sou
Translingual
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /suː/
- Homophone: sue
Noun
sou (plural sous)
- (historical) An old French copper coin equal to one twentieth of a livre or twelve deniers; one sou is to the livre as one shilling is to the pound.
- 1918 February (date written), Katherine Mansfield [pseudonym; Kathleen Mansfield Murry], “Je ne parle pas français”, in Bliss and Other Stories, London: Constable & Company, published 1920, →OCLC, page 73:
- He is grey, flat-footed and withered, with long, brittle nails that set your nerves on edge while he scrapes up your two sous.
- (dated, slang) Cent; pocket money.
- (dated) A thing of the smallest value; a whit; a jot.
- I do not care a sou for your excuses.
Catalan
Etymology 1
Inherited from Old Catalan sou~sol, from Late Latin soldus, contraction of Latin solĭdus. Doublet of sòlid. Compare French sou.
Noun
sou m (plural sous)
Verb
sou
Etymology 3
Inherited from Old Catalan sou (feminine sua), from Latin suum, from Proto-Italic *sowos, from Proto-Indo-European *sewos, from *swé (“self”).
Alternative forms
- seu (non-Algherese dialects)
Usage notes
- In contemporary Algherese, this word primarily gives reference to vostè. Only rarely does it give reference to multiple possessors, this use being archaic.
See also
References
- “sou (2)”, in Diccionari d'Alguerés, 2022 May 17 (last accessed)
- El Català de l'Alguer : un model d'àmbit restringit, Barcelona, 2003, →ISBN, page 30
Further reading
- “sou” in Diccionari de la llengua catalana, segona edició, Institut d’Estudis Catalans.
- “sou” in Diccionari català-valencià-balear, Antoni Maria Alcover and Francesc de Borja Moll, 1962.
Folopa
References
- Karl James Franklin, Pacific Linguistics (1973, →ISBN, page 130: Polopa so/sou woman, cf. DAR sou female animal but we woman.
- Karl J. Franklin, Comparative Wordlist 1 of the Gulf District and adjacent areas (1975), page 15: Boro, Suri, Tebera sou, Sopese šo
French
Etymology
Inherited from Old French, inherited from Late Latin soldus, from Latin solidus. Doublet of solide. See also the form sol, which kept the historical spelling from Old French, even if it came to be pronounced like sou.
Pronunciation
Noun
sou m (plural sous)
- (historical, numismatics) sou (old French coin)
- (by extension, chiefly in the plural, colloquial) money; cash
- Tu peux me prêter des sous ? ― Can you lend me some cash?
- (Quebec, Louisiana, colloquial) cent (one hundredth of a dollar)
- Ça va être six piastres et vingt-cinq sous, s’il te plaît. ― That'll be six dollars and twenty-five cents, please.
Derived terms
Further reading
- “sou”, in Trésor de la langue française informatisé [Digitized Treasury of the French Language], 2012.
Galician
Haitian Creole
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /su/
Preposition
sou
- on
- about, concerning
- 2019 March 19, “Rankont ann Itali ant Anvwaye Espesyal Etazini ak Larisi sou Kriz Venezuela a”, in Lavwadlamerik:
- Anvwaye espesyal Etazini pou Venezuela, Elliot Abrams, ak vis-minis afè etranjè Larisi, Sergei Ryabkov, ap fè reyinyon nan vil Wòm ann Itali pou yo pale sou sityasyon Venezuela kap agrave.”
- American Special Envoy for Venezuela Elliot Abrams and Russian Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Ryabkov are meeting in the city of Rome, Italy to talk about "the worsening situation in Venezuela."
Livonian
Etymology
From Proto-Finnic *savu, from Proto-Finno-Permic *sawe. Cognates include Finnish savu.
Louisiana Creole
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /su/
- Rhymes: -u
Luxembourgish
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /zəʊ/ (basic form)
- IPA(key): /zu/ (reduced)
- Rhymes: -əʊ
Mandarin
Romanization
sou (sou5/sou0, Zhuyin ˙ㄙㄡ)
Usage notes
- Transcriptions of Mandarin into the Latin script often do not distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Mandarin language, using words such as this one without indication of tone.
Old Catalan
Descendants
- Catalan: seu
Portuguese
Alternative forms
- sô (Brazil, nonstandard)
Etymology
Inherited from Latin sum (“I am”). Cognate with Galician son, Spanish soy, Italian sono, French suis, and Romanian sunt.
Pronunciation
- (Brazil) IPA(key): /ˈso(w)/ [ˈso(ʊ̯)]
- (Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈso(w)/
- (Northern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈsow/
- (Southern Portugal) IPA(key): /ˈso/
- Rhymes: -ow, -o
- Hyphenation: sou
Verb
sou
- first-person singular present indicative of ser
- 2007, J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter e as Relíquias da Morte [Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows] (Harry Potter; 7), Rio de Janeiro: Rocco, →ISBN, page 589:
- Sou excepcionalmente famoso.
- I am exceptionally famous.
Romanian
Sardinian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsou/
Sassarese
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈsou/
References
- Rubattu, Antoninu (2006) Dizionario universale della lingua di Sardegna, 2nd edition, Sassari: Edes
Ternate
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈso.u/
References
- Rika Hayami-Allen (2001) A descriptive study of the language of Ternate, the northern Moluccas, Indonesia, University of Pittsburgh
West Makian
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈs̪o.u/
Zhuang
Etymology
From Proto-Southwestern Tai *suːᴬ (“you (plural)”) (whence Thai สู (sǔu), Northern Thai ᩈᩪ, Isan สู, Lao ສູ (sū), Lü ᦉᦴ (ṡuu), Tai Dam ꪎꪴ, Shan သူ (sǔu), Tai Nüa ᥔᥧᥴ (sú), Ahom 𑜏𑜥 (sū)).
Pronunciation
- (Standard Zhuang) IPA(key): /θou˨˦/
- Tone numbers: sou1
- Hyphenation: sou