Belle au bois dormant
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French
[edit]Etymology
[edit]From the phrasing used by Charles Perrault in Ma Mère l'Oye (published in 1697).
Literally, “Beauty sleeping in the wood”,[1][2] with the archaic positioning of the present participle after its complement which was frequent in Old French (as in chemin faisant and tambour battant);[3] the modern French equivalent would be Belle dormant au bois. It is also dormant and not dormante because present participles have been invariable in French since a decision of 3 June 1679 of the Académie Française (of which Perrault was a member).[4]
Pronunciation
[edit]Proper noun
[edit]- Sleeping Beauty (fictional character)
References
[edit]- ^ Moss, Anita (1986) The Family of Stories: An Anthology of Children's Literature[1], page 90
- ^ Terzuolo, F. P. (1864) Études sur le Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française[2] (in French), page 62: “[…] exactement comme on dit : La Belle au bois dormant, ce qui ne veut pas dire la belle au bois qui dort, mais la belle qui dort au bois […]”
- ^ Constans, Léopold (1890) Chrestomathie de l'ancien français (IXe-XVe siècles)[3] (in French), page 15
- ^ Larive & Fleury (1888) La troisième année de grammaire[4] (in French), page 148