celle-là

Forms

celle-là (feminine singular; masculine celui-là, plural ceux-là, celles-là)^[1]

Etymology

It is from French celle + là, the feminine of celui-là.^[1][2] The first element continues the Old French subject case cele, from Vulgar Latin *ecce illa, formed from ecce (“behold”) reinforcing ille (“that”), the source of il and le; the adverb is from illāc (“there”).^[2][3][4] The Old French demonstratives from that compound marked distance, as opposed to those from *ecce iste.^[2]

Semantic evolution

In Old French cele could be both adjective and pronoun.^[2][1] As the old contrast between cist (near) and cil (far) weakened, the adverbs -ci and -là were added to express nearness and distance: forms such as cestui-là, celui-là and cele-là appear, and the specialization of celui, celle as pronouns took place between the mid-14th and the late 15th century.^[1][2] The modern system, celui-ci / celui-là, celle-ci / celle-là, was generalized in the 17th century.^[1]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. That one, referring to a feminine noun more distant in space or time than another, in contrast with celle-ci.^[1]
2. The former, as opposed to celle-ci, the latter.^[1]
3. (used alone) That woman, that thing, the one present or just mentioned.^[1]

Related words

• celui-là
• celle-ci
• celle
• là

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Trésor de la langue française informatisé (2004), ATILF – CNRS & Université de Lorraine, atilf.fr/tlfi; electronic version of Imbs, Paul; Quemada, Bernard, eds. (1971–1994), Trésor de la langue française, Paris: CNRS / Gallimard
2. ^ a b c d e Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
4. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 547a