sí

sí¹ oneself

Pronunciation

• /ˈsi/, [ˈsi], [hi ~ xi]^[1]

Etymology

The word for “oneself” is inherited from Latin sibi (“to or for oneself”), the dative of the reflexive pronoun suī.^[2][1][3] Bénaben explains the loss of the second syllable as an analogy with mihi, which gave mí;^[3][4] Gómez de Silva likewise starts from Vulgar Latin si, shaped after mi.^[3][4] The form used with con is consigo, from sēcum, to which Vulgar Latin added another cum.^[3]

The same Latin form is Portuguese si and Galician si; for the Portuguese word Cunha also starts from a shortened *sihi modelled on the first-person form.^[5][1] Wiktionary compares French soi and Italian sé; the French word continues the stressed accusative sē.^[1]

The Latin dative goes back to Proto-Indo-European *sébʰye, the dative of *swé (“self”).^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

DEMel's earliest records of the pronoun are from the vocabulary of the Cantar de mio Cid (c. 1140) and the Fuero de Avilés (c. 1155), with Old Spanish forms such as ssi, entressi and desi.^[6] In the Lapidario of Alfonso X a stone draws iron contra si “towards itself”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

The pronoun has kept its use after prepositions throughout the history of the language, and in the Quijote it already appears in phrases such as por sí, para sí and de por sí “separately”.^[8] The Academy describes it as the reflexive form of the third person, used for both genders and numbers, always after a preposition.^[9] Followed by mismo or solo it stresses that the subject acts on or by itself.^[2] In Mexico, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Puerto Rico, Bolivia, Chile and Uruguay de por sí also means “anyway, in any case”.^[10]

Timeline

• c. 1140 – the first records in DEMel come from the vocabulary of the Cantar de mio Cid.^[6]
• 1250–1279 – Alfonso X's Lapidario uses contra si and en si.^[7]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. The stressed reflexive form of the third person, used only after a preposition: himself, herself, itself, themselves: Lo quería todo para sí.^[2][1]
2. With usted or ustedes: yourself, yourselves.^[1]
3. de por sí: on its own, apart from other things;^[2][10] (Latin America) anyway, in any case.^[2][10]
4. de sí: in itself, by its own nature, like de suyo.^[2]

sí² yes

Etymology tree of sí²

inherited borrowed derived

Latin sī

Spanish si

Latin sīc

Aromanian shi

French si

Italian sì

Spanish sí

English sic

From the same root · sí²

Italian quasi ← sī

Latin etiamsī ← sī

Latin etsī ← sī

Latin nisi ← sī

Latin quasi ← sī

Latin sīcubi ← sī

Latin sīn ← sī

Latin sīquidem ← sī

Latin sīve ← sī

Latin sīcine ← sīc

Latin sīcut ← sīc

Spanish así ← sīc

French sinon ← si

Italian sissignore ← sì

Pronunciation

• /ˈsi/, [ˈsi], [hi ~ xi]^[1]

Etymology

The word for “yes” is inherited from Old Spanish sy, inherited from Latin sīc (“thus, so”).^[1][2][11] The Latin word was an adverb of manner, “in this way”, and in familiar speech it was sometimes used to say “that's it, yes”.^[3] The REW notes that the word became the affirmative particle in Italian, Sardinian, Spanish and Portuguese.^[12] Coromines describes the same process in Catalan: the manner adverb was combined with a verb to affirm (“so he speaks”, that is “he does speak”), often with the verb “to do”, and was then shortened to the bare adverb.^[13] Wiktionary gives the same account for Spanish, where the word meant “thus” like así until the 14th–15th centuries and became an independent “yes” through the ellipsis of phrases meaning “yes, I do”.^[1]

The same Latin adverb is Portuguese sim, Galician si, Catalan sí, French si, Italian sì and Romanian și, the last meaning “and”.^[12][1] Nascentes explains the nasal ending of the Portuguese word as the tendency of Portuguese to nasalise a stressed final /i/.^[14]

The OLD analyses the Latin adverb as a locative of an old demonstrative, *so-, with the particle -ce; early inscriptions spell it seic.^[15][16]

Earliest recorded meaning

Corominas dates the adverb to about 950, and the CORDE to about 1140, as DICCA-XV reports.^[17] DEMel's earliest records are again from the vocabulary of the Cantar de mio Cid and the Fuero de Avilés.^[6] In the 13th century Alfonsine prose already used it to stress a statement: the best meat to give them si son las pechugas “is indeed the breast” of water birds.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Nebrija's Latin–Spanish dictionary of 1492 glosses Latin etiam and utique with “sí”, and his Spanish–Latin vocabulary of about 1495 enters sí as an adverb of affirmation beside sí “in this way”.^[17] From the earliest records of the Americas it answers oaths: sí, juro y amén (Puerto Rico, 1512).^[18] Used as a noun it means consent, as in dar el sí “to accept a proposal”, especially of marriage, and its plural is síes.^[19][11] In Spain ¿sí? is also said when answering the telephone.^[1]

Timeline

• c. 950 – the date of first record that Corominas gives.^[17]
• c. 1140 – the Cantar de mio Cid; the CORDE's first record.^[17][6]
• 1250–1300 – Alfonsine prose uses si to stress a statement.^[7]
• 1492 – Nebrija glosses Latin etiam and utique as sí.^[17]
• 1512 – the first record from the Americas, in Puerto Rico.^[18]

Meanings

Adverb

1. yes: used to answer a question affirmatively: —¿Te gusta? —Sí.^[11][19][1]
2. Used to stress a statement or a contrast, often as sí que: Ahora sí que tengo hambre.^[11][1]
3. (Spain) hello?, said on answering the telephone.^[1]

Noun

1. Consent, permission, an affirmative answer: Ya tenemos el sí del director.^[11][19][1]

Word family

• porque sí
• sí o sí