yeux

French

Etymology

From Middle French yeulx, yeux, from Old French ieuz ~ ialz, plural form of oeil ~ oil ~ ueil ~ uel. A regular outcome of Latin oculōs, the accusative plural of oculus (the source of œil). Mildred Pope explains its phonetic development as becoming *[ˈɔːʎos] > *[ˈweʎts] > *[weuts] via regular sound changes, followed by a regular dissimilation of [weu] to [jeu] (see for example Latin locus > *[lweu] > Old French lieu, iocus > *[dʒweu] > Old French gieu > jeu). The resulting [jeuts] then becomes modern [jø].

Old and Middle French present many variant forms of this plural, including, from Godefroy's Dictionnaire du Moyen Français: ialz/yalz, yolz, olz/ols, uelz/uels/eus, ils, oulz.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /jø/

  les yeux: IPA^(key): /le.z‿jø/

• Audio:

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• Audio (Paris):

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• Audio (Paris):

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• Rhymes: -jø

Noun

yeux m pl

1. plural of œil, eyes

   Il a les yeux bleus. ― He has blue eyes.

   Il a de beaux yeux bleus. ― He has beautiful blue eyes.

Usage notes

Unlike most words beginning with consonantal y /j/, this word triggers liaison with valid preceding words. Eg:

• les yeux /le.z‿jø/
• les grands yeux /le.ɡʁɑ̃.z‿jø/
• Il a de beaux yeux /i.l‿ad.bo.z‿jø/