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Wiktionary in English lacking information on etymology, I must cite the French version of the French verb 'cancan', but omit the other impertinent etymology hypotheses:

(Bavardage) (1821) [3.] Désignant d’abord un « grand bruit à propos de quelque chose »,
[2.] dérivé du quanquan de collège (vers 1640),
[1.] dérivé du latin quamquam (« quoique »), conjonction souvent employée dans les débats d’école.

I recognise Latin's being the lingua franca until 1850-1900, and so Latin would have been spoken even by French students before 1640 (as dated above).

  1. Per 1, what is special about 'quamquam', compared to any other conjunction? E.g., English has borrowed cum and ergo, but they have not been derived into verbs.

  2. How would the explanation above explain the semantic shift for 'cancaner' (= to gossip)? What semantic notions underlie the use of quamquam with 'cancaner'?

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    "1 CANCANER v. intr. (1654) semble avoir été créé, non pas d’après cancan, mais d’après une onomatopée homonyme évoquant le cri du canard et de certaines volailles (→ canard) et d’après cane, cancan, nom enfantin du canard. Il s’est surtout répandu à partir du xixe s. avec l’idée de « médire » (1829)" ( Dictionnaire historique de la langue française 2017) – Alex B. Jun 21 '17 at 01:05
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    If the debate is a free-for-all, quamquam has three advantages for the student thinking on his/her feet: it takes the indicative not the subjunctive; it starts with a good strong plosive; and it signals a disagreement, counter-argument without the offensiveness of haudquaquam, or an absolute rebuttal. The English equivalent is Surely, ... – Hugh Jun 21 '17 at 01:49
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    For those of us who don't speak French, could you provide a translation into English? – Draconis Jun 21 '17 at 16:57
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    Can you explain why you think quamquam would be "special" and not just part of a historical accident? – cmw Jun 21 '17 at 23:37
  • because quamquam has a funnier sound than the other conjunctions – developerwjk Jun 30 '17 at 21:11
  • Maybe related: the kiskis and kankan debate: primary sources – Asteroides Jan 01 '24 at 14:59

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