gli

Forms

gli (article: m pl, singular lo; pronoun: glie- before lo, la, li, le and ne)^[1][2]

Etymology

The article and the pronoun are both inherited from Latin ille (“that”) with the first syllable lost: the article is the nominative plural ⟨illī⟩ “those”, the pronoun the dative singular ⟨illī⟩ “to him, to her”.^{[3][4][5][6][7]} The palatal sound /ʎ/ arose before a vowel: Devoto–Oli traces the article through ⟨(il)li amici⟩ and ⟨*(il)ljamici⟩ to ⟨gli amici⟩.^[2] Nocentini describes the same development for the pronoun, with ⟨li aveva detto⟩ becoming ⟨gli aveva detto⟩: in Old Italian the article alternated between i and li, and ⟨gli⟩ was the variant used before vowels.^[7] Later ⟨i⟩ settled before consonants and ⟨gli⟩ before vowels, ⟨z⟩ and ⟨s⟩ followed by a consonant.^[7]

The plural article corresponds to French les, Occitan li, Catalan els, Spanish los, Portuguese os and Romanian -i.^[7][8] The pronoun is matched by Sicilian ci,^[1] but most Italian dialects express the dative with forms of adverbs of place: central and southern ⟨ci⟩ and ⟨nci⟩, from Vulgar Latin *hīcce and *hince, and northern ⟨ghe⟩, from Latin hīc (“here”).^[7] Zingarelli describes ille itself as made of an initial particle and an old demonstrative, both of uncertain origin.^[9]

Earliest recorded meaning

The pronoun “to him” is first recorded before 1290 in Guido delle Colonne,^[3][4][7] in the line Certo no gli è troppo disinore (“Certainly it is no great dishonour to him”).^[10] The article appears before 1294 in Guittone d'Arezzo,^[3][4] although Nocentini dates it to the first half of the 13th century.^[7]

Semantic evolution

Because Latin ⟨illī⟩ did not distinguish gender, Old Italian li and gli meant both “to him” and “to her”; the 16th-century norm made le the only accepted feminine.^[7] The plural “to them” is recorded before 1348 in Giovanni Villani,^[3] and the dispute over it has lasted for centuries: Varchi condemned it but used it in his own prose, and Galileo, Leopardi, Tommaseo and Manzoni wrote it despite the grammarians.^[3] In 1863 Fanfani observed that the Tuscan people used it all the time for a loro, “in defiance of those grammarians”.^[3] Nineteenth-century writers accepted it, and it remains the colloquial form in Tuscany.^[7] The general use of gli for the old li became established in the 19th century, while li survives in outlying Tuscan dialects.^[7]

Today the pronoun is a lui in all registers, a loro in speech and informal writing, and a lei only in colloquial and regional use, though in the combined forms glielo, gliela and gliene it serves every gender and number.^[4][5][6] The article stands before dei, the plural of dio, which Devoto–Oli explains as a wrong division of gl'iddei, the plural of l'iddio.^[2]

Timeline

• First half of the 13th century – Nocentini's date for the article.^[7]
• Before 1290 – Guido delle Colonne uses the pronoun “to him”.^[3][4]
• Before 1294 – Guittone d'Arezzo uses the article.^[3][4]
• Before 1348 – Giovanni Villani uses gli for “to them”.^[3]
• 14th century – Gli is used as a shortening of egli.^[4]
• 16th century – Grammarians accept only le for “to her”.^[7]
• 1863 – Fanfani defends the Tuscan gli “to them”.^[3]
• 19th century – Gli replaces li in general use.^[7]

Meanings

Article

1. The, the masculine plural of lo, before words beginning with a vowel, s and a consonant, z, gn, ps, pn or x: gli orologi, gli studenti, gli zii.^[4][2][5]
2. Before dei, the plural of dio: gli dei dell'Olimpo.^[4][2]

Pronoun

1. To him, to it, as an indirect object: Gli ho prestato la bicicletta.^[4][2][6]
2. (colloquial) To them: Ai vicini gli porto le chiavi domani.^[4][5][11]
3. (colloquial, regional) To her: Ho visto Anna e gli ho detto tutto.^[4][9][11]
4. (Tuscan, literary) He, it, as a shortening of egli, often pleonastic: gli è vero.^[4][6]

Related words

• lo
• il
• i
• li
• le
• glielo
• Latin ille

Usage notes

With the prepositions the article forms agli, dagli, degli, negli and sugli;^[2][5] cogli and pegli are spoken or old.^[2][5] The article may be elided only before i (gl'individui), and even then the full form is preferred.^[6][2] Before lo, la, li, le and ne the pronoun becomes glie-, written together with the next pronoun: gliene parlo domani.^[2][6]

Old Italian also had an adverb gli “there”, from Latin illīc, as in Dante's Ombra non gli è né segno che si paia (Purgatorio 13: “There is no shade there nor any carving to be seen”).^[12]

References

1. ^ a b c Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cortelazzo, Manlio; Zolli, Paolo (1999), Dizionario etimologico della lingua italiana, 2nd ed. by Manlio Cortelazzo and Michele A. Cortelazzo, Bologna: Zanichelli
4. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
5. ^ a b c d e f Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
6. ^ a b c d e f Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
7. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
8. ^ Körting, Gustav (1907), Lateinisch-romanisches Wörterbuch: etymologisches Wörterbuch der romanischen Hauptsprachen, 3rd ed., Paderborn: Schöningh
9. ^ a b Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
10. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 922
11. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli
12. ^ Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 6, 924