Where does “verbe léger” come from?
verbe léger (French) comes from French léger, from Old French legier, from Vulgar Latin leviarius, from Latin levius, from Latin lēvis, from Proto-Italic leɣʷis, from Proto-Indo-European h₁léngʰus, from Proto-Indo-European h₁lengʷʰ- — light.
verbe léger (French): light verb (verb without lexical meaning, accompanied by a noun signifying an action or a state. For example, faire in faire une inspection is a light verb, and one can simply say inspecter)
Definitions
- light verb (verb without lexical meaning, accompanied by a noun signifying an action or a state. For example, faire in faire une inspection is a light verb, and one can simply say inspecter)
Ancestry of “verbe léger”, step by step
verbe léger traces back through two separate lines of ancestry.
via French léger
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | léger | light; slight |
| 2 | Old French | legier | light; slight |
| 3 | Vulgar Latin | leviarius | light |
| 4 | Latin | levius | comparative degree of leviter |
| 5 | Latin | lēvis | light, not heavy |
| 6 | Proto-Italic | leɣʷis | light |
| 7 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁léngʰus | lightweight |
| 8 | Proto-Indo-European | h₁lengʷʰ- | light |
via French verbe
| Step | Language | Word | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | French | verbe | speech; tone of voice; way of speaking |
| 2 | Latin | verbum | word; proverb, saying; verb |
| 3 | Ancient Greek | λόγος | That which is said: word, sentence, speech,... |
| 4 | Ancient Greek | λέγω | I put in order, arrange, gather; I choose, count,... |
| 5 | Proto-Indo-European | leǵ- | to gather, collect, with derivatives meaning to... |