Etymology 1
From Latin cē (the name of the letter C).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): (most common outside of Tuscany) /ˈt͡ʃi/*
- Rhymes: -i
- Hyphenation: cì
Noun
ci f (invariable)
- The name of the Latin-script letter C/c.; cee
See also
- (Latin-script letter names) lettera; a, bi, ci, di, e, effe, gi, acca, i, gei / i lunga, cappa, elle, emme, enne, o, pi, cu, erre, esse, ti, u, vu / vi, doppia vu, ics, ipsilon / i greca, zeta
Further reading
- ci2 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Etymology 2
Uncertain. Rohlfs[1] and Von Wartburg[2] favoured/favored Late Latin ecce hīc. Maiden[3] casts doubt on this etymology, pointing out that Italian ci is an unstressed 'weak' form, while Latin hic otherwise survives in Italian only in stressed forms (reinforced by Latin ecce or eccum) such as ciò, qua, and qui. (It should also be noted that all of the latter trigger syntactic doubling in a following word, thanks to their original final /k/, while ci does not.)[4] Maiden proposes instead an origin in Latin hince, variant of hinc (“hence, from here”), pointing out that in parts of southern Italy there exists a 1PL pronoun 'nci (cf. also 'nce). Treccani,[5] on the other hand, proposes an origin in Latin hīce, a variant of hīc (“here”). In any case, the Italian term is certainly cognate with Neapolitan ce, Sicilian cci and Sassarese zi, all three of which share similar adverbial senses, with the latter two also having pronominal senses.
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /t͡ʃi/, (Sicily, Calabria) */t͡ʃi/
- Hyphenation: ci
Pronoun
ci
- us
- Loro ci conoscono ― They know us
- (reflexive pronoun) ourselves; each other
- Ci arrabbiamo ― We (ourselves) get angry
- Ci amiamo ― We love each other
- to us
- Lui ci ha detto questo ― He said this to us
- replaces the indefinite personal pronoun si (“one”) before reflexive si (“oneself”); one
- Ci si lava. ― One washes oneself.
Ci si annoia quando non c'è niente da fare.- One gets bored when there is nothing to do.
- it, to it
- Non ci credo. ― I do not believe it.
Usage notes
- Becomes ce when followed by a third person direct object clitic (lo, la, li, le, or ne).
See also
More information Number, Person ...
Number |
Person |
Gender |
Nominative |
Reflexive |
Accusative |
Dative |
Combined |
Disjunctive |
Locative |
Partitive |
Singular | first | — |
io | mi, m', -mi |
me |
me |
— |
second | — |
tu | ti, t', -ti |
te |
te |
third | m |
lui | si2, s', -si | lo, l', -lo | gli, -gli |
glie, se2 |
lui, sé |
ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' |
f |
lei, Lei1 | la, La1, l', L'1, -la, -La1 | le3, Le1, -le3, -Le1 |
lei, Lei1, sé |
Plural | first | — |
noi | ci, c', -ci |
ce |
noi |
— |
second | — |
voi, Voi4 | vi, Vi4, v', V'4, -vi, -Vi4 |
ve |
voi, Voi4 |
third | m |
loro, Loro1 | si, s', -si | li, Li1, -li, -Li1 | gli, -gli, loro (formal), Loro1 |
glie, se |
loro, Loro1, sé |
ci, c', vi, v' (formal) |
ne, n' |
f |
le, Le1, -le, -Le1 |
1 | Third person pronominal forms used as formal terms of address to refer to second person subjects (with the first letter frequently capitalised as a sign of respect, and to distinguish them from third person subjects). Unlike the singular forms, the plural forms are mostly antiquated terms of formal address in the modern language, and second person plural pronouns are almost always used instead. |
2 | Also used as indefinite pronoun meaning “one”, and to form the passive. |
3 | Often replaced by gli, -gli in informal language. |
4 | Formal (capitalisation optional); in many regions, can refer to just one person (compare with French vous). |
Close
Italian personal pronouns
Adverb
ci
- to there, here, there
- Synonym: vi (formal)
- Ci sono andato ― I have been there
- Ci siamo ― We're here
- Ci sono molte cose ― There are many things
- C'è un problema ― There is a problem
- forms part of many verbs:
- volerci ― to require/take
- abituarci ― to get used to it
- riuscirci ― to be able to do it
- entrarci ― to do with something
- contarci ― to count on it
- pensarci ― to think about it
- starci ― to agree / to be up for something
- farcela ― to manage to do something
- crederci ― to believe it
References
Rohlfs, Gerhard. 1969. Grammatica storica della lingua italiana e dei suoi dialetti, vol. 3: Sintassi e formazione delle parole. Torino: Einaudi. §899.
Maiden, Martin. 1995. A linguistic history of Italian. London: Longman. §9.1.1.
ci1 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
Etymology 3
Further reading
- ci1 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
- ci2 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana
- ci3 in Treccani.it – Vocabolario Treccani on line, Istituto dell'Enciclopedia Italiana