lui

Pronunciation

• IPA: /lɥi/^[1]
• IPA (Belgium): /lwi/^[1]

Forms

lui m^[1] Old French unstressed li (842), stressed lui (about 881).^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French lui, inherited from Late Latin illuī, a remaking of illī (“to that one”), the dative of the demonstrative “ille”, under the influence of cui, the dative of the relative “quī”.^[2][3][4][5] “Illuī” lost its unstressed first syllable, probably before 271, since Romanian also has lui.^[2] The old unstressed li “to him, to her” comes from “illī” with the same loss.^[2] Littré followed Diez in deriving it from “*illi-huic”, comparing autrui and Old French “nului”.^[6]

Earliest recorded meaning

The Sequence of Saint Eulalia (about 881) uses lui after a preposition: et a lui nos laist venir “and may he let us come to him”.^[7]

Semantic evolution

All the modern uses of the word already exist in Old French, before the 11th century.^[2] From the 13th century lui increasingly replaced the unstressed masculine li in all its uses, and had ousted it completely by Middle French.^[2] As a stressed subject, coordinated with another (lui et sa gent), it is found from 1160–74.^[7]

Timeline

• 842 – Unstressed li in the Strasbourg Oaths.^[2]
• c. 881 – Stressed lui in the Sequence of Saint Eulalia.^[7]
• 13th century – Lui begins to replace li.^[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. (To) him, (to) her: indirect object pronoun of the third person singular: il lui parle.^[1][8]
2. him, he: stressed form, after a preposition, as an attribute, or to emphasize the subject: à lui, lui, il sait.^[1][4]

Related words

• il
• leur
• elle
• Latin ille

References

1. ^ a b c d e Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h 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. ^ 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, 550b
6. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
7. ^ a b c 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
8. ^ Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert