soi

Pronunciation

• IPA: /swa/^[1]

Forms

soi m or f^[1] Old French se (in the Vie de saint Léger), then sei (11th century) and soi (about 1160–1175).^[2][3][4] The Académie spelled it soy in 1694 and 1718, soi from 1740.^[2]

Etymology

It is inherited from Old French sei, inherited from Latin sē (“himself, herself, themselves”), the accusative of the Latin reflexive pronoun, in its stressed position.^[2][3][4] The unstressed form of the same pronoun gave se, just as moi and toi stand beside me and te.^[3][5] The Latin pronoun goes back to Proto-Indo-European *swé,^[1] a root that Rey says marked a person's belonging to a group, or his being set apart from it, and that he also finds in sœur and in Ancient Greek ἔθος (éthos, “custom”) and ἔθνος (éthnos, “nation”).^[3]

Cognate with Italian sé, Portuguese si and Spanish sí.^[1]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronoun is first found in the second half of the 10th century, in the Vie de saint Léger (ob se, in a Provençal spelling) and the Vie de saint Alexis (Tut sun aver qu'od sei en ad portet, “all his wealth that he took with him”), after a preposition and referring to the subject.^[2]

Semantic evolution

From the earliest texts soi could be strengthened by même (sei medisme, in the Alexis).^[2][3] It mostly goes with an indefinite or general subject, but it long also referred to a definite person, especially where lui would be ambiguous;^[3] this use is now dated.^[1]

Many phrases were formed with it.^[3][6] De soi “on one's own authority” (about 1172–1174) has gone out of use.^[3] Être à soi first meant “to be at liberty, in the wild” (about 1375), then “to be in full possession of one's reason” (mid-16th century) and “to be free” (1659).^[3][6] En soi was used in philosophy from 1541 (Calvin) for what exists independently of the mind,^[3][6] and chez soi “at home” is in Montaigne (1580), the noun un chez-soi in Furetière (1690).^[6] Corneille has un autre soi-même “another self” in Horace (1640).^[2]

As a noun, le soi “the self” appears in philosophy in 1700, in Pierre Coste's translation of Locke, again in Sartre's L'Être et le Néant (1943), and in psychoanalysis in 1948.^[2]

Timeline

• 2nd half of the 10th century – Se, sei in the Vie de saint Léger and the Vie de saint Alexis.^[2]
• c. 1160 – The form soi.^[3]
• 1541 – En soi in philosophy (Calvin).^[6]
• 1580 – Chez soi, in Montaigne.^[6]
• 1640 – Un autre soi-même, in Corneille.^[2]
• 1690 – The noun chez-soi (Furetière).^[6]
• 1700 – Le soi in philosophy, translating Locke.^[2]
• 1943 – Sartre's soi in L'Être et le Néant.^[2]
• 1948 – Le soi in psychoanalysis.^[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. Oneself: the stressed reflexive pronoun of the third person, mostly referring to an indefinite subject (on, chacun, personne): n'aimer que soi.^[7][1]
2. After a preposition: à soi, chez soi (at home), sur soi (on one's person), en soi (in itself).^[7][6]
3. (dated) Himself, herself, itself, referring to a definite subject.^[1][3]

Noun

1. (philosophy, psychoanalysis) The self.^[1][2]

Word family

• chez-soi
• soi-disant
• soi-même

Related words

• se
• moi
• toi

References

1. ^ a b c d e f g h Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m 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
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Rey, Alain, ed. (1992), Dictionnaire historique de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert
4. ^ a b Rey, Alain, ed. (2005), Le Grand Robert de la langue française, electronic version, Paris: Le Robert
5. ^ Littré, Émile (1873–1877), Dictionnaire de la langue française, 4 vols. and supplement, Paris: Hachette
6. ^ a b c d e f g h Guilbert, Louis; Lagane, René; Niobey, Georges, eds. (1971–1978; 1989), Grand Larousse de la langue française, Paris: Larousse
7. ^ a b Rey-Debove, Josette; Rey, Alain, eds. (2007), Le Petit Robert de la langue française, Paris: Le Robert