person: ''les sourds et les malentendants'', ''crier'', ''frapper comme un sourd'', with all one's might.^(Petit Robert 2007)^(DHLF 1992)

+

+ ==Word family==

+ * [[sourdement]]

+ * [[sourdine]]

+ * [[sourdaud]]

+ * [[sourd-muet]]

+ * [[assourdir]]

+ * [[sourdingue]]

+

+ ==Related words==

+ * [[absurde]]

+ * [[surdicécité]]

+ * [[surdité]]

+ * [[la|surdus]]

+

+ ==Usage notes==

+ A noun ''sourd'' (1552, earlier ''sort'' about 1174), perhaps the same word, names the land salamander, and was also used for the slow-worm and other animals once thought to have no ears; these mostly regional uses have aged.^(DHLF 1992)^(Grand Robert 2005) Littré calls it of unknown origin.^(Littré 1873)

+

+ ==References==

+ {{reflist}}