# -hou

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{{Short description|Norman suffix}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
[[File:guernsey sm02.png|thumb|This is a [map](/source/map) of the Bailiwick of [Guernsey](/source/Guernsey)]]

'''''-hou''''' or '''''hou''''' is a place-name element found commonly in the [Norman toponymy](/source/Norman_toponymy) of the [Channel Islands](/source/Channel_Islands) and continental [Normandy](/source/Normandy).

== Etymology and signification ==
Its etymology and meaning are disputed, but most specialists think it comes from Saxon or Anglo-Saxon ''hōh'' "heel", sometimes ''hō'', then "heel-shaped promontory", "rocky steep slope", "steep shore".<ref>[Auguste Longnon](/source/Auguste_Longnon), ''Les noms de lieux de la France'', Paris, 1920-1929 (rééd. Champion, Paris, 1979), p. 184.</ref><ref>[Albert Dauzat](/source/Albert_Dauzat) and [Charles Rostaing](/source/Charles_Rostaing), ''Dictionnaire étymologique des noms de lieux en France'', Larousse, Paris, 1963, p. 552a.</ref><ref>François de Beaurepaire, ''Les noms de communes et anciennes paroisses de la Manche'', Picard, Paris, 1986, p. 46.</ref> This toponymic appellative appears as a final ''-hou'' or associated with the Romance [definite article](/source/definite_article) ''le Hou''. It can be found everywhere in Normandy, but more in the western part of it.

The English toponymy uses this Saxon or Anglo-Saxon element the same way, but its result is phonetically ''-hoo'' or ''-hoe'', sometimes ''-(h)ow'' or ''-ho''  e. g. :  [Northoo](/source/Northoo) (Suffolk); [Poddinghoo](/source/Poddinghoo) (Worcestershire); [Millhoo](/source/Millhoo) (Essex); [Fingringhoe](/source/Fingringhoe) (Essex); [Rainow](/source/Rainow) (Cheshire); [Soho](/source/Soho) (London); etc.<ref>[Eilert Ekwall](/source/Eilert_Ekwall), ''The Concise Oxford Dictionary of English Place-names'' (4th edition), Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1960, p. 244b.</ref> As an independent element it is ''Hoe, Hoo, Hooe, Ho'' or ''the Hoe'', e.g. the Hoe at [Plymouth](/source/Plymouth) (Dorset) above the harbour.

In Normandy, it may have sometimes mixed up with [Old Norse](/source/Old_Norse) ''hólmr'', meaning a small island, and often found anglicised elsewhere as "holm". It can still be found in modern Scandinavian languages, e.g. Stockholm. The normal evolution of ''hólmr'' in Normandy is ''-homme'', ''-houme'', even ''-onne'' at the end of a toponym and le Homme, le Houlme, le Hom with the article. The Norman toponym and [diminutive](/source/diminutive) ''hommet / houmet'' also derives from this element.

In [Parisian French](/source/French_language), the equivalent is ''îlot'', which is cognate with the English "islet".

== Channel Islands ==

===Bailiwick of Guernsey===
right|300px|thumb|Jethou

* Off [Guernsey](/source/Guernsey)
** [Lihou](/source/Lihou)
* Off [Alderney](/source/Alderney)
** [Burhou](/source/Burhou)
* Off [Herm](/source/Herm)
** [Jethou](/source/Jethou)
* Off [Sark](/source/Sark)
** [Brecqhou](/source/Brecqhou)

===Bailiwick of Jersey===
right|thumb|200px|Aerial view of Les Écréhous

* [Les Écréhous](/source/%C3%89cr%C3%A9hous)
* La Rocco (from ''rocque-hou'')
* Icho (from ''ic-hou'')

==Continental Normandy==

=== ''-hou'' ===
*Manche
**Bléhou, hamlet at [Sainteny](/source/Sainteny).
**Bunehou, hamlet and manor at [Saint-Germain-le-Gaillard](/source/Saint-Germain-le-Gaillard%2C_Manche).
**Ingrehou, hamlet at [Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont](/source/Saint-Sauveur-de-Pierrepont).
**Cap Lihou, à Granville
**Néhou, hamlet at [Auvers](/source/Auvers%2C_Manche).
**Nehou, hamlet at [Gatteville-le-Phare](/source/Gatteville-le-Phare).
**Primehou, hamlet at [Nay](/source/Nay%2C_Manche).
** [Tatihou](/source/Tatihou)
** [Quettehou](/source/Quettehou)
** [Néhou](/source/N%C3%A9hou)
** [Tribehou](/source/Tribehou)
*Eure
**Quatre-houx (''Catehou'' 1174, ''Cathoux'' without date), hamlet at [le Noyer-en-Ouche](/source/le_Noyer-en-Ouche)
*Seine-Maritime
**Le Conihout (''Conihou'' end of the 12th century), hamlet at [le Mesnil-sous-Jumièges](/source/le_Mesnil-sous-Jumi%C3%A8ges)

=== Variant form ''Ho- / Hau-'' ===
*Hotot
*Hautot
See [Huttoft](/source/Huttoft), England

== Notes ==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
*'' Noms de lieux de Normandie'', René Lepelley, 1999 Paris {{ISBN|2-86253-247-9}}
*''Jersey Place Names'', Stevens, Arthur & Stevens, 1986 Jersey {{ISBN|0-901897-17-5}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hou}}
Category:Norman language
Category:Channel Islands
Category:Place name element etymologies
Category:English suffixes

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [-hou](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-hou) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/-hou?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.