il

Pronunciation

• IPA: /il/^[1]
• IPA (informal): /i/^[1]
• IPA (Quebec, informal): /i/^[1]
• IPA (Quebec, informal): /j/^[1]

Forms

il m (third-person singular, plural ils, accusative le, dative lui, emphatic lui, possessive determiner son)^[1] Old French plural subject il (937–952); ils took an analogical ⟨s⟩ in the 13th–14th centuries.^[2][3][4] Before a consonant the form i is found from about 1178.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French il, inherited from Late Latin illī (“that one”), an alteration of Classical Latin ille (“that”) under the influence of the relative quī (“who”).^[2][3][5][6] The neuter subject “il” (“il pleut”) comes instead from popular illum (Classical “illud”); the Old French neuter form el, with variants “al”, “ol”, was ousted by “il” by the middle of the 11th century.^[2]

In Classical Latin “ille” was a demonstrative for what is far away, opposed to hic and iste; as a subject pronoun it was used only for emphasis, since the verb ending showed the person, but in spoken Latin, as in comedy, it often served as the third-person pronoun.^[2] Rey connects it with an Indo-European base with “l” for a distant object, also seen in alius and ultrā.^[2] Cognate with Italian egli, Spanish él and Old Occitan el.^[6][7]

Earliest recorded meaning

In the Strasbourg Oaths (842) il is used with emphasis or contrast: in o quid il mi altresi fazet “provided that he does the same for me”.^[8][7]

Semantic evolution

In the first French texts a subject pronoun was used for emphasis: plain aime corresponded to modern il aime, and il aime to lui, il aime.^[2] From the second half of the 10th century il stands for a noun just mentioned or about to follow.^[8][2] In 13th-century prose it lost its emphatic value and became the normal subject marker;^[2] Bloch and Wartburg date this to the 16th century, after which lui and eux took over the stressed uses.^[6] Old French could use il in apposition to the subject (il et sa compaignie, about 1190), later replaced by lui.^[8][2] The impersonal il before verbs such as il faut, il pleut developed during the Middle Ages; the southern dialects still do without it.^[6]

In the 17th century ils ont was said ilon in ordinary speech and izon in careful speech; the modern ilzon was spread by schooling.^[2] Familiar speech now drops the l again before a consonant (i dit).^[2][9]

Timeline

• 842 – Il in the Strasbourg Oaths.^[8]
• 937–952 – The plural subject il in the Jonas fragment.^[8]
• mid-11th century – The neuter il replaces el.^[2]
• c. 1178 – The reduced form i before a consonant.^[2]
• 14th century – The plural ils with ⟨s⟩.^[3][4]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. he, it: third person masculine singular subject pronoun, for a person, animal or thing; plural ils “they”.^[9][1]
2. (impersonal) It: subject of impersonal verbs and phrases: il pleut, il faut, il y a.^[8][6]
3. (plural) Ils: “they”, people one does not name but holds responsible (the government, the authorities).^[9]
4. (familiar) Used for the person one is speaking to, affectionately: comme il est en retard !.^[9]

Related words

• le
• lui
• elle
• leur
• Latin ille

References

1. ^ a b c d e f Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
3. ^ a b c Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
5. ^ Wartburg, Walther von, et al. (1922–2002), Französisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch, 25 vols., Bonn / Leipzig / Basel: Klopp / Teubner / Zbinden, p. 4, 550a
6. ^ a b c d e Bloch, Oscar; Wartburg, Walther von (1989), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française, 8th ed., Paris: Presses universitaires de France
7. ^ a b Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
8. ^ a b c d e f 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
9. ^ a b c d Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert