noi

Forms

noi (first person plural, masculine and feminine; unstressed object form ci)^[2][3] Old and poetic Italian also had nui.^[4][2] Thirteenth-century texts have an older form no.^[5]

Etymology

It is inherited from Latin nōs (“we, us”).^[6][5][3][1] DELI quotes Rohlfs on the final vowel: Latin final ⟨-s⟩ was lost in Italy only in the course of the Middle Ages and in some words is represented by ⟨-i⟩, as in voi, poi, assai and the verb forms ⟨hai⟩, ⟨dai⟩, ⟨fai⟩, a development that is not fully clear phonetically.^[6] Sabatini–Coletti also calls the ⟨-i⟩ of uncertain origin.^[7] Nocentini adds that the stressed form ⟨noi⟩, shaped on lui and lei, replaced the old ⟨no⟩.^[5]

The word is panromance: French nous, Occitan nos, Catalan nos, Spanish nos, Portuguese nos, Sardinian nois, Friulian nus and Romanian noi.^[5][8] Latin “nōs” was in origin an accusative, as comparison with Sanskrit नस् (nas), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍃 (uns), German uns and English us shows;^[5][9] Latin, Celtic and Slavic extended it to the subject.^[5][9] De Vaan reconstructs Proto-Italic *nōs and Proto-Indo-European *nōs, and dates the replacement of the old nominative *wei by the stressed accusative to Proto-Italic.^[10]

Earliest recorded meaning

DELI's first record is a Tuscan document of the late 12th century, the Memoria d'un cambio di terra;^[6][3] GRADIT dates it to the second half of the 12th century.^[6][3] Giacomo da Lentini writes “Ca semo, per leanza ch’è 'ntra nui, / d’uno cor dui” (for we are, through the loyalty between us, two of one heart).^[11]

Semantic evolution

The plural of majesty, used by rulers and popes, and the plural of modesty, used by writers and speakers in place of io, are recorded from Brunetto Latini, before 1294.^[6] Migliorini also describes a “sociative” plural, by which a speaker softens the tu by joining it to the first person, as in Abbiamo detto ancora bugie? (Have we been telling lies again?).^[6] Dante's “Noi leggiavamo un giorno per diletto / di Lancialotto” (We were reading one day for pleasure of Lancelot, Inferno 5) shows the subject pronoun in early use.^[11]

The form nui survives in poetry, as in Manzoni's “nui / chiniam la fronte”.^[4][12] The strengthened noialtri dates from the 14th century.^[5] The cry a noi! was used by the shock troops in 1917 and by the legionaries at Fiume in 1919, and became the Fascist salute from 1933.^[2]

Timeline

• Late 12th century – Noi in the Memoria d'un cambio di terra.^[6]
• Before 1294 – Brunetto Latini uses the plural of majesty and of modesty.^[6]
• 14th century – Noialtri is first recorded.^[5]
• 1917 – A noi! is the cry of the Italian shock troops.^[2]
• 1933 – A noi! becomes the Fascist salute.^[2]

Meanings

Pronoun

1. we, as the subject, usually left out but expressed for emphasis or contrast: noi prendiamo il treno, loro la macchina.^[3][4][7]
2. us, as a stressed object and after prepositions: contate su di noi.^[2][12][13]
3. (formal) In place of io, as the plural of majesty or of modesty.^[3][13][6]
4. (colloquial) In place of tu or voi, to soften a remark: allora, abbiamo fatto i compiti?^[12][6]
5. da noi: at our house, in our country: da noi d'inverno nevica spesso.^[2][4]

Word family

• noialtri

Related words

• ci
• nostro
• io
• voi
• Latin nōs
• French nous

Usage notes

The unstressed form for the object and indirect object is ci.^[2] In Tuscan usage noi can take a verb in the singular with the impersonal si: noi si mangia alle otto.^[2] Fixed phrases include detto tra noi (between ourselves) and veniamo a noi (let's get back to the point).^[3][2]

References

1. ^ a b Wiktionary, the free dictionary, https://en.wiktionary.org
2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Vocabolario della lingua italiana Treccani (2011), Roma: Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana
3. ^ a b c d e f g De Mauro, Tullio (ed.) (2003), Grande dizionario italiano dell'uso, CD-ROM version 2.0, Torino: UTET
4. ^ a b c d Devoto, Giacomo; Oli, Gian Carlo; Serianni, Luca; Trifone, Maurizio (2026), Nuovo Devoto–Oli: il vocabolario dell'italiano contemporaneo, digital ed., Milano: Le Monnier
5. ^ a b c d e f g h Nocentini, Alberto; Parenti, Alessandro (2010), l'Etimologico: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Firenze: Le Monnier
6. ^ 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
7. ^ a b Sabatini, Francesco; Coletti, Vittorio; Manfredini, Manuela (2026), Dizionario italiano Sabatini Coletti, digital ed., Milano: Sansoni / Rizzoli Larousse
8. ^ Meyer-Lübke, Wilhelm (1935), Romanisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, 3rd ed., Heidelberg: Winter
9. ^ a b Devoto, Giacomo (1968), Avviamento alla etimologia italiana: dizionario etimologico, 2nd ed., Firenze: Le Monnier, p. 297
10. ^ de Vaan, Michiel (2008), Etymological Dictionary of Latin and the other Italic Languages, Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series 7, Leiden; Boston: Brill
11. ^ a b Battaglia, Salvatore; Bàrberi Squarotti, Giorgio (1961–2002), Grande dizionario della lingua italiana, 21 vols., Torino: UTET; digital ed. Accademia della Crusca, p. 11, 499
12. ^ a b c Zingarelli, Nicola (2009), Lo Zingarelli 2010: vocabolario della lingua italiana, Bologna: Zanichelli
13. ^ a b Gabrielli, Aldo (2020), Grande dizionario italiano, digital ed., Milano: Hoepli